The website design is not over just because the website has been launched. Keep as active as possible with your website. It will not be necessary to continually make updates, but you should do so fairly regularly. This is a must especially if you host videos or work with current events. Updating a site is different than updating your blog. It does require you to work at it.
If you find yourself needing to create many similar pages in a subsection of your site, use one of those pages as a template. Instead of rewriting HTML code for each new page, copy the necessary components, adjust the parts that require it and then save the results with a new filename each time you do this. Having this master copy to work from will speed up the process of designing each new page!
Offer a sitewide search option at the top of every page. By doing this you will help to increase your site’s usability, and allows easy access to any information that a visitor might wish to see. Coding this search functionality isn’t difficult, so the increase in usability is definitely worth the time spent.
An excellent location for getting your website’s domain name is at domain auctions. Established sites, such as SEDO, will facilitate the purchase of a domain name that already exists. Buying the right domain name may be expensive; however, it’s worth it in terms of the benefit to your website.
Your search box should appear close to the top of each webpage and should contain a minimum of 27 characters. Make sure the button that engages the search says “search” and not “submit” or “go”. Doing this makes sure the search box can be easily seen, used and helps visitors to your site find exactly what they were looking for.
It’s important to validate all of your code. Easy-to-use WYSIWYG web editing programs tend to burden your pages with junk code that is extraneous or even harmful. If you use a WYSIWYG editor, go the extra mile and validate your site code through a service. W3C provides a free service, which you can use to validate your webpages.
The harder you are willing to work at learning about site design skills, the easier it will be to master them. Start with some simple pages using C+ and HTML to make sure that you have the fundamentals down pat. By avoiding procrastination, you can begin to learn the basic elements quickly.
On the Internet, few things are more important to users than speed and efficiency, especially where page loading times are concerned. Visitors can quickly become impatient and leave your site if it loads too slowly. They will often move on to another site and usually never return to yours.
Since many of the great domain names are already taken and in use by other companies, it might be in your interest to check out auction sites for used domain names like Sedo. On these auction sites you will be able to purchase great domains that have previously been used for websites that have since been abandoned, sold, or are otherwise not needed.
When considering adding advertisements to your site, be sure that you limit them to a reasonable number. Including too many of them will make your site appear spammy and can make you seem to be less than professional. Any advertisements that you do have should be relevant to your site.
White can be a smart and effective choice when you’re contemplating which color should be the background for your site. Viewers will feel confident in the professional look afforded by a solid white background. Complicated, artsy background designs look cool, but they can often be distracting to the reader. When choosing a background for your website, a simple background is better.
Get a few books on web design and study them. Start out simple by purchasing books that are in line with your level of expertise, then gradually upgrade.
Don’t hire family to design your website. Even if a friend or family member has good designing skills, you will find it hard to treat them like an employee and be honest about what you like and what you don’t.
Do not use a relative if you are seeking a professional to assist you with your website design. Hiring family members or friends is not a smart idea when you are looking to get a webpage designed. It can be difficult to fire or reprimand someone you are close to, even if their work is unsatisfactory.
Checklists, reference cards, and “cheat sheets” are all tools that smart web designers do not hesitate to rely on, in order to create, maintain, and troubleshoot great websites. Improving your site will always be easier if you have resources that can provide invaluable advice.
Always include a clearly visible tagline on each webpage in the domain and sub-domains. Use large or bold font so that your visitors notice these taglines right away. The tagline should sum up the reason for the page’s existence. Visitors should know whether they have any business at the site just by looking at the tagline.
You need a visual sitemap to effectively plan ahead. With this sitemap, you will be able to track how the structure of your website is developing. From this point, you have the ability to locate with precision any components that will require tweaking, or have yet to see more work being done with them. A clear overview of the project will prove to be invaluable.
These tips will go a long way in building your knowledge of web design. Keep on learning, and you soon will be as comfortable as a professional.