Most of the time, visitors go to a website to learn something or to do something, rather than ooh and aah at the site’s design. Only post information necessary to communicate your site’s purpose, and avoid cluttering your site with useless text or graphics. Keeping web pages simple will reduce page loading times, and keep visitors from getting frustrated.
While you might see something else that peaks your design interest, it is crucial that you stay imaginative when you are building your site. While it’s acceptable to modify and expand upon design elements that have appealed to you on other websites, you should strive to create your own unique and innovative techniques. Your web design work will be more effective and more memorable if you remember to keep it creative.
Keep your design consistent across your website. If visitors encounter changes in the fonts and colors utilized as they move from one webpage to the next, they could end up being confused. In fact, these kinds of changes could lead visitors to believe that they have wandered off your website. You can prevent this by always being consistent with the graphics on your site. To maximize cohesiveness, make use of the same fonts and color schemes in any printed materials that you offer from your business.
To help new web designers make good sites, use Photoshop. Even without professional training, a web designer with a good grasp of Photoshop can turn out attractive, useful websites very quickly. Although a copy of Photoshop represents a significant investment, the time it will save you and the improvement it will make in your results can easily justify the program’s cost.
Ensure that your website is unique and is not too similar to other websites that share your niche. Look at competitors’ websites to ensure that you haven’t accidentally made a similar design for your site. It should be obvious that websites that look the same will not make you stand out. Your site will be considered as a copycat of your competitors’ and not seem trustworthy.
Drop ideas for using Flash from your design plan. Flash does allow for all sorts of imaginative content, but some visitors will have a poor experience if their machine or connection is not capable of handling the resources being passed to them. In addition, some tablets and cell phones are not Flash-enabled, which can make it difficult for these types of visitors to enjoy your website.
Because a lot of good domain names are in use already, you may want to look at some auction sites that have used domain names. A great one to check out is Sedo. These sites can offer a wealth of site names that are up for sale or abandoned.
Free design software is a valuable tool for quickly setting up a website. Many people believe that expensive software is the only way to get things done, but there are multitudes of free tools available to help you get started, and keep your site running. Finding good free software does require a bit more legwork, however.
Do not require each new user to enter a CAPTCHA for your site automatically. CAPTCHA are a complicated method of proving a person is human, not a spam bot. However, humans can dislike these immensely when browsing a site. Unless your viewer is already a regular at your site, they will probably leave and go somewhere else.
Look for, and remove, broken links regularly. This should be done frequently, before uploading to the server. Broken links are one reason for web visitors to leave a site. Save yourself some headaches by making sure that everything is working as it should.
A great strategy for planning your website accurately is to utilize a visual sitemap. When you utilize a sitemap that is visual, you can see just how the site’s structure is developing. Now you’ll be able to fix areas that need improvement, or add something you’ve forgotten. When you have a clear visual, anything is possible.
Consult with friends and those in the know, if you missed something when you were learning about HTML, Dreamweaver and Photoshop. You want to make sure that all of the information that you learned was truly retained; the last thing you need is to be in the middle of making a site and become lost or confused.
Make any logos on your website link to the home page. Over time, the “clickable logo” has evolved into a standard that people assume is part of every website. Users may be frustrated if they cannot easily find a way back to the home page. Logos that you can click on will make the site more navigable.
Go ahead and draw some concept sketches of how you think you want your site to look. You can receive some idea of the way people will react to these sketches by asking your loved ones their opinions on your drafts. By doing this, you can develop some conclusions on which direction your site should be heading in.
Just because the site has launched doesn’t mean you’re finished designing it. You should strive to stay involved with your website’s design. Updating doesn’t need to be daily, but you must find a regular schedule and follow through consistently. This is important if you have content that includes videos, a podcast or articles. When you update your website, it’s not the same as updating your blog. There is a lot of work involved.
Well-done web design, the sort that makes your website appealing and easy for visitors to use, can make the difference between success and failure. Websites that use web design best practices, generally get more traffic than those that don’t. Conversely, making poor web design choices will depress your site’s traffic and discourage repeat visitors. Use these practical tips and tricks to develop a high-performance website.