Tag: design

Proven Web Design Tips That Anyone Can Follow

Posted on by wankodr

To increase your ranking in SEO, your website must be efficient. It’s not worth doing if you do not have this. That’s because it all comes back to web design. People like to visit attractive, functioning, seamless websites. Use these tips to create what they like.

Keep the size of your web pages small. A lot of modern web pages are full of unnecessary elements, including huge images, Flash advertising, and lots of AJAX. Many people, especially those in rural areas and other countries with less-developed internet infrastructure, don’t have high-speed Internet and will have to wait forever for a large page to load.

Always check your website from a variety of browsers in different areas of the country or world. What you’re seeing in one browser may not actually be what other people are seeing. You want to know about the different popular browsers and approach web design accordingly. Before you decide to go live, you should always have others using different browsers and operating platforms review your site to verify it works on different systems.

Don’t use OnExit popups on your website. This tactic is mainly used by internet marketers who are trying a last-ditch attempt to get a sale. Word about these kinds of popups get around, and they will kill your reputation as a marketer. Mozilla has even taken steps to suppress the text on these popups, citing security risks.

Although it is common to see the www. at the front of a website URL, you should try to make sure that you can access your site whether you choose to include it or not. This will make it much easier for anyone to access regardless of how they type it.

Don’t disable the visitor’s right-click functionality. Some sites do this in order to prevent people from copying and pasting text or saving images from the site. The thing is, it doesn’t work and disables other useful functions. OCR can be used to capture text from such sites, and grabbing images is as simple as taking a screenshot.

White space is an important part of web design, so don’t be afraid to use it. Cluttering up your web pages with too many images or too much text, or using a distracting background, will only irritate your visitors. White space can make the important elements of your page more visible.

If you plan on having a commercial site, you should seriously consider buying your own web hosting. Most free host sites force you to display their advertisements, which is counter-intuitive if you are attempting to sell something as well. Purchase your own hosting to avoid this advertising hassle, so that you can choose your own ads.

Minimize the amount of clicking or scrolling visitors must do to access information. The more a user has to click or scroll around to find the information they seek, the more likely they are to give up looking for it. Aim for having at least 400 words on every page of your site by combining pages that have content that falls below this number of words.

It’s not that people browsing the web are overly picky or anything; it’s just that no one wants to visit an unattractive site that’s slow to load and that barely functions. Avoid creating a website that does this by using the tips you’ve just read.

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Guidance On Web Design Success Is Found Here

Posted on by wankodr

Do you want to turn web design into a career? If so, then you’ll want to learn as much as possible about effective website design.

Your visitors should be able to see your content regardless of the browser they are using. Test your pages with different browsers to make sure it is displayed properly. A site that works on Internet Explorer might not display right in Firefox, Google Chrome, or Safari. Therefore, check to see that all pages display correctly in all the large browsers prior to your site going live.

Always mark files that must be opened in an external program with an icon. Many sites host PDF files, and less commonly, DOC files, that must be opened in Foxit Reader and Microsoft Word/OpenOffice, respectively. These files should be marked with an icon representing the file type, and a link to download the appropriate viewer if the user does not have it.

Use shortcuts often. There are often shortcuts that can be used for just about anything when it comes to web design. There are even HTML codes that allow you to make fast changes to each of your pages without having to re-upload them.

If you believe your site may be accessed via mobile devices, you will want to keep your designs simple. The use of flash, excessive images, and complicated menus will not translate well to a mobile platform. Keep your page clean and simple, or create a specific mobile site for your users.

To help you design a site that is easy for people to read all the information, make sure the pages are not too wide. If the pages are not too wide then they will fit on most people’s computer screens. If the page is too wide, then part of your valuable information could be left off the page.

If you are designing a very large site, you should always include search capabilities. The best place to put your search box is on the top of your homepage. Shoot for the upper right corner. Users often expect to see a search box in this area and may want to search your site for the information they are looking for. You can get a search bar from Google or FreeFind.

Avoid using animated GIFs on your site. These were popular in the late 1990s, but newer technologies have replaced the uses for animated GIFs that were actually useful. Animated GIFs are low in quality and large in file size. Use static icons for page elements and actual video files for complex animations.

Be sure the websites you’re designing are cross-browser compatible. You must check your site in the most popular versions of every top browser. Some examples include Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Opera. Many users use these browsers for surfing online, so you need to be sure your designs are being seen correctly on whatever they use.

You probably are not as overwhelmed by web design now that you have read this piece. Now that it doesn’t seem so overwhelming, apply these tips to get started.…

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Make Your Web Design More Effective With This Advice

Posted on by wankodr

Most people look at web design as a difficult task. However, this is only true when you don’t make the effort to learn the ropes of design. There are many programs for software that make web design easy. The following article will offer advice on choosing the best software for your particular needs.

Use fixed-position navigation so your users can navigate your site with ease. This involves the navigation panel remaining static as the user reads down the page. This makes thing convenient for visitors and facilitates them taking advantage of your calls to action.

Always mark files that must be opened in an external program with an icon. Many sites host PDF files, and less commonly, DOC files, that must be opened in Foxit Reader and Microsoft Word/OpenOffice, respectively. These files should be marked with an icon representing the file type, and a link to download the appropriate viewer if the user does not have it.

Always ensure you are giving meaningful feedback, as this is what creates the communication between a website and its visitors. For example, if an action taken by a visitor results in an error, do not simply display “error occurred.”� Instead, provide a message that explains what happened and how the visitor can correct the error by taking a different action. Without this feedback, visitors are more likely to grow frustrated and just give up by leaving your website.

You must always include the capability to search if you are working on a large website. Put in a search box in the right-hand corner up on top of the homepage, as this allows the site visitors to type in a single keyword that shows up anywhere on your site. You can get free search boxes from Google or FreeFind.

Use ALT tags on your images. These tags make it easy for those with disabled graphics and offer descriptions for those who are impaired visually and make use of translation tools for images. ALT tags can also help out if your images link elsewhere. Lastly, search spiders use ALT tags, so this can help you in the SERPs.

Organize your links and avoid putting too many links in one area of your site. Doing this can confuse visitors and make them leave your site. If you do have many low- to mid-importance links, emulate the “blogrolls” seen in many blogs and tuck them away in a column on the right side of the page.

Use breadcrumbs and make it so that clicking on the site logo returns you to the homepage. Breadcrumbs are markers that show where the visitor is in the site structure. For instance, the breadcrumbs might read “home furniture beds.” When the user clicks a link in the breadcrumbs, he can return to a page further up in the site hierarchy. Clicking on a business logo should generally take the visitor back to the homepage as well.

Web design is very simple if you know what you are doing. When you follow simple rules and instructions, you can really do well with web design. Use these tips to understand what you need to do.…

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Real Web Design Tips To Help You Make A Better Website

Posted on by wankodr

Are you interested in developing an outstanding website? Do you know how to go about it? Web design is how they do it. If you don’t properly design a website, it won’t do as good as you want it to. Relax, because the following article was written to point you in the right direction. Below you will find many good tips to help you understand how web design works.

When you are designing a website, it is important to have proper spelling and grammar. In addition to running spell-check on your content, ask a friend or co-worker to proofread everything. Having good spelling and grammar on your website will help give it a professional feel and your visitor will be more likely to return.

Make sure your text and background has the proper contrast. There’s evidence showing that white text on a black background is easiest for most people to read, but other colors are fine so long as they’re readable. Also keep in mind that people with visual impairments may not be able to read your site if the contrast is poor. Check to see if your site complies with various contrast standards using the tool at http://snook.ca/technical/colour_contrast/colour.html .

For multimedia presentations, take advantage of the new HTML5 standard. Although HTML5 isn’t quite as robust for animation and games as Flash, it has the advantage of working stably on mobile phone browsers, including those contained in Apple hardware. HTML5 is also quite a bit leaner than Flash, so load times will improve, as well.

Take the time to do keyword research. You need to focus on giving your audience good information, but keywords will help you gain a customer base. Knowing what keywords people use to find your site via search engines is a must for your website to succeed.

Keep your education ongoing. Websites are constantly changing, every day, and if you stop learning new things, you may find yourself falling behind the pack with your designs. Try to convince yourself to learn one new thing each day, be it programming a new background, or a simple HTML setup.

Website counters are unattractive. You might think they are a valuable addition to your site, but nothing could be further from the truth. Find another way to track your traffic.

Make sure you have a good idea about what types of pages you want to add to your website. Site design is only easy if you plan ahead thoroughly. If you need a contact page, a sales page, various landing pages, etc, make sure you add them all early on. You can always edit as needed as the site starts to take shape.

Incorporate a site map into your website design. A site map does a couple things. For starters, visitors are able to better navigate your site with one. Visitors can see what they want and what is offered through one easy map. Second, the site map furthers your SEO efforts. Search engines are sure to have an easier time finding your website.

Are you looking to make an excellent website? Do you have a better grasp on what it takes? Are you going to tackle web design with confidence? Can you use it correctly to increase the power of your design? Practice these tips often to improve on your overall design.…

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Looking To Design A Website? Try These Ideas!

Posted on by wankodr

There is a multitude of things that a website can be used for. It is used for information sharing, entertainment and other uses. Websites will need a quality webmaster. This article is a compilation of design tips that will help you along your way.

Before going live, test your website against NoScript. See if the website is readable. Some content, such as ordering systems for products, can’t work without scripts, but if your site is simply blank with scripts turned off, that’s bad news.

Avoid trying to add every new gadget to your website. It can be tempting to make your site look cutting edge by including every new web design option out there but it can end up turning people off. Simple will generally get the job done even better than a flashy layout.

Include a link to the homepage on every page of your site. One of the best ways to do this is to make a graphic title for your page that can be included on all pages. Web users are used to clicking on a graphic to return home so there won’t be a learning curve to navigating your site.

Minimize your web page’s size. Some people do not have speedy Internet connections, and if they have to wait a long time for your site to load, they probably won’t be interested in viewing it. You don’t want your visitors waiting for each page to load because they may just end up leaving.

While you might be inclined to add a lot of bells and whistles to your website, flashing graphics, loud music and neon colors will just distract from the purpose of your website. Visitors who are bombarded by too many sights and sounds might be inclined to leave your website before they even start browsing. Keep the colors simple and the content relevant and your website design will be a winner.

To help you design a more professional looking site, do not include an image in the page background. A background image screams low quality site, plus these site usually take forever to load. When you are going for a more professional look, the last thing you want is your visitors waiting forever because images are still loading on your pages.

For the best layout, make sure that the colors you choose for the background and font are restful to the eyes. Choosing moving backgrounds or neon colors can make it hard for people to read, and they may navigate to another web site. However, include pictures to break up your content and make the site complete.

The best web sites communicate a lot of information in a small amount of words. If you are long-winded, people will easily get bored and find another site that is more concise. Make sure any content is relevant and easy to understand – newspapers use an eighth grade reading level, which is the most common literacy level.

Websites are incredible useful and are used for blogging, business and entertainment. It’s important that if you are designing your own site you know what you are doing. With the help of the hints above, you will have a head start on designing your next website.…

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Make Your Web Design Easier With These Techniques

Posted on by wankodr

You have scoured the entire world wide web for the greatest tips on web design, however now that you have found this article, you can stop your search. Here, you will find some fantastic advice provided by experts who know web design inside and out. Read this article and you will not be let down.

Be sure to select the correct graphics when designing your website. Bitmap images usually are big and don’t work as well as PNGs. For simple text buttons or graphics that aren’t photographs, use PNG for files that are 256 colors or larger. Use a GIF file for anything less than 256. For photos, JPEG images work well.

A good website should be compatible with multiple browsers, so you should test your website in various browsers to ensure that any visitor can view it correctly. While a certain element may look wonderful in Firefox, it may appear incorrectly on Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Safari. Verify the way in which your pages load in all major browsers prior to your official launch.

Make sure that you get rid of any material that is outdated on your site. If you’re talking about events that happened a year ago, you are behind the times. It is an expectation from users that you maintain the site and keep your information fresh, or else they think your site is ill-kept or abandoned. Create a regular schedule for updating the content of your page, and weed out anything that has become irrelevant.

Make sure that every action can be cancelled if needed. Actions may involve searching the website for archives or a variety of topics, signing up for newsletters and notifications, or simply filling out forms. Visitors with second thoughts are not going to appreciate being locked into an action. They will feel that they are being forced to act against their wishes, and it will be unlikely that they will want to return to your site after such an experience.

If you believe your site may be accessed via mobile devices, you will want to keep your designs simple. The use of flash, excessive images, and complicated menus will not translate well to a mobile platform. Keep your page clean and simple, or create a specific mobile site for your users.

Be sure your website works both with and without the “www” prefix. Some people will type this in before they head to your site as a force of habit, and some may not. You should make sure that customers will be directed to your site either way, or you may have some confused people on your hands.

Make use of your grammar and spell checker. Yes, some mistakes may get passed some of your audience, but it will not get past everyone. You could lose some of your audience because of this, particularly if you make mistakes frequently. Do your best to correct your grammar and spelling on your site.

To summarize, your search has stopped for how to make sure that your web design fits in with your company’s overall plan. Ideally, the information that was provided here is not only going to get you energized about creating great web design, but will also prepare you for the best ways to implement it.…

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Simple Techniques For The Best Web Design

Posted on by wankodr

Given the current state of the economy, it is no wonder why folks desire to open a home business. A major part of a successful online business, though, is web design. The tips that follow will help you create the best website possible.

Make sure your text and background has the proper contrast. There’s evidence showing that white text on a black background is easiest for most people to read, but other colors are fine so long as they’re readable. Also keep in mind that people with visual impairments may not be able to read your site if the contrast is poor. Check to see if your site complies with various contrast standards using the tool at http://snook.ca/technical/colour_contrast/colour.html .

Make sure your webpages aren’t too long. You only get one chance to make a first impression, and if your most important content is “below the fold,” it may not even be read. If you have a lot of related content that needs to stay together, consider breaking it up into sections and adding links to each section.

Web designers gave frames the boot in the 90’s. Once frames were popular, but there were a lot of issues with them too. Frames make it hard for visitors to bookmark and scroll through the page. There are better ways to allow your users to browse your pages easily.

Break up long text blocks. Having a huge wave of text is unnecessary for any site, especially when you can break it up by using images, or even separating it into different pages. Boring your viewers will only make them leave, so keep things as simple and fresh as possible.

A good key to remember is that your site should load in 10 seconds or less. This will make people want to stay on your site. The majority of online users demand instant gratification, and it is in your best interest to provide it.

Build your website using a content management system. Knowing how to build a website using just HTML and CSS is good foundation knowledge, but this can only produce a static website. Web design has evolved into providing dynamic content. If you couple your coding skills with the use of a content management system, you can practically build any type of website that you desire.

Keep your education ongoing. Websites are constantly changing, every day, and if you stop learning new things, you may find yourself falling behind the pack with your designs. Try to convince yourself to learn one new thing each day, be it programming a new background, or a simple HTML setup.

Make sure your business logo is well-designed and prominently on every page of your site. Your logo is a key component of your brand, and it should be one of the first things people see when they go to your website. If you can’t come up with a good idea for a logo, there are design firms that will make you one at relatively low cost.

Web design and complication are not mutually exclusive. While some methods can be tricky, using the tips you learn here can help you simplify the process. Whatever your motivation for making a site, these tips can help.…

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