Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Doing web page design yourself can seem scary and fun, particularly if you're inexperienced. There should be enough information here to get a good foothold on the knowledge you will need.

Don't neglect cascading style sheets. Using a style sheet makes it easy to give all pages of your site the same look and feel. It also reduces the file size of your pages, as the CSS file can be accessed once on the server and then from the user's local cache thereafter.

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 .

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.

+Philippines+%28Website+Design+and+Search+Engine+Optimization%29.jpg" width="327" />

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.

Make text easy to ready by using colors that contrast or backgrounds that are easy to read text on. When your text is harder to read because the background or text color creates eye strain or portions of text that are unreadable, site visitors are less likely to stick around.

As you design your site, avoid overuse of multiple fonts. Also, think about how fonts look on a screen. For instance, tiny serif fonts, like Times New Roman, are difficult to read. The most widely-used font is Verdana since it's appealing to almost everyone.

If you are fortunate enough to have http://www.webseoanddesign.com/ the funding for a major investment into your site, this does not mean that is a wise thing to host the site on your own. You should do the design all by yourself (or as much of it as you possibly can), but allowing another person to be the keeper of your site will let you be free and will allow you to have your mind on different things and not just the site's security and safety.

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 Best Business Website Design Awards of the page.

If you are designing a commercial website, you do not want to use free web hosting. This brings annoying ads onto your site, and it detracts from a professional look to your commerce site. Instead, pay for some basic or professional web hosting, in which you do not have to put up with this.

Part of designing a good website is finding the best website hosting package. You want a package that offers ample disk space, bandwidth, email accounts, and such. If you cannot find a good website host for your project, then you shouldn't start your project. Hold out until you can locate a premium host.

When you are deciding which hosting service to use, make sure that you understand everything that the package will include. Disk space, bandwidth and CPU usage are some of the things you need information about. Be certain that you are aware of what you are paying for.

When designing a website, you want to keep the privacy of your customer's information in mind. Set up proper encryption for submitting data, and never store customer passwords and such in a text document. Make sure you set up your website properly so that your customers know that visiting and interacting with your site is safe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9ubRkr6QvI

Do not overlook the valuable knowledge that can be gained on website development through printed books. Make sure that you start out with books that are around your website design level. You want to progress, but not skip any information along the way, so you can be great at designing websites.

If you would like to be good at website development it is very important that you learn about Html5. If you do not know that much about it, it is important that you start to familiarize yourself right away.

If user or customer agreements are found on our website, speak plainly in them, avoiding legal jargon as much as possible. You want your customers to feel like they know what is going on and being said. Legal jargon will confuse your customers, and it will make them uneasy about your site.

Launching your website is just the beginning. Your design process is far from complete. Be prepared to keep busy with your site. You don't have to constantly update it, but you must do regular updates. If you present current events or host videos, this is definitely a must. When you update your website, it's not the same as updating your blog. You may need to implement a more diligent regime to be successful.

Watch over your site so that you can get rid of spam right away. If you are running a forum or blog, this is very important. Great website designers stick around to get rid of garbage before it piles up.

When creating a website, there are many places to look for creative inspiration. Television programs, artistic exhibits, even commercials are good sources of inspiration. Always be on the lookout for new ideas, and eventually you'll create a site that is out of this world.

Website development can be a fun way to get to your target audience, and promote your company or product. If you do this right, you will be a stronger promotions professional. Begin on this path today by using the advice in this article. This will give you a great chance to succeed.