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.
It is important that your website is easy to read. Many usability tests show that most online visitors do not read everything. They usually only scan for things that interest them. Use sub-headers to break text into sections your readers will appreciate. Important content that you do not want visitors to miss should always be placed at the top of each page. This will help your visitors quickly locate the information they are looking for.
When you're thinking about how to design a website, you need to be sure to think about the navigation. You want your navigation to be easily accessible and easy to use. Put the navigation bar on every page in a noticeable place. Also, make sure that it flows well with the rest of your page and doesn't distract visitors.
To help your website visitors easily navigate through your site, design it so that it becomes easy to find "stuff." When you have a simple site that makes it easy to locate information, you keep your visitors there much longer. If you make it difficult for them, then they will get frustrated and leave.
You should always put in the effort to make a customized error page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_design for your site; this page should include a basic sitemap that links users to the major sections of your website. This ensures that if visitors follow a bad link or spell your URL wrong, they will be able to find what they are looking for.
Have a site map. These are useful to your clients and the search engines, as they give a detailed overview of your entire website. It can be a guide for viewers searching for a certain part of your site, and also allow you to keep track of its structure and layout.
To help your web pages load quickly, you should compress all the images on the website page. If you have images that are compressed then pages will load much faster. Nothing is more frustrating to viewers than waiting for a 250k graphic to load when it should really only be 20k.
Learn as much as you can about the various forms of html, as the html is crucial to website creation. When you learn about html go ahead and make a couple of pages that are sort of filled with the information that you want to add to any of the sites you plan on working on.
To help your visitors be able to easily read your site, you should design it using contrasting colors. If you use colors that contrast, it makes the text stand out. If you have black text with a black background you will not be able to see the information, but if you have black text with a white background it becomes simple to read.
Having a website counter at the bottom of your page is really an unattractive feature. It may look like you've added something neat to your site, but many visitors do not wish to see that. Avoid adding a counter and use other ways to watch your traffic levels.
If you're going to choose a software program to aid in the design of your website, you can save some serious cash by choosing a free, open source program. Open source programs are great not only because they're free for public use, but also because they're constantly updated and improved by users with a lot of web know-how.
A basic layout should be used for your site in the beginning, this way you can get an understanding of the basics of web design. Starting simple will allow you to add more advanced techniques as you expand your site, giving you a chance to learn each one by one.
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.
Placing new items high and far to the left will draw attention to them. Because people read from the left to the right, placing key information on the top left of the screen makes it more likely that users see this first before going on to the rest of the information on the site.
Remember, designing a website does not need to be expensive. You can find cheap or free website design tools that do the same things as expensive website design software. For example, free open-source software can usually help you to accomplish the exact same tasks that paid software does. Clearly, use of open source software is a real money saver!
Make sure you work on your design every day for a few hours. It's important to block out large chunks of time, so that you don't fall into the trap of just dabbling in website design. Working on this sort of schedule also makes it easier to remember what you need to do next.
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In conclusion, it is simple truth that anybody should be extremely concerned with website development and how they are implementing it for a variety of good reasons. It is hoped that the information here will give you some new ideas that will help you to move your website forward.
