When you http://www.reddit.com/r/web_design/ 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.
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.
Learn the basics of HTML and CSS. Although there are many templates that allow you to just fill in the blanks, in order to create a web page, these templates provide only limited design possibilities. Understanding how the mark-up language and stylesheet work together will enable you to customize your website to your heart's content.
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 website development option out there but it can end up turning people off. Simple will generally get the job done even better than a flashy layout.
Avoid creating user interface (UI) controls that mislead your visitors. These controls include elements, widgets and more that create an interactive experience, such as a link, drop-down list or button. You do not want to make visitors think that clicking on an underlined word or phrase for example, will lead to a new page if it is not actually linked to something else. When your visitors have expectations of something working a certain way and it does not, they are seo worthing more likely to assume there is something wrong with your site and leave.
To help you design a website that is free of clutter, do not include any scrolling text on your site. Websites that have things constantly moving back and forth on the screen is really distracting to the visitor. Not only is this distracting and annoying, it screams unprofessional and will cause your visitors to leave quickly.
Use custom error pages to make your site more informative. For instance, if you want people to report dead links on your site, either put a server-side script on your 404 page or have a form or email address that visitors can use to report the error. You should have custom pages for 403, 404, and 500 errors, at the very least.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO_xGTfCfSs
Never bite off more than you can chew by attempting to design multiple sites at once. You should keep things simple by only working on one site at a time. Even if you do have some website design skills, you may get crossed up with your projects, or one of your sites may suffer neglect. Just take things one at a time.
To help you design a website that is free of clutter, do not include any scrolling text on your site. Websites that have things constantly moving back and forth on the screen is really distracting to the visitor. Not only is this distracting and annoying, it screams unprofessional and will cause your visitors to leave quickly.
Watch the amount of flashy multimedia that is on your site. Don't overdo it with a bunch of "extras". Flash graphics and multimedia may appear enticing, but these may make it difficult for visitors to find the desired information from the site, particularly if they're viewing your site from a non-Flash compatible device.
A good resource where you can learn some insightful knowledge is a book store. You can go to a bookstore and read books that have information on html, c+, photoshop, and dreamweaver as these are some of the key things you need to learn when it comes to being a well- knowledgable web designer.
If you are using FileZilla for your file server, you must manually program the quick start menu settings within your domain, username and the right port. With the proper selections made in the menu, the only thing you'll need to do the next time you log into the server is pick your personalized settings. This will save you plenty of time.
Ask another person to test your site out to make sure it works well as you go along. Have someone test each new feature that you add. You may think that a video that is slow to load is not really a hassle, but other people may feel differently. Get opinions from the outside to keep the proper perspective.
Work on your time management skills when developing a website if you hope to get it done in a timely fashion. You could be tempted to procrastinate with the minor parts of website building. They pile up quickly into a big problem. Work steadily and make progress toward your goals.
If you're having any doubts about your ability to create a great site, you can always scale back the vision. A site doesn't need a forum and a chat room and a videos page and a miscellaneous section. You can make do just fine with only a few options. It's great to dream big, but you need to be a realist.
You should set aside at least one day per week to update your website. If you're not updating it, you should at least check up on it to make sure that it's functioning properly. As a site designer, it's up to you, and you alone, to ensure that your site is in perfect working condition. If you fail to do so, you could lose a lot of traffic.
Staying current with web page design is no easy task. Just about any company around the world needs a website in order to gain and retain customers in this new competitive age of the Internet. And web designers are primed to make an excellent living while helping people along the way.
Allowing guest content on your site is a good idea, but never, ever let someone else get into your server to post it! You need to receive the content via email. A lot of amateur site designers actually allow people to access their host's server. Even if this doesn't lead to theft, it's still a really bad idea.
As stated in the above article, what you really need are great tips to help you build a nice website. With basic information and a couple of tricks up your sleeve, you can create a very professional looking site. Use the tips located above to help you develop and design your own website.
