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Is designing web pages something you are interested in as a way to become profitable in the future? Should your answer be yes, then you will need to learn about web design and this article is designed to do just that.



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.



When you are creating graphics or photos for your website, be sure to keep the file size small. If your graphics are too large, your page will load slowly and your visitors will leave. You can find many free or inexpensive graphics programs online that will optimize your images before you load them to your website.



User-friendly web design programs, known as development platforms, can make building websites easier, but they are just not as trustworthy as hand-written code. The idea behind platform is that you are responsible for designing site features, then just paste in the generated code. But if you desire a true creator experience and want to reduce errors, stick with classic text editors.



Regardless of how the design of your website is created aesthetically, be sure to make all of your files small. Your website's loading time is directly affected by the file sizes you have on your site. You want your site to load instantly. You must keep in mind that not all visitors will have a fast Internet connection. Test your website to ensure that it loads quickly even on a dial-up modem connection.



Smaller pages are better. Not all Internet users have fast connection speeds, and the longer your site takes to load, the less interest they will have. You don't want your visitors waiting for each page to load because they may just end up leaving.



If you intend to use advertisements on your site as a way to increase your earnings, make sure to maintain an appropriate ratio. Keeping your advertisements at no more than 25 percent of your content ensure your site is not cluttered with too many of them. Just like people would not watch television if it was nothing but commercials, site visitors are less likely to stay on your site if you have too many advertisements.



Learning some basic HTML will help you add some interesting extras to your site. For example, you can have words that follow your cursor, or a banner that flashes important information. Make sure to change the colors and fonts occasionally, so you seem more involved with the web site and its design.



Avoid frames at all costs. Just don't use them. While they can make it simple for your menu or header to appear all throughout your site, the address bar won't change on each page. This can make it impossible for your visitors to link to any specific page on your site.



If you are a web designer, it is good to be an artist. Look for inspiration and adapt your ideas to your business goals. When a great idea pops into your head during a meal out, scribble your thoughts on a napkin. If you don't have a way to write it down, you can always call your phone and leave a text or answering machine message with details.



For your image tags, always try to include a brief description in the ALT attribute. Not only is this good for search engine optimization, but it is also beneficial to the sight-impaired users who rely on screen readers to describe image tag contents. Make your description short and as descriptive as possible.



Website counters near the bottom of the page are pretty unattractive. Take it off of your site if you want to look contemporary. Avoid adding a counter and use other ways to watch your traffic levels.



Launching your website doesn't signal the end of the design process. You need to make sure you keep your site active. It's not necessary to make constant updates, but it is necessary to make regular updates. If your website focuses on current events, frequent updates are an absolute must. Current is the key word here! Updating a site isn't like updating a blog. There is a lot of work involved.



Even if you know how to design sites for the web you still have much to learn. Everyone today is using mobile devices so this means that there is a higher demand for making sites mobile compatible. Start learning how to build mobile sites so that you're knowledgable of how to build various types of websites.



As this article previously mentioned, designing websites is perceived by many to be a challenging endeavor. However, web design becomes much easier for people who have the best knowledge and information on how to design websites as efficiently and creatively as possible. Apply this article's tips, and you'll be designing websites in no time!