Anyone who is starting out in web design needs to understand the basic principles of properly designed websites. There are many resources that will help beginning web designers find their way, and the article below is one of them. What follows are some basic concepts necessary for good web design.
Try not to utilize Flash when developing your website. Flash does allow for all sorts of imaginative content, but some visitors will have a poor experience if their machine or connection is not capable of handling the resources being passed to them. Many tablets and cell phone don’t have Flash installed on them, meaning your visitor will just see a blank spot where it should be.
Even if you see designs you are attracted to on other sites, it is better to be creative on your own. Develop your own designs and features, as well as improving upon ones that you have seen on other sites. Using this technique will give you the ability to make amazing websites.
If your website is a commercial venture, you can save yourself a lot of hassle and potential losses by eschewing free web hosting. While you will be tempted by the lack of start-up cost involved with these hosts, your site will be littered with ads that you have little or no control over. The ads may advertise products that are contrary to your business ideals, or even for competing products. They also disrupt the design of your site.
Keep your links working and up-to-date. A website which is designed well will always be user friendly. If your site has links which are broken or display an error message, your visitors will be frustrated, and may discontinue visiting your site. You should conduct a regular maintenance check on all of your site’s links to verify they are working properly.
A great “About Us” page will help your readers understand who you are and what you do. So many sites have dull, boring information on these pages. This is an opportunity to make your website stand out. Provide some insight about your own story. How did you get inspiration? What are your goals? What led you to web design?
Avoid using Captchas, except in the case of new user registration. As soon as a viewer sees a captcha, they will automatically think that they will have to do to much work just too see your webpage. Unless this visitor is already a dedicated follower, they’re probably just going to click their browser towards another corner of the Internet.
For every page you design, make sure you validate it. There are a lot of WYSIWYG editors that add junk codes to the website design. It takes little extra time and no expense to run a validation service over your website’s code if you have designed it with such editors. You can get your pages validated for free by using W3C.
Before you design a full website, start small. Make some smaller websites so you can easily see which areas you can do well, and which areas you may need more work on. Begin by making a few very simplistic pages that offer just basic text, and check out how well you do with that.
Make sure you sign up for things like newsletters, so that you always have saved information on different web design information. This way if you for some reason lose sight during your web designing efforts, you can get straight back into it. Newsletters are undoubtedly helpful for both beginning designers and professionals alike.
Always be sure to make a visual sitemap. This is useful in planning ahead with accuracy. With the visual sitemap, you’ll be able to see how your site structure is developing. You can also look and identify any areas that could use some improvement on, or areas that you feel could just be different. There is no substitute for a clear visual of the project.
Web designers should make every attempt to be a close as possible to perfection. Of course, no website is going to be perfect. But if you have the attitude that you want your website to be as perfect as possible, you’ll constantly look for ways to improve on your website design. No matter the type of website you are constructing, this is an excellent attitude to carry with you.
Limit the number of ads on your site to something reasonable. Having lots of ads can make your site seem unprofessional and spammy. Choose carefully and incorporate ads that have a high level of importance.
Make sure to include a search function. This is vital to maximizing the usability of your site, and helping your vistors find what they need. Site searches are easy to implement; the result will be worth the effort.
Consider the Internet a global marketplace; try to make your sites easy to view and use regardless of what country a visitor lives in. It is in your best interest to create content that recognizes different measuring systems, currencies and time zones. Keep your mind open and think globally, so you can gain a larger audience.
Think like you’re an artist when designing websites. Always be prepared for inspiration to strike. If something inspires you to have a design idea while you are out and about, make sure that you write down a quick note of your idea on whatever you have access to, for example, a napkin. Even if you’re busy with something else, at your job, for example, you can preserve a new idea by calling yourself and leaving a reminder on your voice mail.
To familiarize yourself with the fundamentals of designing a website, work with a basic layout first. Learn the basics first, then add to and improve your site design as you get more comfortable with the technology.
As you have seen, a new web designer must know the basics before they can create stunning websites that also function properly. With all of the resources out there, it may be hard to find the right starting place. This article is the perfect starting point for learning about web design.
