Lots of people are interested in designing web pages, but few have the knowledge they really need to be successful. Ask yourself, is this a hobby or do you strive to make this into something professional? Follow the advice outlined in the following paragraphs to help you learn about site design.
Before publishing your website, check it over carefully for any broken links. Visitors can get frustrated when they click a link and come across an error page. You could check for broken links yourself, or get a program that scans and reports broken links for you.
A great way to get repeat visitors to your site, is by having them subscribe to your newsletter. When a customer can get frequently updated on things, they will keep visiting to see more. Stick the sign-up form in a spot that’s out of the way, such as in a sidebar, and keep good records of those who sign up. Your newsletter should only go out to those who specifically request to receive it, or you run the risk of turning off your customers.
Make sure that your front page is not too difficult to read. People judge a site and whether they want to go further by what the initial webpage looks like. Provide simple content on what you do and how to contact you.
Never use an overabundance of conflicting fonts on your website. Also consider how the fonts look on a regular screen. Small serif fonts are harder to read. The majority of sites utilize Verdana, which is easy to read in any size or color.
To work out the visual aspects of your site design, you can use a program like Photoshop to create mockups. Using this type of program will help a website look more professional in a short amount of time. Not having this software can lead to a design which looks amateurish and untrusthworthy.
Search Engines
If you want your site to reach search engines, ditch frames. While they improve your site’s looks, any information contained in a frame is not indexed by search engines. If pertinent info is not readable by search engines, your rankings will be negatively affected. When this happens, you won;t get a lot of visitors.
Make sure you design your website with older Internet Explorer versions in mind. While IE is the bane of everyday browsing these days, you would be surprised how many people use outdated browsers for web surfing. Workarounds are often necessary when standard elements can’t be rendered. Make sure you look at the very vexing “box model bug” that IE experienced.
Always make sure navigation is clear and easy. Placing your navigation links in easy to find locations will help you keep visitors on your website. Navigating your site must be easy, consistent, and neat for visitors to have a good experience.
Do not add pop-up advertisements to your site. Incorporating ads is an important part of a website but they should not detract from your viewer’s experience. People won’t want to return to your site. Ads should be kept simple, without the need for crazy pop-ups.
Reserve a domain as soon as you can. Get creative and choose something you want, but reserve the name early to ensure you have it. Even if your idea is very original, someone else could think up the same thing. We are all connected and think in similar ways.
Now you have the knowledge to make a website. Use the information presented in this article so that you’re able to successfully design your website.