There are many different uses for websites. Some sites are meant for social networking, others for entertainment purposes. No matter what its use, all websites require a knowledgeable webmaster so they can be designed properly. The following tips will help you to become educated on the topic.
Make sure your text and background has the proper contrast. There's evidence showing that white text on a black background is easiest for most people to read, but other colors are fine so long as they're readable. Also keep in mind that people with visual impairments may not be able to read your site if the contrast is poor. Check to see if your site complies with various contrast standards using the tool at http://snook.ca/technical/colour_contrast/colour.html .
Avoid using so-called "mystery meat navigation". This involves using unlabeled images or other elements for the site's navigation. In many cases, the visitor has to mouse over the buttons to even see what they do. Navigation is best kept simple. Use text links across the top or along the left side of the page.
Make sure your webpages aren't too long. You only get one chance to make a first impression, and if your most important content is "below the fold," it may not even be read. If you have a lot of related content that needs to stay together, consider breaking it up into sections and adding links to each section.
It may look pretty, but stay away from having too many animations on your site. Having your sales splash page rotate, spin and blink may look cool to you, but it will likely drive potential viewers away. When you add too many flashy splashes like that, it makes your site look amateurish which is not the message you want to convey.
Don't use splash pages for your site unless required by law, and especially don't use a Flash intro. Most people just want to get to your content as quickly as possible, and don't care to look at useless splash pages. If you have some amusing content that you absolutely want visitors to see, integrate it into the homepage instead.
Include a link to the homepage on every page of your site. One of the best ways to do this is to make a graphic title for your page that can be included on all pages. Web users are used to clicking on a graphic to return home so there won't be a learning curve to navigating your site.
A successful website needs to work for visitors using any browser, so it is important to test your web pages to make sure they display properly in different browsers. A webpage that displays properly using Internet Explorer, could appear incorrectly or poorly on a different browser such as Firefox or Chrome. Check how each page displays in the major browsers before your site goes live.
Use ALT tags whenever possible. These helpful tags describe an image to a viewer, assisting the visually impaired, as well as those who prefer to browse without images. As an added bonus, some search engines include these tags in their rankings, so you may get a boost by using them.
Use a style sheet to stay consistent. There is almost nothing more disconcerting than being sent to a page that looks at nothing like the site you were just looking at, even if it is concerning the same subject. Style sheets help with saving your formatting, so each page looks similar to the rest.
Your website should be easy to scan. Through usability tests, it has been determined that many readers online do not read all content. Normally, most are just scanning for interesting parts. Break text into small, easy to scan sections to help readers quickly find the information they are looking for. Keep the most pertinent information near the top of the page. This helps make sure that visitors get the information they need in the quickest way possible.
The best web sites communicate a lot of information in a small amount of words. If you are long-winded, people will easily get bored and find another site that is more concise. Make sure any content is relevant and easy to understand - newspapers use an eighth grade reading level, which is the most common literacy level.
Try to minimize your image usage. Generally, simpler designs are more effective for the user. So keep your site simple, but also neat. Avoid cluttering pages with large, bulky images that have long loading times. Try being creative with the layout and using your "eye."For example, use eye-catching focal points to get a viewer to visit something specific.
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 web 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.
Make sure you are always on the lookout for as much information as you can grasp your mind around when you're getting into web design. There usually isn't anything that you can learn that isn't going to benefit you in web design, unless the information you learn isn't true so be aware of this.
Keep your taglines visible, and include them on every page in your domain and sub-domains. These should be in large, bold text and the first thing that the viewer will see when they follow any links. They can quickly let the reader know what the offer, goal, or purpose is of the page, and whether they go back or stay on this page.
Never force your visitor to take a specific path through your site or interrupt their workflow. What you are trying to avoid is having some offers take control of their desktop until they enter data. Guide them to what you want but don't kidnap them and force them to do what you wish. By requiring visitors to do something before moving on, you will likely cause them to run far away and never return.
You can create a website to do just about anything you want, including videos, audio, and text communication. You will need to learn how to design first. Put the above advice to use and you will have success with web design.
Orignal From: Web Design Secrets That You Need To Learn
No comments:
Post a Comment