Article written by-Rouse Rasch
Because so much of our lives revolves around the internet today, low quality web pages don't get a lot of attention. If you need to learn more about designing an effective web page that will get people coming back again and again to your website, this article is for you.
click here to investigate is always good to add a favicon to your website. The favicon is a 16x16 image file in the .Ico format. This image is the one you see next to the URL bar, next to the title of the page on an opened tab and is also visible on your bookmarks tab if you choose to bookmark a page. The favicon will help users quickly recognize your page in their browser without reading any text or directly viewing the page.
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.
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 more likely to assume there is something wrong with your site and leave.
Make sure your website uses a consistent font throughout. Some websites change fonts willy-nilly without any design reason to do so. This makes the content difficult to process for visitors. Most websites, especially business websites, will do just fine sticking to basic fonts like Arial, Veranda, or even Times New Roman.
Always mark files that must be opened in an external program with an icon. Many sites host PDF files, and less commonly, DOC files, that must be opened in Foxit Reader and Microsoft Word/OpenOffice, respectively. These files should be marked with an icon representing the file type, and a link to download the appropriate viewer if the user does not have it.
Test your website before it goes live. There's nothing worse then launching your new website and having to take it down right away due to bugs or other issues. Get a group of people together who are using different web browsers and computer platforms, and ask them to use a beta version of your website, writing down any issues they come across.
Focus on conditional loading as you build your webpages as well as CSS that is specifically for pages opening in varying browsers. This will help with maintenance and testing down the road. This technique allows you to make changes to your website without a lot of work.
Provide a navigation menu on every page of your site. While this menu does not have to link every single page of your site, as this could be an exhaustive list if you have a very large site, it should provide links to the main pages. This ensures that your visitors do not have to return to the home page and start completely over when it is not necessary.
Keep your education ongoing. Websites are constantly changing, every day, and if you stop learning new things, you may find yourself falling behind the pack with your designs. Try to convince yourself to learn one new thing each day, be it programming a new background, or a simple HTML setup.
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.
Make sure that you periodically go back and try to remember all that you've learned thus far. One of the biggest problems people have when they first start out with website development is that they learn one or two things and forget them a couple of days later, which can hurt their website progress.
Create a comprehensive "About Us" page. Often, a website will contain a boring, half thought-out page to cover this. Make yours exciting and interesting! Let people know a bit about you and what inspired you to get into website creation and other things like that.
When you are choosing a web host, make sure that you understand what the service package includes. You should understand the issues relating to bandwidth, CPU usage, disk space and other aspects. Be certain to know exactly what you will be getting.
go right here should not only place your search box close to the top of the page, but should allow visitors to type 27 or more characters into the box. The search button should clearly be labelled "SEARCH". Following these guidelines ensures that site visitors can quickly find and use this feature to locate information.
When you're creating similar pages, use the copy and paste feature to speed up the process. Rather than taking the time to constantly start from scratch with HTML coding, just copy existing content and re-save it with a new name. The index page can be worked off of ad infinitum.
Try not to utilize Flash when developing your website. Flash can look exciting and high-tech, but on some machines it will lag and cause a site visitor's computer to lag. Don't forget that many phones and tablet PCs don't have Fl;ash enabled, which can ruin the user experience for some and dissuade them from returning to your site.
Use copy and paste to help you create multiple webpages for your website. Instead of writing your HTML from scratch every time, use the shared section of code as a template and make the necessary changes, then use "save as" to save the file under a new name. Doing this will save you a ton of time!
Do not let your career become stifled by focusing solely on one particular sector of web design. Unless you are certain that single area is the one you want to stay with forever, try becoming versed in other areas like front-end development or UI for example. This diversity will increase your options down the road.
Obviously the tips above don't cover every single aspect of web page design. You will have to research further if there is more you need to know about the subject. As you can see, though, the tips provided here will help you get and stay on the right path. Use these tips wisely to build a great site.