Make sure that the font you are using looks professional, and is easy to read. You can tell if a site is professional just by viewing their fonts. Some fonts, such as comic sans, are ones that you want to stay away from. If they don’t have that font on their computer, it might be subset to their default font. Sometimes this looks worse, but often times it helps the reader who otherwise may not have been able to read your website clearly.
If you want to have videos on your website, you should first confirm with your web host that they will allow this. A lot of services cannot spare the bandwidth or storage space for videos. Do not waste time by building videos to be be hosted on a site that does not allow the space you need for FLV or similar files.
Leaving white space for your users is a well-reviewed element of design. Having some free space within your site improves its readability. This will cause your visitors to more easily read and retain the knowledge provided to them.
You must look at the portfolio, and speak to the references, of any web design company you wish to work with. You want a consultant who produces outstanding designs, and has a history of satisfying clients’ needs. You can rapidly develop a pretty reliable picture of their professional capabilities and their work history by examining their portfolio.
Don’t hire anyone you are related to when you are designing your website and seeking out a professional. When trying to find someone to design a webpage, hiring family members or friends isn’t a good idea. If they do not do a good enough job, firing them can prove more difficult than firing someone you do not know as well.
Don’t use Flash when designing a site. While it is indeed flashy, it can cause your site to slow down, crash your reader’s browser, or even not show up at all. 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.
Remember, designing a website does not need to be expensive. For each pricy, popular, useful web design tool, there exists one of equal usefulness that costs less. For example, open source software can accomplish many of the same things you might use paid software for, and it is free. Therefore, using open-source software can save you a large amount of money.
You want to set up some way to let visitors give you feedback. That way, if they are having a problem or there are missing items on your pages, you will be made aware and can fix the problem. Involving your visitors in your website can help to bond them to your brand and bring them back time and time again.
In order for your site to bring in visitors, its navigation must be intuitive. Make all links prominent and easily located. Menus can also help with site navigation. Ensure that you have a link to your website’s home page on every page on your website so that visitors can easily return to you site’s main page.
Set up your site so that visitors can cancel actions they initiate if they change their minds. This could be anything from filling out forms to registering for email newsletters. If you don’t let visitors back out of an incomplete action, it can be perceived as forcing them to do something, which will probably make them go elsewhere.
Regular newsletters attract repeat website visitors. Letting customers subscribe to updates and new information can keep them coming back. 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. Only send the newsletter to those who request it, or you could find yourself in hot water.
Keep in mind that a website does not have to be designed only by you. Lots of knowledge from different areas must be known about web design, which includes user interface design, search engine optimization, web programming, content creation, and graphic design. It’s common to outsource some of this work, so don’t feel ashamed to do so. If there are areas that are unfamiliar to you, consider hiring a professional service to help you.
Website designers must always aim for perfection. While there really isn’t any such thing as a perfect website, this mentality will allow you to constantly improve and expand on what you have already created. Having this sort of motivation will be of great benefit regardless of the purpose of any site you build.
Be careful when you upload video content for your site; remember that a lot of Internet users are still operating with very limited bandwidth. While videos and graphic-heavy layouts might looks nice, they will only serve to annoy people if it is too slow to pull up. This can result in a video that is slow-loading and needs to buffer often.
Create and install a website icon on your page. A favicon will help users who add your website to their bookmark see your page more easily. As they look through their bookmark list, your favicon will stand out more than the bookmarks of other sites. If possible, create a favicon that’s consistent with your business logo, product, or theme.
As you have seen, a new web designer must know the basics before they can create stunning websites that also function properly. There are so many resources available that it could all seem overwhelming. After reading this article you should now be a bit better informed about proper web designs and the basics of how to get started.
