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Richard Vanderhurst

Web Design Tips That Everybody Should Know About

Paying a professional to design a website for you can be very costly. Even after you have spent a small fortune, you may not have exactly what you hoped for. Explaining clearly what you want can be hard. You are the only one who truly knows what you want. Continue on for some great web design tips that will show you how to build a site that you can be proud of.

Most of your visitors will find popup windows and links that open in new windows irritating. Actually, many have disabled this function in their browser. These are techniques that should be avoided. If such techniques are part of your site navigation, you should consider reworking your navigation system to avoid them.

Choose a good background. You don’t want your text to be hard to read! A distracting background is…well, distracting. Choose a background that accentuates what your site already has to offer, rather than works against it. This will help get your message across to your visitors.

When you are in the process of choosing your web host, you want to be certain that you understand all facets of the package. What you are going to need to know is CPU usage, bandwidth, disk space, and some other areas that come with the package. Never buy a hosting package without understanding everything that’s included.

Good meta tags are a quick way to ensure your website makes it to a good rank on search engines. Quality meta tags describe your site for search engines. If you use meta tags that do not correspond to your content or to your target audience, do not expect to get a lot of visitors.

If you are going to be a website designer, unleash your inner artist. This means that you should be prepared to receive inspiration as it occurs. If you’re eating out and an idea comes to you, be sure to jot that idea on your napkin. Make sure you always write down, or draw your ideas, so you won’t forget them later.

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. These tools are easy to add to your site, and they provide a huge added value for your readers.

Most people know about Photoshop, and they realize that it takes some effort and knowledge to use it effectively in web design. Fewer people are familiar with the program Dreamweaver, which can be just as useful.

White is perhaps the best option for background color. White backgrounds make copy much more easily readable and give your site a more mature look. However, intricate background images are often difficult to pull off; more often than not they appear sloppy and distracting. For backgrounds, simpler is usually preferable.

Being in charge of your website and website design, will call for you to have your own secluded office space. Using an office space helps you avoid distractions and work more efficiently. You want to build yourself a work space suited to the needs of web design, where all the tools you’ll need are within easy reach.

If video-hosting is something you’d like to include on your site, you’ll first need to ensure that your web host accepts the idea. There are a large number of hosts in the world that do not permit video hosting to be on their servers. This is because the FLV files can take up a lot of server space, so it is prudent that you ask first before you waste your time.

While there will be plenty of attractive designs and strategies, you need to use your own imagination when designing your site. Come up with your own ideas and features or improve upon some that you admired on other sites. By doing this, you are taking advantage of a wide range of web design options.

Whatever your design is like aesthetically, be sure all your files are small. This is because the speed of your website loading is directly influenced by the file sizes. You want your site to load as quick as possible. The other factor to bear in mind is not all visitors access through high-speed connections. Run tests to ensure that even dial-up users report a smooth user experience.

Concept sketches are a fantastic design tool. You should take advantage of them for the initial phases of the web design process. This tool can be effective for designing the look and feel of the website, and also identifying any functional requirements that your website might have. Using this tool is a fantastic way to begin the design process.

When you include videos on your site, you need to be aware that not everyone has a high Internet 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. Videos with extremely high speeds like this will load slowly and buffer frequently for visitors on slow connections.

Make it easy for visitors to back out of a process if they change their minds. This could be a form that they have been filling out, registering for newsletters or emails, or even browsing the website for certain topics or archives. Forcing your user to complete an action they don’t wish to will ensure they never sign up for anything on your site again, nor are they likely to return at all.

Always be sure to make a visual sitemap. This is useful in planning ahead with accuracy. By using this, you’ll discover how the structure of your website is coming along. This will help you locate any area on your website that needs to be improved, as well as areas of neglect. There isn’t anything like a crystal clear visual of your project.

Besides the simplicity that you can see once you learn a bit about it, one very satisfying thing about web design is the great power it offers you to convert ideas into reality with nothing more than a little effort and software. The tips above are various methods you can use to create a great site. Follow the above directions and you will be able to create the website of your dreams.

Richard Vanderhurst

Making A Website? Heed This Advice For A Solid Design

Many people are very interested in learning the fundamentals of web design, but the prospect of doing so can be intimidating. If you are interested in developing your web design skills, this article should be of particular interest to you. Keep reading and you will discover more about what it takes to design an ideal site.

Be certain to ‘remember’ personal information that might have to be re-entered by the same site visitor. For example, if someone registers for your site, and some of the same information is needed to fill out another form, make sure data that they have already entered is preserved, so users do not need to re-enter this information. Developing “sticky” data like this streamlines the user experience, and your visitors will likely appreciate the convenience.

It is important to know that white (unused) space, on your site is a great idea and should not be cluttered. It makes your site easier to read, and your content easier to remember.

When you are making a number of pages that require the same template, the simplest way to do this is to use copy/paste. Rather than generating a HTML code for all pages, just copy the main portion of the code, change it when it’s needed, and save the code every time. By doing this, you can continue to use the master copy over and over again.

The design process doesn’t stop once your website has gone live. It’s important to actively monitor, adjust and update your site. It will not be necessary to update every day, but do realize that fresh content must be a priority. This goes double if your site covers fast-moving topics like politics or hosts videos. Unfortunately, updating a website is not as simple as updating a blog. It does require you to work at it.

If you develop sites that are functional across different platforms, you can attract more visitors. Learning Java, MySQL, PHP and other platforms is going to help you for years to come. Be a designer of many talents, whether you are designing a brand new site, or just helping your friend start one.

Put the search box up high on the page and give it no fewer than 27 characters. The button you use to start the search should also say only “search” to thwart any confusion. Taking these steps ensures that visitors can find and use the search box easily so that they can find whatever they are seeking.

Remember, designing a website does not need to be expensive. Every costly design application has a similar program that does the same job for much less. You can get the same jobs done with open-source no-cost software, for instance, that you can do with corporate-funded for-profit programs. Using these free options can save you tons of money in the design process.

Hire a professional to do your website design, not a friend or family member. Even if they are experienced in web design, firing them or telling them you are unhappy with their product will become much more difficult.

Learn as you go, adding new skills and techniques for web design. When you have mastered one aspect of web design, start with another. Although this can slow the process of building your site, you’ll receive the information that is needed to spit out dozens of sites as you learn.

You may find yourself wanting to hire the first site design company you speak with to save time, but you need to see examples of their work before employing them. You need to see proof that the company can produce high quality work. A companies portfolio will give you a window to see what kind of experience and knowledge they have in website design.

Dedicate a place where readers can give their input and feedback. When you have this area, your visitors can let you know if something needs fixed or if they aren’t sure how use some of the site’s functions. Making your visitors feel involved is a great way to ensure that they will visit your site again.

If you have hired a company to do your web design, be sure to pay them on time. The maintenance of your website is in the hands of the design company. If you are sporadic with payments there is a chance that they will not promptly fix situations that arise. Paying everything on time builds a good relationship with them, and they will be more likely to do the things they need to do quickly.

Make sure you have different designs from other designs of those in your particular niche. An easy way to watch for this is to check out the websites of your competitors. You will want to stand out in the midst of the crowd with a different style and design. If yours is too similar, then you may be seen as the generic version of a site that was there before yours.

Pay attention to the colors on your website to make sure they match. You need to ensure that the text on your site is easily readable against your chosen background. Dark text on light backgrounds are typically easier on the eyes than the other way around. When in doubt about the effectiveness of your color choices, solicit the opinions of friends.

If you plan to include video content on your website, you should first verify that your web host allows it. Many hosts do not allow for video hosting on the servers they provide. All of the FLV files occupy a huge amount of server space, so there is no point setting up a website to accept them if your web host can’t make the space.

After learning a few new things about web design, you can begin to experiment with new techniques and strategies. Keep this information in mind for web design, and be sure to never stop learning about it. Applying new ideas, like the ones found here, will help you move ahead int eh workd of web design.

Richard Vanderhurst

The Best Web Design Advice To Move You Forward

Building a successful website always revolves around an elegant design. Seeing that the site meets certain standards of excellence in usability, content quality, and aesthetics will surely keep visitors coming back. Take a look at the following suggestions, which may help you make your next website even more impressive and effective.

Do not underestimate the value of a website that loads fast, with no slowdowns. If visitors have to wait and sit for a long time as your website load, there is a big chance that they will click away from you website and go elsewhere. They will probably not come back as well.

Don’t underestimate the importance of your “About Us” page. Many websites that you see will have boring pages for this area. Therefore, it is a good idea for you to spice things up a bit! Let people see who you are by sharing your educational background, career moves and future goals.

Always include keywords in your website design that are relevant to your target market. The most effective websites are both attractive and effective. It’s important to understand the client you are making the website for. What are the words that can be utilized which will attract your target audience? Discover approximately five keywords, and then layer them into your design.

Stay away from using pop-up ads. Nobody appreciates new windows popping up automatically when they visit a webpage. Many people will close a website that brings pop-ups as soon as they can, no matter what size the site is. Just avoid these irritating ads, so your users will be happy. If your web host forces you to have pop-up ads, try to find another web host.

Hosting your own site is not a good idea. Designing the site yourself is a good idea, but when it comes to hosting, it’s usually better to use a third party. This will free up your time to concentrate on more important things.

Designing and running a website calls for a personal office space. Make your office space conducive to high-quality, efficient work by removing distractions that could occupy your time. Make sure everything that you need is within reach, and create a space that is efficient for all your design needs.

Always, always remove old or outdated information off your website. If you have a page that is promoting some type of special event that already went on six months ago, then you have lost readers. People want the most accurate information available, and by leaving outdated information online you’re showing you don’t really care what they want. Establish a schedule to update your website, and get rid of the content that is no longer relevant.

Be conscious of your background. There are sites out there that use animated GIF images for their backgrounds. This might be OK for a personal site, but it can also be a serious distraction that makes it hard for readers to focus on the text. Pick a background that meshes with your site, not against it, and your viewers will have a much easier time understanding what you want to say.

You don’t have to tackle the entire project all by yourself. Web design incorporates many different skill sets, from graphic designing to coding to search engine optimization. You should not feel ashamed to get help in the areas you feel least comfortable. When you are not sure how to design something, keep in mind that there are professional web designers out there who can help you get it done.

Pay attention to the colors on your website to make sure they match. Your text should remain the main focus of attention and should be easy to read. Choose a dark color for your text, and use a lighter color for your backgrounds. If you have doubts about your color scheme, run it by a few people and see what they think of it.

Make sure that all the files on your website are small in size. You need these small file sizes regardless of the overall design of your site. This is because file sizes are directly correlated with load times. You should strive to make sure that your website loads as fast as it possibly can. You must keep in mind that not all visitors will have a fast Internet connection. Check your site, and make sure that it can load quickly even with a slow dial-up internet connection.

For some people, their bandwidth is very low, and you need to consider this when putting videos up on your site. While it’s tempting to upload your multimedia at 5,000 kb/s, this speed may be too much for some people’s internet connections to handle. This results in a slow load time for the video which causes is to continuously buffer every few seconds.

You should utilize free resources to build your website. There is a pervasive myth that expensive programs do the job of web design better than the alternatives, but there is plenty of free software that does a great job. A basic Internet search should produce a number of free design programs from which you can choose.

Be sure that your content can be viewed around the globe. It is in your best interest to create content that recognizes different measuring systems, currencies and time zones. Not everyone in a single country will view your content, so make it feasible for as many as possible to understand it.

Set up your site so that visitors can cancel actions they initiate if they change their minds. Actions include registering for any e-mail notifications, browsing the site, or filling out forms. When you do not allow visitors to cancel something they do not wish to complete, you are forcing them into something, which can prove detrimental to fostering return visits and/or purchases.

These tips should make it easier for you to create a website that speaks to your target market with an appealing, easy-to-use format. You will benefit financially by utilizing the tips here.

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Simple Web Design Ideas You Can Use

Web designers have to acquire a lot of different skills to design a website people will want to read. Many sources are out there to give the novice designera a place to start — and this is one of those sources. The following tips will help any web design newbie jump right in.

Your computer’s copy/paste capabilities are some of your most powerful tools when you’re building a website with many very similar sub-pages. Do not write new HTML code every time you start a new page. Copy and paste the main structures of your code and make small changes if you need to. By doing this, you can continue to use the master copy over and over again.

Make sure that the font you are using looks professional, and is easy to read. The font type on a website is a quick indicator of how professional it is. Fonts that are overly artistic may seem like a good idea, but often aren’t accessible on all computers. Unique fonts tend to default on most user’s computers if it’s not available to them. Many times, the result is very unappealing.

Launching your website is just the beginning. Your design process is far from complete. Do not simply abandon your site after you have launched it. While there is no need to change things around every day, you must, nonetheless, update it regularly. That is particularly the case if you host videos or deal with current events. Maintaining your site is different from making an occasional post on your blog. Dedication will be required.

Consider the portfolio of any design organization, before agreeing to hire them for your own website. You want a consultant who produces outstanding designs, and has a history of satisfying clients’ needs. A viewing of their portfolio can provide some insight into their approach and depth of experience with web design.

Talk to a pro to learn a lot about web design. Gathering as much knowledge as you can will ensure that you can become an expert yourself some day.

In the “About Us” area of your site, write some good content about who you are. Too many websites use boring, generic biographies. Make it a little more exciting! Let your visitors know a little bit about you. Share tidbits of information such as your business goals, your beginnings in web design and the sources of your inspiration.

Be conscious of your background. Many sites make use of background images in the animated GIF format. Sometimes this provides an excellent effect; at other times it can make the text of your page illegible. Choose a background which complements your website, and your visitors will find it much easier to read your message.

Remember that some users will have more bandwidth than others when you are posting video files on your site. While you can be tempted to have videos at 5,000 kilobytes per second, that may be too fast for a lot of people’s connections to handle. This means a very slow-loading video that’s going to buffer every other second.

Go ahead and sign up for a newsletter that can inform you about web design periodically, so that if you ever lose sight of your web design goals you have a place to come back to and begin once again. Both pros and novices can benefit from reading good newsletters.

If at all possible, you should set aside a significant block of time every day to devote to web design. You need to dedicate extended periods of time so that you can actually get some work done rather than just working a little bit here and there. Diligent work with your website will boost your own profits as well as your skill level.

Make sure someone is testing your site for proper functioning as you are designing each step. On each instance of adding a feature, be certain that you have someone look it over and give you objective feedback. Things that may seem inconsequential to you, such as graphics that load slowly, may appear to be major obstacles to other people. Do your best to gather outside opinions.

A great strategy for planning your website accurately is to utilize a visual sitemap. With the visual sitemap, you’ll be able to see how your site structure is developing. Going from here, you are going to be able to identify if any areas are going to need improvement, or if you neglected an area. There is no better way to get an overall view of your website than to have a visual sitemap.

You are in the right direction if you are using a web host’s website building tools, but it is not ideal to rely solely on those tools. Try to integrate your personality into the site by adding and tweaking things without just relying on dragging and dropping things your web host provides.

Never use the services of family members to assist you in creating your website. Even if you may have family or friends that are qualified to design your site, your acquaintanceship will make it hard for you to maintain a fully professional relationship. This likewise limits your ability to criticize the end result.

Remember to put your search box on your web pages near the top. Also ensure that it will hold at least twenty-seven characters. The button you use to start the search should also say only “search” to thwart any confusion. Doing this makes sure the search box can be easily seen, used and helps visitors to your site find exactly what they were looking for.

Do not work with pop-ups. There is nothing worse than visiting a website and getting assaulted by tons of pop-up ads. This often causes people to leave a site, meaning they never take the time to get to know your product. Make sure your customers are happy by eliminating these pesky ads from your site. If your web hosting company requires the use of pop-ups, consider moving to a new host.

It’s now a given that new web designers need to learn web design basics to be able to build handsome, properly functioning websites. Since there are so many resources available, it can be hard to decide where to start. By following the advice in the article above, you will be able to start learning the basics of web design.