Many people think that web design is difficult, however that is only true for those who don't make an effort to learn what goes into building one. As is the case with nearly anything you want to do today, you can find lots of helpful software tools to assist you in making web design simple. Read on to learn how to select the best design tips for your website.
Keep the size of your web pages small. A lot of modern web pages are full of unnecessary elements, including huge images, Flash advertising, and lots of AJAX. Many people, especially those in rural areas and other countries with less-developed internet infrastructure, don't have high-speed Internet and will have to wait forever for a large page to load.
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.
Be aware of the background you choose. Some sites include complex or patterned GIF backgrounds that can make text hard to read, no matter how novel it may look. Select a wallpaper complementary to the rest of your design, so that your users will be able to negotiate the site more easily.
Ensure that you're including a method of receiving feedback from your site's visitors. 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. Letting your visitors get involved helps to ensure they will come to your site again.
To help you attract a more professional crowd to your site, make sure you design your site with no spelling errors. When designing the site, utilize a spell checker and if need to, a grammar checker. If you have a site with poor spelling and grammar, people will not want to do business with you because they will think it is unprofessional.
Don't load rich content automatically. Rich content mainly refers to music and videos, but anything other than text or graphics qualifies. Many people browse in work environments where sounds suddenly playing is a big problem. Also, many people find such rich content annoying in general. Rich content should require some interaction from the user before playing.
One thing you should always take into account when you're thinking about web design is the latest technology that is out today. As technology advances to does the web, so be sure you are always up to date with what is changing so that you're that much more understanding of how the web works.
It is important that you incorporate meta tag into the design of each of your website page, if you want to increase your website's exposure. Having some meta tags that offer quality will be able to help show different search engines what your site is all about. If you use poor meta tags, or worse, don't use them at all, your site will get fewer visitors overall.
A good resource where you can learn some insightful knowledge is a book store. You can go to a bookstore and read books that have information on html, c+, photoshop, and dreamweaver as these are some of the key things more info you need to learn when it comes to being a well- knowledgable web designer.
If you are serious about web design, then Adobe Dreamweaver is one program you need to consider. Amateurs are even able to use this program effectively. It allows you to create your own templates, save your favorite layouts, add the features you want and preview your site before it is permanent.
When you do progress through your stages of web design and have a site that is up and running you want to make sure that it isn't cluttered with ads. People don't mind ads but they hate it when there are a lot that make it difficult to navigate through your site, and you don't want people mad.
Avoid every instance of spammy "sell language" that you possibly can. Studies show that users are likely to jump off of a webpage the instant they pick up the "salesman" vibe. This is because it is said to actually trigger a predatory response in human brain function! So next time you want to sell a product, remember that the potential consumer may view you as a predator and run!
A clean PC is a happy PC when you're building a site. Some software programs will use up a lot of disk space, so having junk files on your PC will bog you down. Besides, it's hard to remain neat and organized if you have files strewn all over the place. Keep your PC free of junk files and clutter.
Focusing on your target audience is important even for website design. For instance, if you're designing a site in order to sell winter coats, you're not exactly going to have a beach themed background with Joe Strummer tunes playing upon entry. Keep your site closely related to its targeted audience.
To wrap it up, you were not sure of the important role that web design plays in a company's success, but now you have quite a good feel for it. Ideally, this article will be more than enough to enable you to pass this information on and help other people with the same questions.