Thursday, February 21, 2013

How To Design On The Web Like A Pro

By Shante Garnet


If you are interested in learning to do what it takes to design your own websites then look no further. The tips in this article can help you on your way to learn to do what it takes to become a successful web designer. If you follow what you learn ahead then you should reach any of your web design goals.

Think of cellphone users when designing your site. More people than ever before are using their mobile phone to surf the internet. If they cannot access your site or if it can't be viewed well on their phone, they will likely stay away from your site. That can cost you a lot of business.

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.

Use JavaScript to include a custom font on your webpages. Libraries like Typekit and Google Web Fonts make it easy to include esoteric fonts on webpages, even if most visitors don't have those fonts on their computers. It works by embedding the font itself into JavaScript so that it can be decoded by the client on the fly.

Get feedback on your web design. A web designer is only one person, and what you might find attractive or useful, might be considered by others to be irrelevant and hard to navigate. If possible, get some members of your target market to test your site and give you feedback on what they like and what they don't.

Ensure that your customers can find your website with or without the "www"� at the beginning of your web address. Many people do not even use this sub-domain anymore. Try typing in your web address with it and then try typing it in without it to verify it works both ways.

If you are designing a commercial website, you do not want to use free web hosting. This brings annoying ads onto your site, and it detracts from a professional look to your commerce site. Instead, pay for some basic or professional web hosting, in which you do not have to put up with this.

If you have several pages on your web site, use a navigation bar at the top to help visitors find the information they need right away. Include contact information, so they can speak with you if they'd like. Headings should be clear and visible, and paragraphs should be concise as well as easy to read.

Avoid cramming page elements together. Each section of your page should be naturally separated from each other, as this makes the purpose of each section more clear. The easiest way to separate sections is by using DIVs, but there are other ways, including absolute positioning (not recommended), the CSS margin command, and floats.

While you might be inclined to add a lot of bells and whistles to your website, flashing graphics, loud music and neon colors will just distract from the purpose of your website. Visitors who are bombarded by too many sights and sounds might be inclined to leave your website before they even start browsing. Keep the colors simple and the content relevant and your website design will be a winner.

In conclusion, web design is something that you are interested in learning more about but you often find that you do not make the time to do anything about it. As mentioned earlier, you have just read some of the best tips around, organized in an easy to digest format. Use this expert advice and become a great web designer.




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