You probably want to create your own website. In this day and age, most people have wanted to create their own website at some point. Many people have an idea of what they want their site to be like, but aren't sure how to create one. If this sounds like you, then you will want to pay close attention to the web design tips in this article.
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.
Avoid trying to add every new gadget to your website. It can be tempting to make your site look cutting edge by including every new web design option out there but it can end up turning people off. Simple will generally get the job done even better than a flashy layout.
Organize your links and avoid putting too many links in one area of your site. Doing this can confuse visitors and make them leave your site. If you do have many low- to mid-importance links, emulate the "blogrolls" seen in many blogs and tuck them away in a column on the right side of the page.
Use a tracking service, rather than displaying your visitor counter for all to read. Many websites still display their counters, yet they do not serve any real purpose. There are many high quality tracking services available, and some are even free. Use these instead of showing off how many people visit you.
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 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. Large files take longer to load when people visit your website. You want your loading time to be as quick as possible. Remember that there are still lots of people who do not have high speed Internet. Check your site, and make sure that it can load quickly even with a slow dial-up internet connection.
To help your web pages load quickly, you should compress all the images on the website page. If you have images that are compressed then pages will load much faster. Nothing is more frustrating to viewers than waiting for a 250k graphic to load when it should really only be 20k.
Be sure the websites you're designing are cross-browser compatible. You must check your site in the most popular versions of every top browser. Some examples include Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Opera. Many users use these browsers for surfing online, so you need to be sure your designs are being seen correctly on whatever they use.
Try to make sure that any music or pictures that you're linking to is hosted on your own web server. Do not hotlink to any other website images. This can be construed as bandwidth theft and it could put you in violation of a copyright too. It's not worth the risk.
Add a search feature to a website. When visitors come to your website, they want to easily be able to find what they are looking for. A keyword search feature will make it easy for people to find the right page on your site, especially if the website you are designing is very complex.
If you already have a particular web hosting solution that you know you are going to use, keep its limitations in mind as you design your website. For example, do not create a website that relies on specific programming languages if your web host does not support these languages. It is fairly simple to find out which technologies are supported by your web host. Make certain that your design is something that is within the limitations of your host.
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!
Do your best to stay consistent with your efforts when you are learning web design. You don't want pensacola web design to learn a couple of things then come back a couple of weeks later and try to learn something new and already have forgotten the information that you had previously learned complicating your whole web design process.
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.
As was previously discussed in the above article, a lot of people build websites, but because they use a hard to read font size, it becomes impossible to see the information presented on the site. Take heed of the hints presented here to help you design a site that will wow your visitors.