If you want to have a successful website, you must have a firm understanding of the best practices in web page design. Website development is about much more than making a site look good; good design can make your website more appealing to visitors, easier for them to use and identify with. Your visitors will enjoy reading through your website, and come back to it later. The article below discusses some of the things you can do to be successful at web page design.
Speed is critical online, so you have to be certain that your website pages load very quickly. If Internet users have to wait a long time for your website to load, they will probably leave your site before it loads and vow never to return.
Avoid using clashing, loud colors when designing your website. You have to be certain that your text will be readable on top of the background colors you use. Dark text colors on lighter backgrounds tend to be easier on the eyes than light colors on dark backgrounds. Ask someone to look at your color schemes to make sure you are choosing something harmonious.
Your site must be simple to navigate if you want to attract visitors. Your links need to be prominently placed, easy to understand and functional. A navigation menu will also help visitors locate exactly what they’re looking for. 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.
Do your best to store any personal information of your users so that they don’t have to enter it over and over again on your site. For example, if a person has to enter their information to register for an account, and then is filling out a form on your website that requires the same information, you want to have their data saved, so that they do not have to take the time to fill everything out again. Your clients will thank you for saving them the time it takes to fill in information that they have previously done on your site.
Make sure that you get rid of any material that is outdated on your site. 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. Users want to spend their time on sites that are cared for, and leaving up old information shows a lack of attention to the site. Create a timeline for your updates, and clean up any old promotions or information that is not current.
Make use of free software in your site setup. Though expensive software is certainly available, free products can work just as well when it comes to setting up and running your site. Just look around a bit to locate the ones that will work best for what you need.
You can use some free software to help set up your site. Investing in powerful software packages like Photoshop is only worth it if you think they’ll pay off in the end. You just need to do a little Internet searching in order to find some free tools that will work best for you.
White is the most common background color online for a reason. White puts the focus on the content, making it easier to read. If you are trying to to exude a professional tone, a white background lends a trustworthy feeling to your site. Crazy backgrounds can just cause confusion and make your content become lost. It also tends to make your webpage look much less professional. Make your background as simple as possible.
Meta Tags
White is the most common background color online for a reason. White backgrounds make copy much more easily readable and give your site a more mature look. When there is a more complicated design in the background, it can be very distracting, and make your website look less professional. You will find that simpler backgrounds are better.
If you want your website to get more visitors, take care to use relevant, up-to-date meta tags on every page of your site. High quality meta tags assist search engines in understanding the topic of your website. Non descriptive or inaccurate meta tags will result in low visibility for your website.
It’s vital that you test your web designs on multiple browsers. Since each browser works a little differently, your coding could be interpreted differently on each one, and in some instances it could cause the website to not function properly. Utilize the Internet by researching which browsers are the most commonly used. Check your website on every one one of these browsers, and do not forget mobile web browsers that have become popular.
Stick with common fonts that look professional. They are common for a reason. The font type on a website is a quick indicator of how professional it is. Comic Sans and fancier fonts may not be available on a lot of your users’ computers, so don’t use them. Your style should specify a default font in case a user doesn’t have your preferred font. This may make your entire design look bad.
Try using readable and professional-appearing fonts. You can tell if a site is professional just by viewing their fonts. Avoid fancy fonts that are hard to read or unprofessional fonts such as Comic Sans. If a visitor doesn’t have a font on his computer, his browser may display a default font that doesn’t look right. When the font defaults it can tend to make your webpage look much worse than it really is.
There are many benefits of using good website design practice. Your site will look even better, be more user-friendly, and build trust with your users. Whether or not your website succeeds or fails is based on your design. There are several good website development suggestions in this article. Let them help you make a success of your website.
Choose some reference books on design principles in general, and web design in particular. Choose books adapted to your current level of skills and very comprehensive. Read reviews before buying anything.