When it comes to web design, it is important to get the best advice around. Use the advice provided here to make your website look great and to compete with other professional sites. There is quite a bit to learn in web design and this article is a perfect way to start.
Don’t use splash pages for your site unless required by law, and especially don’t use a Flash introduction. Most people just want to get to your content as quickly as possible, and don’t care to look at useless splash pages. If you have some amusing content that you absolutely want visitors to see, integrate it into the homepage instead.
You don’t ever want to use too many graphics. Graphics and images are definitely necessary to help facilitate professionalism and appeal, but they can also facilitate clutter if you’re not careful. Don’t use graphics as a decoration for your site; they should be used to make it look professional. Having the right mix of graphics will improve your site’s usability, too.
To help you attract a more professional crowd to your site, make sure your site has no spelling errors. When designing the site, utilize a spell checker and if needed, a grammar checker. If a site has poor spelling and grammar, people will not want to do business with you because they will think you are unprofessional.
Use a descriptive title. Many site owners forget to name their pages, or name them something generic, such as “Welcome Page.” Search engines do use title descriptions in their rankings, so be as descriptive as possible, without going overboard. Make sure the title is usable for your viewers and the search engines.
Learn how to use colors to influence readers. Every color has a can induce a certain feeling. For example, using black backgrounds or images could bring up feelings of depression and darkness while the use of a color like yellow is associated with happiness. Take the time to read about the psychology of colors when determining your site’s color scheme.
When tinkering with your HTML, you always need to save a copy. You can save a copy of your code in a Notepad doc; just save it as .html and it will save as an actual webpage. This way, you can tinker around with things and know that there’s a backup should something go wrong. Failure to save pages may result in having to start from scratch.
If you already have a particular web host that 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 range of your host.
Begin by creating small websites in order to determine areas that are your strengths as well as your weaknesses. Start with a few basic pages containing a small amount of information, and then make your assessment.
Most hosts provide design tools that make building a simple site easy, but these tools will not cover more advanced features. If you stick with the plug-and-play site creator given to you by your host, your website will never reflect your unique personality the way it should.
To help your website function the way it is intended, make sure all links are working. Broken links will frustrate your visitors and they may desert your site.
Successful web design requires a solid knowledge base and these points will start you on the right path.