| Website design can be intimidating if you don't know much about the field. After you complete a few projects, you will improve your skills and find that it is not as difficult as it seemed. The tips which follow can help you to learn what you need to know to get started.
Make sure your site passes the NoScript test. Download and activate the NoScript extension for Firefox and see if your site is still readable. Some content, such as ordering systems for products, can't work without scripts, but if your site is simply blank with scripts turned off, that's bad news.
It may look pretty, but stay away from having too many animations on your site. Having your sales splash page rotate, spin and blink may look cool to you, but it will likely drive potential viewers away. When you add too many flashy splashes like that, it makes your site look amateurish which is not the message you want to convey.
Never underestimate the value of a site that is simple for visitors to navigate. Place your links so they can be found easily. Menus are another way to make site navigation easier on your site. Make sure that links to your main pages are on each page in your site so people can find their way no matter where they are.
White space is an important part of web design, so don't be afraid to use it. Cluttering up your web pages with too many images or too much text, or using a distracting background, will only irritate your visitors. White space can make the important elements of your page more visible.
If you believe your site may be accessed via mobile devices, you will want to keep your designs simple. The use of flash, excessive images, and complicated menus will not translate well to a mobile platform. Keep your page clean and simple, or create a specific mobile site for your users.
It does not matter how you have designed your website; you have to make sure that every file has a small file size. The reason behind this is because the file sizes will affect how fast your website loads. A website that loads more quickly is always a top priority in web design. You must also be aware that everyone doesn't have a high speed connection to the Internet. You want to perform a test to make sure your site performs well, even with dial-up modem connections.
Make sure everything is easy to locate on your website. Spend some serious thought on how everything on your site will be laid out. When content is randomly thrown on your site with little thought to the layout, you are making things harder for the people whose use of your site ensures your online success - your site visitors.
For your image tags, always try to include a brief description in the ALT attribute. Not only is this good for search engine optimization, but it is also beneficial to the sight-impaired users who rely on screen readers to describe image tag contents. Make your description short and as descriptive as possible.
While development platforms can ease the coding process, many are not as efficient as a plain old text editor. What a platform does is help you paste the code onto features that you have made. However, if you're wanting to minimize errors and have an excellent experience, you need to utilize a text editor.
As you can see, there is nothing mysterious about web design. It will be simple for you to create inspiring websites if you continue to learn about the technologies involved. If you just apply the techniques in this article, you should be up and running in no time. |