Web designers have to acquire a lot of different skills to design a website people will want to read. Fortunately, many resources exist to assist a novice web designer in getting started. Keep reading for a selection of web design tips and tricks.
Be sure to use proper graphics when designing your website. Remember, bitmap images can get quite large and often don’t work very well while PNG images work fine. For non-photographic images, text buttons, and screen shots, use PNG or GIF. For photos, JPEG images work well.
Speed is king on the Internet, so you need to make sure your web pages load quickly. If someone visiting your site has to wait a while in order for a page to load, it’s likely they will click off your site and leave. They probably won’t return.
Never underestimate the value of a site that is simple for visitors to navigate. Display links prominently so that they can be easily found. Menus are another way to make site navigation easier on your site. Have your main page links located on every page so visitors can easily go through your site.
When a user enters personal information into a form on your website, give the user the option to have the server retain that information should it be needed again. When a visitor fills out a registration form on your website, for instance, your site should hang onto that information, and use it to fill out data fields for the visitor on subsequent interactive pages ahead of time. Keeping information “sticky” like this will make it simple to sign up for things on your site, and visitors will appreciate that you have saved them time.
No matter the niche or what the intent of the site is, you must aim to make them have 10 second or less loading times. This will make people want to stay on your site. Most people who use the Internet want instant gratification, so it is best that your website provides it.
You need to have content that moves and excites your visitors. If it grabs your visitors attention, they will stick around and return for more. When the content on your site is valuable and useful, visitors will continue visiting your site.
Pay attention to the graphics you use. In general, JPEGs and GIFs are best for graphics. Although PNG and MBP files might be the better options for web graphics, they take up way too much disk space. When you change your images to smaller files, your website visitors will find your website easier to navigate.
Placing a visitor counter on your site is unattractive. You might like the number going up, but your visitors don’t like it. Get rid of visitor counters and encourage social media interaction instead.
Now that you’ve been exposed to the basics, you should feel confident in moving forward with a website. There are many resources available to assist in this process, but it can be difficult to navigate through them all. What you’ve read here will get you started and help you to figure out where to go next.