The key to the success of Google’s website creation is its simplicity. Other sites may go for a more complex layout to please visitors. It’s important to learn the basic concepts of web page design regardless of what type of tone you’re trying to set with your site. Keep reading to find out how to build a great site.
If you’re creating a website, you must look at it in more than one browser. Make sure it looks good on every browser. Make sure you understand the popular browsers out there to design for all. Send your website to a bunch of friends to see if they have trouble.
Ensure your website can pass the NoScript test. The NoScript extension can be downloaded for Mozilla Firefox; doing so will allow you to be sure your site can be read. Some content isn’t going to work without using scripts, but you don’t want to have a blank site with scripts turned on.
You don’t ever want to use too much graphics. Even though graphics might give you a professional looking website, too many may result in a crowded site. Use graphics for improvement, not decoration. Also, including the “right” number of images makes it easier to navigate the site.
Do not allow pop-up windows on your site. Although they may serve some function for your site, the average reader views them as a major irritant. As a result, your users may just go away from your site, too angry to come back.
Alt Tags
For images, use ALT tags. The tags are important because they allow people who struggle with vision to better use your site by translating what the image is to voice, and this works in a similar fashion for those who have images disabled on their device. You can also optimize links further if the images you have are shown as links. The last thing is that ALT tags attract search engine crawlers, so you can get a better ranking by using them.
It is very important that customers can navigate any website easily. Where all navigation links are placed will have an impact on how long any of your visitors stay on your site. You must provide the user with easy navigation to create the right experience.
Choose file types carefully. You are better off keeping the graphics to the normal GIFs and JPEGs so it loads smoothly. Just because PNG and BMP files can be more suited to web graphics, they can use a lot more disk space. Convert your images to file types that are smaller and easier to manage if you want a guaranteed great user experience.
Always use fonts which are legible and professional. The quality of a professional website is measured by it’s fonts. Comic Sans and fancier fonts may not be available on a lot of your users’ computers, so don’t use them. If your reader doesn’t have the font you require, their browser will substitute a default font instead, possibly throwing the layout of your entire page off. That can ruin your design!
Practice by designing small websites to see where your strengths and weaknesses are. Begin by making a few very simplistic pages that offer just basic text, and check out how well you do with that.
When shopping for hosting for your site, review all of the features of each plan before settling on one. Find out how much disk space, bandwidth or CPU usage you are allowed. Make sure you know what you are getting.
When starting, only post small amounts of content. You don’t want information that will confuse the visitors to your page.
You should always create a visual sitemap so that you can plan ahead accurately. You’ll be able to visualize how your site is growing as you add each new part. This will help you locate any area on your website that needs to be improved, as well as areas of neglect. Nothing compares to having a clear visual overview of your project.
Whether you’re going for a site with a minimal look or something which is jazzy and bright, the information you’ve read here will lead you down the right path. Start implementing these tips to build your site, attract traffic and enjoy the results!