As a web designer myself, I can say that learning as much as I could from experts was how I got started. I looked at their sites, checked out their code, and even borrowed from their designs. Today there is a great deal of information available to help you get into the game, and this article is a great place to start learning.
Keep the size of your web pages small. A lot of modern web pages are full of unnecessary elements, including huge images, Flash advertising, and lots of AJAX. Many people, especially those in rural areas and other countries with less-developed internet infrastructure, don’t have high-speed Internet and will have to wait forever for a large page to load.
Don’t use OnExit popups on your website. This tactic is mainly used by internet marketers who are trying a last-ditch attempt to get a sale. Word about these kinds of popups get around, and they will kill your reputation as a marketer. Mozilla has even taken steps to suppress the text on these popups, citing security risks.
Avoid using so-called “mystery meat navigation”. This involves using unlabeled images or other elements for the site’s navigation. In many cases, the visitor has to mouse over the buttons to even see what they do. Navigation is best kept simple. Use text links across the top or along the left side of the page.
The faster a web page loads, the more it will be appreciated. You should minimize the loading time of your site’s pages. If a visitor to your site has to wait minutes for pages to laod, they’ll get bored and go elsewhere.
Always ensure you are giving meaningful feedback, as this is what creates the communication between a website and its visitors. For example, if an action taken by a visitor results in an error, do not simply display “error occurred.”� Instead, provide a message that explains what happened and how the visitor can correct the error by taking a different action. Without this feedback, visitors are more likely to grow frustrated and just give up by leaving your website.
Do not utilize pop-ups. Nobody appreciates new windows popping up automatically when they visit a webpage. Many people will leave a site that has pop-ups, even the big sites. Just avoid these irritating ads, so your users will be happy. If your web host forces you to have pop-up ads, try to find another web host.
A great way to get repeat visitors to your site, is by having them subscribe to your newsletter. By giving your visitors an opportunity to keep current on your site offerings, you increase their loyalty. Put the form in a convenient sidebar, and track the users who subscribe. Only send out a newsletter to people who have subscribed to it, otherwise you will have angry customers.
To help you design a more professional looking site, do not include an image in the page background. A background image screams low quality site, plus these site usually take forever to load. When you are going for a more professional look, the last thing you want is your visitors waiting forever because images are still loading on your pages.
Make sure your site loads quickly. Visitors that get stuck waiting for slow pages to load will almost always leave the website. Therefore, cut back on things like Flash, how many graphics you have, and expire headings.
To help make your site more interactive incorporate games into your site. Having games on your site makes it a lot of fun for the visitor. If your visitors are not having a good time on your site, then they will leave and go look for something else to do.
Although the tools that a host makes available for web design can help you arrange your site’s basic layout, you shouldn’t rely on them exclusively. Make your site as personal as possible by tweaking or adding more features to the generic website you can create via the tools offered by your hosting service.
If you expect many people to contribute to the content of the website, incorporating a content management system (CMS) into the design of the website might be a good idea. A CMS will make it easier for everyone to add to and update the content without needing a high level of technical knowledge. These systems are easy to use, and can make publishing content on the website much more efficient.
When you’re using the file server FileZilla, be sure to quick program the menu settings with the correct port, your username, and your domain. FileZilla will save your settings and let you connect right away thanks to your personalized settings. This will cut down on a lot of wasted time.
When you learn a new site design tactic, you should double-check how accurate it is before you implement it on your site. A faulty tactic may mess up your code and your entire site, so it’s important that you ensure it’s a working tactic before you apply it to your website.
SEO
Make sure all of your webpages actually have titles, and make sure they are descriptive. A surprising number of webpages out there are called “untitled document” or “new document”. This not only denies visitors a useful piece of information to remember your site, but also absolutely destroys your SEO, since search engines weight page titles heavily when ranking sites.
Make sure that your site has a site map. You can count on a web site for two main things. First, it enables visitors to find their way around more easily. People can find what they’re searching for easily. Secondly, the site map is perfect for optimizing your site for search engines, or SEO. The search engines will much better be able to locate your site and begin crawling.
Now that I’ve been designing websites for over a decade, I feel that I can give some advice back. Use the tips in this article, continue learning as much as you can, and stay on top of trends to ensure your long island web design firm stand out in the crowd. If I can do it, anyone can!