If you’ve ever seen those commercials boasting about technical schools, then you already know that careers like web design are in high demand. What you might not have known, however, is that you do not need to attend a special school or take a course to learn web design. You can pick up the skills necessary from these tips below.
Always mark files that must be opened in an external program with an icon. Many sites host PDF files, and less commonly, DOC files, that must be opened in Foxit Reader and Microsoft Word/OpenOffice, respectively. These files should be marked with an icon representing the file type, and a link to download the appropriate viewer if the user does not have it.
Be certain that your website can be scanned easily. Many readers online look for information that is interesting to them. Easily-skimmed articles will make it easier on readers and will entice them to come back another time. Definitely keep the most timely and important items near the top. All of this ensures a more satisfying experience for your visitors because they can quickly find what they need.
Search engine capabilities are an essential part of a large site. Try having a search box in the upper-right of your homepage that allows searching for terms on your site. You can get a search bar from Google or FreeFind.
If you want more visitors to your site, you need to thrive-themes it in a way that makes it easy to update content. If your site can be easily updated it helps you to be able to quickly add new and relevant information. A site that is constantly updated will keep your visitors coming back for more.
Every page of your website should have a way to return to the main page, or “home.” This ensures that when users navigate deeper into your site, they always have a way to start over if they lose place of what got them to the page they are on currently.
To be updated on the new web design tricks, you should join an online forum. When joining these message boards you meet people who usually have an understanding of all the new web design technology. Without this new web design technology you could end up with a site that is completely outdated.
Make use of your grammar and spell checker. Yes, some mistakes may get passed some of your audience, but it will not get past everyone. You could lose some of your audience because of this, particularly if you make mistakes frequently. Do your best to correct your grammar and spelling on your site.
When you do progress through your stages of web design and have a site that is up and running you want to make sure that it isn’t cluttered with ads. People don’t mind ads but they hate it when there are a lot that make it difficult to navigate through your site, and you don’t want people mad.
If you are designing a commercial website, you do not want to use free web hosting. This brings annoying ads onto your site, and it detracts from a professional look to your commerce site. Instead, pay for some basic or professional web hosting, in which you do not have to put up with this.
When designing your website, it is a good idea not to stray too far from popular conventions. For example, most users expect that when they click on the website logo at the top of a webpage, they will be taken to the home page of the website. If your website behaves differently, it can confuse the user. In many cases, straying from such conventions can lead to a poor overall user experience.
Never enter into a website development course unless you already understand the basics. The vast majority of people in these courses are already far ahead of you, thus the material being taught is strictly technical. There is no buffer period. You’ll go from 0 to 60 instantly and will be left behind if you enter as a complete novice.
Don’t overuse graphics. Pictures and other interesting graphics can be fun and visually pleasing, but keep in mind that those things take a long time to load on a site visitor’s computer. Opinions are also different, so what you think is a great visual touch might be unattractive to someone else. Keep graphics simple and site visitors will better concentrate on your products, services, and content.
If there is a specific country or area you are targeting, you may want to get a domain with top level country code. This will get your name out there in your specific region. A ccTLD can be a great way to help visitors from within your region discover your site. They might not find it without one!
Optimize every image you use for the web. If you look through the internet, you can find a lot of examples of images that are too large and they slow down the webpage’s load time. Make sure you have optimized each image you use. Save the image as a JPEG or GIF and aim for the file size to be somewhere between 5k and 20k.
Use social media links to allow your readers to share your content easily. This way, they can quickly and easily spread information regarding your website, and your visitor numbers will quickly grow.
If you have received awards or certifications for different things, include a page or an area of your “About Us” page to show off those accomplishments. It is a great way to boost the visitor’s faith in your credibility. Make sure that you are completely hones about these things, as it can easily be checked and can blow up in your face if you fabricate it.
Of course, you won’t find every single tip under the sun in one article. No article is that long. You should be able to get the hang of web design through these tips, however.
Once you master these few techniques, you can then begin to expand your knowledge base and ultimately expand the scope of your designs.