If you’re someone who thinks all sites are exactly the same, you just have to go to a social networking site, such as Facebook, and then view hosted sites, including Yahoo or Google. The difference between the two sorts of sites will be quite clear, and you should be aware that thoughtful web design is responsible for that difference. To discover more about designing an effective website, read on.
If you are creating a website, make sure you view your site in different browsers. If you just check it from you personal computer, what you see may be vastly different from what others see. Make sure you understand the popular browsers out there to design for all. In addition, ask friends and family to check out the site, too. You never know if another operating system makes a difference.
Frames went out in the 90s, so do not rely on them. When web design first started frames were useful but had many flaws. Frame designs make it harder for readers to bookmark your site and scrolling becomes a chore. There are a lot of better ways to get people to go through the website you have.
If you want to have a successful website, you need to design it in a way that works for all browsers. It is crucial you test out your site that and see that all pages show up properly in each browser. A webpage that displays properly using Internet Explorer, could appear incorrectly or poorly on a different browser such as Firefox or Chrome. Before you set your site to go live, look at how every page shows up in all the major browsers.
For images, use ALT tags. These tags help you describe the images for people with visual impairment or people that disable images. In addition, if the image is a also a link, you can tell visitors where the link takes them and what it does. Search engine crawlers also heavily use ALT tags to boost the rankings for some websites.
Make sure you test your site early and often. Perform usability tests in the early stages of designing your website. As your website grows test it.
Don’t underestimate the importance of your “About Us” page. Too many websites do not spend enough time creating an original ‘About Us’ page. Spice things up. Aim to give visitors a small glimpse of your personal background. Demonstrate how you began web design, the people who inspired you to do this, and what your business goals are.
Provide web browsers with independent CSS pages, and then use conditional loading. These methods will ensure easy testing and maintenance going forward. Simplicity is key to success.
It’s highly unlikely that you’ll create the next hit social network site. The odds are not in your favor. Fortunately for you, the tools and knowledge exist that will empower you to create websites just as professionally attractive and functional as the ones that major corporations come up with. Take the insights gained and here apply them to your great new website.
