Monday, March 11, 2013

Simple Suggestions For Mastering Effective Web Design

By Billy Maso


Web design sounds like a lot of fun, but many people become discouraged as soon as they find out how much time and effort it takes to do right. If you are someone who is interested in web design but doesn't know where to begin, check out this article for some common sense strategies that will help you build your first website.

People don't like to wait when they browse the Internet, so your pages need to load fast even on slow connections. 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.

It's a good idea to set up your site so that it can retain a copy of user information that must be entered repeatedly. For instance, if a user registers at your site and another form requires the same information again, be certain your website preserves this data to prevent them the useless and annoying hassle of filling it in again. "Sticky" data will ensure that the user fills out all the forms they need to instead of leaving when it becomes too difficult.

Draw up plans that detail exactly how you want your webpages to look like to your visitors. With a sketch in hand, you can solicit feedback from family members and friends and start to develop your first impressions of how visitors will react to your site. Using this information, you can start to improve your website even before you sit down at your computer.

If you are designing a very large site, you should always include search capabilities. In the upper right-hand corner of the homepage, include a search box that allows users to search for a single term that appears anywhere in your site. Search functions for websites are available from FreeFind and Google.

One of the easiest ways to create additional web pages in the same category is the copy/paste function. Rather than taking the time to constantly start from scratch with HTML coding, just copy existing content and re-save it with a new name. You can utilize the master copy continuously.

Practice with a very basic layout to understand the basics of web design. This basic design will help you grasp the easy stuff, which will prepare you to tackle more advanced web design principles in time.

Check link integrity on a regular basis. You should do this before uploading something to your server. It's necessary because many visitors will see that the information that they're interested in is no longer available and if that occurs frequently on your site, they'll leave. To maintain your site integrity, test it every time you make a change.

Now that you know more about web design, you should feel more confident in regards to doing it. Keep in mind you can always expand your knowledge with a subject like web design so always look for new information. With the right approach and application, you will push your efforts in web design forward and find success.




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