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Friday, November 16, 2012

Create A Better Site With These Web Design Tips

By Zelma Hyer

Web design needs to be excellent if your site is to be successful. Web design is quite complex and new elements should always be taken into consideration, which makes it hard for a designer to create a good website, and keep it interesting. Fortunately, reading this article is the perfect place to start. Continue on for some of the newest and most practical web design tips to help you get ahead.

Check with your web host before adding videos to your site, as some hosts will not allow it. There are a large number of hosts in the world that do not permit video hosting to be on their servers. If your host uses a public server, video files may consume too much space. Therefore, it is important to verify this beforehand.

Use Photoshop to create professional looking graphics for use on your website. Photoshop or other similar programs can advance you into a professional arena quickly. When you do not possess a program like this one, it can be extremely difficult and time consuming to get enough information to build an appealing site fast.

Always ask to see a portfolio of any web designer you are considering hiring. Some things to look for are: a record of working with well-known designers and a high standard of quality in their work. Looking at a portfolio should give a good idea of how experienced and talented a designer is.

If you plan to use your site to sell products or services, free web hosting providers are not your best bet. The reason is that you probably do not want advertisements for other products and companies distracting your visitors from what you have to offer. You are better using a paid hosting service.

You should have a visible tagline included on not only every webpage that is in the domain, but also the sub-domains. The taglines should be in larger, bolder text so that visitors can identify them immediately. The tagline itself is for informative purposes. It should quickly define the current page or its purpose, if you will. This can easily make or break a visit to the site.

Let visitors cancel actions if they want to. Actions include registering for any e-mail notifications, browsing the site, or filling out forms. If visitors cannot cancel an action they are not interested in, such as providing their contact information, they will feel they do not have a choice and won't buy anything.

One-tool amateur web designers should use when creating graphics for their sites is Adobe Photoshop. When amateurs use Photoshop, they often create very professional grade sites based off the capabilities of the software. Not having this software can lead to a design which looks amateurish and untrustworthy.

Be certain to 'remember' personal information that might have to be re-entered by the same site visitor. When a user needs to enter their information multiple times to sign up for various options you give them, make it so that they don't have to enter duplicate info from beginning to end on their own repeatedly. With this "sticky" information, you create a simpler, easier experience for your users, which will prompt them to stay on-site longer.

It's fine to have a new user fill out a CAPTCHA when he registers for you site, but after that, he shouldn't see another CAPTCHA. The captcha triggers a response from the viewer that he or she now has to perform complex problem solving just to view a simple webpage. Chances are that only the avid fan will put up with typing a captcha, everyone else will move on to other websites.

Before committing to any website hosting service, make sure that you understand all of the features offered by the particular service package. The things that are important to know are bandwidth, CPU usage, disk space and any other areas that they highlight in their package. It is important to know exactly what is included in the cost.

Anytime you deal with web design companies, timeliness in your bill paying is essential. After all, this company is keeping your site up and running. If you do not pay them on time, they may not feel obliged to help you with your website the moment a situation arises. Paying your bill promptly establishes rapport with the company and can ensure that your concerns are addressed quickly.

Set realistic goals with regards to how long things will take to accomplish. Working on an impossible deadline can result in low-quality work and more issues along the way. It will suit you best to provide yourself with the right amount of time, so that you can put some care into each step.

Aspiring web designers should avail themselves of all the web design resources out there. Virtually every detail and sub-field in the world of web design is addressed in depth by different books and magazines. It is a good way to know your craft as well as being a better designer.

The best part about web design, other than the fact that it's simple, is that you can easily translate your vision to reality with a few simple clicks or a few lines of code. The above article showed you many different design methods you can utilize in order to achieve an excellent site. Keep these tips in mind as you create.
 
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1 comment:

  1. It is true that it can be extremely difficult and time-consuming to get enough information to build an appealing site fast. You will need tools to help you go through the difficulties, such as Photoshop for creating quality designs and Dreamweaver for coding and debugging web pages.

    Andrew
    ijobasia.com - website design and development company based in Florida.

    ReplyDelete