vendredi 15 février 2013

Design Advice For Your Next Web Site

By Chadwick Streck


No matter what sort of website you have, it is important to make sure that it follows the principles of good web design. A poorly designed website will drive away visitors and frustrate those few who persevere. The following article can help you design a high quality website and attract more traffic.

Make sure your website is easily scanned. Various tests on usability demonstrate that most online readers do not actually read all the content; instead, they scan it for something that interests them. Using text that is emphasized to break it into sections that are easily scanned ensures your readers are more likely to return. Also, make sure to keep the most important information at the top. All of this ensures a more satisfying experience for your visitors because they can quickly find what they need.

You need to realize that building a website is going to take longer than you originally expect it will. Let's say that you believe you can get a site done in three weeks. Well, by the time you design it, load all your pages, test, make your tweaks, and ultimately finalize, you could be looking at months.

It is important to contact references when hiring a company to take care of your web design needs. There are some companies that are not delivering the quality work they claim to be able to deliver. Simply calling their references will give you the ability to be sure that they are capable of living up to their claims, and that you will be satisfied with the end result

Make sure your website's call to action (CTA) is highlighted in your web design. If the visitor can not easily find what you really want them to do next, then you will be hard pressed to get them to move forward in your action cycle. Call out your CTA using icons, white space, a font size increase, bolding or some other format change that works with your design.

Avoid creating user interface (UI) controls that mislead your visitors. These controls include elements, widgets and more that create an interactive experience, such as a link, drop-down list or button. You do not want to make visitors think that clicking on an underlined word or phrase for example, will lead to a new page if it is not actually linked to something else. When your visitors have expectations of something working a certain way and it does not, they are more likely to assume there is something wrong with your site and leave.

Creating a site map is a very important part of the web design process. A site map is an effective way to inform visitors of the various kinds of content that your website has to offer, and is a great tool for navigating your website. Search engine crawlers will also utilize your site map for similar reasons, and therefore, including a site map will help boost your search rankings. Make sure your website has a site map, and that it is through.

For the typical website, keep your background colors neutral. Textured backgrounds can easily overwhelm the visitor, and, when used improperly, can really make your design look amateurish. Stick to a white background or another neutral color. It's been shown that these neutral colors are the easiest backgrounds from which to read.

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.

Do not use blinking, scrolling text or other animations. Also, steer clear of sounds or music that plays automatically. All of these things are distracting to users and provide nothing of value. In addition, connection speeds vary from one site visitor to the next, and everyone does not have the same speed. Those users with slower connections will resent the slow-loading elements of your site.

When checking the references that have been provided by a web design company it is important to discuss deadlines. You will want to hire a company that is able to meet their deadlines so that you can get your webpage set up and running in a timely manner. You do not want to work with a company that cannot meet their deadlines.

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.

When hiring a company to do your web design it is important to be sure that you speak openly and honestly with them. Let them know what your expectations are and how much you have set aside in your budget for the project. This will allow them to tell you what to expect from them.

Be sure your website works both with and without the "www" prefix. Some people will type this in before they head to your site as a force of habit, and some may not. You should make sure that customers will be directed to your site either way, or you may have some confused people on your hands.

When new technology is released, it is your job to learn everything you can if you want to be the best web designer you can be. New technology could make your job easier or it could make your work stand out from the other web designers that are available. You need to take the time to give yourself all of the resources you can to make the most money possible.

Include a search element that allows visitors to search within your website content. If those visiting your site are looking for something specific, the first thing they will look for is a search box. When you don"�t have one, they are more likely to move on to another site that does. Always place the box at the top right of the page, as this is the first place visitors tend to look for one.

The secrets have been revealed and you should now have the knowledge you need to get started on your website. Start your rough draft and make a list of all the elements that you loved on those other awesome websites so you can work them into your own. Get creative and have fun!




About the Author:



Aucun commentaire:

Enregistrer un commentaire