Designing you own website can be an exciting prospect and an overwhelming one! Use this article to help you get a good background, both on what all it entails and how to best implement it.
Don't try to fit too much onto one page when you're designing a website. If your page is too busy it will take a lot longer to load and can overwhelm visitors. When you're going to be putting up a lot of content, create pages for everything you can to reduce the clutter on your page.
Your site should be able to pass a NoScript test. Download the extension to ensure your website is readable. Some ordering systems or other types of content cannot run script-free, but if the site is blank without the script on, that's not good.
Photoshop is a good program for creating great content for your new web site. It is also novice friendly. These programs make it easier to create professional, attractive content for websites. If Photoshop is not something you have access to, then being able to create a good site could take some time.
Incorporate a site map into your website. Site maps serve several purposes. First, they make navigation throughout your site much easier for visitors. Second, the major search engines can utilize it to index your entire site. This means your search engine optimization improves, and your website receives more exposure, giving you more profit-earning potential.
To help your web pages load quickly, you should compress all the images on the website page. If you have images that are compressed then pages will load much faster. Nothing is more frustrating to viewers than waiting for a 250k graphic to load when it should really only be 20k.
Be sure you're using ALT tags for the images while you design a website. ALT tags are used to provide a description of the images on your site, which will help any visually impaired visitors. When links are used for images, having an ALT tag lets you describe the link's behavior. Finally, search engine crawlers like ALT tags as they are useful. So, your search rank might improve as a result.
One thing you should always take into account when you're thinking about web design is the latest technology that is out today. As technology advances to does the web, so be sure you are always up to date with what is changing so that you're that much more understanding of how the web works.
Don't include pop-up windows when designing your website. Most people will be turned off by a site that pop's windows up in their face. If customers see these popups and get frustrated, they may not come back to your site.
It is very important that customers can navigate any website easily. Where you locate your website's navigation links can make a huge difference in the amount of time a visitor will spend on your site. You must provide the user with easy navigation to create the right experience.
Add a search feature to a website. When visitors come to your website, they want to easily be able to find what they are looking for. A keyword search feature will make it easy for people to find the right page on your site, especially if the website you are designing is very complex.
Do not clutter your website by using every square pixel of space that you have available. You will make your visitors feel overwhelmed if you use all the space available. Try to create a good amount of space within your site's content, this allows your visitors to clearly see the page and give them a much better viewing experience. Sometimes, empty space can contribute to the look of a page as nicely as content does.
Make sure your site loads quickly. If people visiting your site are waiting for pages to load, boredom will quickly set in and they will leave. When you reduce your graphics and other fancy elements, you will speed up access to your pages and retain your visitors.
Learn as much as you can about the various forms of html, as the html is crucial to web design. When you learn about html go ahead and make a couple of pages that are sort of filled with the information that you want to add to any of the sites you plan on working on.
Focusing on your target audience is important even for website design. For instance, if you're designing a site in order to sell winter coats, you're not exactly going to have a beach themed background with Joe Strummer tunes playing upon entry. Keep your site closely related to its targeted audience.
You've read the advice here and are ready to put it into action, so get ready to design your site! Start by sketching out a design and making lists of the content you'll need and you'll have your website online in no time.
Don't forget to keep reading and okc web design learning so you're never left behind.