Ensure your web designs don’t look similar to something already in your niche. It’s easy to see what others are doing by visiting their site. You don’t want to be classed as “one of the pack”, the more unique you are, the more noticeable you will be. You don’t want to be generic!
You want to make certain the search box is at the top of your webpage, and allows 27 characters at least. The button that turns on the engine should read “Search.” Follow these tips to ensure that your visitors find and use the search box and can easily find information on your website.
Include strong meta-tags on every page of your site, if you want to get more visitors to your site. Having some meta tags that offer quality will be able to help show different search engines what your site is all about. If you use poorly constructed meta tags that don’t reflect your content accurately, you won’t get much traffic.
If the website you are designing is for commercial purposes, the use of a web hosting service that is free is a bad idea. You never want your business site to be bombarded with advertisements from other companies, as this takes away from the chief focus of what your site should be, selling your own products and services. There will be no advertisements, unless you put them there, with a paid service.
Do regular checks to make sure none of the links on your webpage are out of date or broken. Good web design relies on being user friendly, and broken links are frustrating to your visitors. Make a regular schedule to check every link on your site to make sure they are functioning properly.
Always include a clearly visible tagline on each webpage in the domain and sub-domains. They should be in bold, large text and be placed in the viewer’s initial line of sight. 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.
Do not overlook the valuable knowledge that can be gained on web design through printed books. You don’t want to pick books about specific software versions as they’ll become outdated quickly, but style guides and even SEO information will last you a long time.
For every page you design, make sure you validate it. There are a lot of WYSIWYG editors that can add many junk codes to your site’s design. If you are using this type of program, go the extra mile and get your code validated through a service that specializes in validation. W3C validates pages through a free service.
Consider duplicating code you already have to create new pages for your site. Instead of writing your HTML from scratch every time, use the shared section of code as a template and make the necessary changes, then use “save as” to save the file under a new name. Having this master copy to work from will speed up the process of designing each new page!
Try using a newsletter for getting repeat visitors. When you allow people to receive notifications about special events, discounts or updates, they are more likely to visit your site multiple times. Put the form in a convenient sidebar, and track the users who subscribe. You can avoid some reputation-damaging trouble by making sure that your newsletter only goes out to visitors who have explicitly requested it.
Don’t use Flash on your site. Flash can appear high-tech and look amazing, but for some people who have slower computers it will not show up well, and cause a lag. There are many tablets and phones that are not Flash enabled, and if people are using them to view your site, it can ruin their experience, and make them not come back again.
Keep in mind that a lot of visitors are looking for good content, and not necessarily looking at how the page was designed. Simple pages, carefully considered design, and targeted communication will make your content easier to enjoy and much more persuasive to your visitors. Keeping your page simple helps to speed up the time it takes to load.
Perfection is any good web designer’s goal. You may not know what that entails, but believing that this is what your goal is will help to motivate you to do better every day. You should strive to have this attitude, regardless of the kind of site you’re building.
Limit the number of ads you include on a page of your website to no more than three. If you include too many, they will cause the appearance of an unprofessional and spammy site. Only use ads that are relevant to your site and important to you.
Never hire a web design professional who you are related to. Hiring anyone who you have a personal relationship with is a bad idea. If you are not satisfied with the work, it can be hard to fire someone you know well.
Use a coordinated color scheme, and consistent fonts, for your overall site design. If you change the fonts and color on every page, anyone looking at your site can get confused, and they may start to wonder if they are still on your site at all. Keep your graphics consistent, and you can avoid this problem all together. You can extend this strategy even further by making use of the same fonts and colors in your company’s printed materials, such as brochures and letterheads.
It does not matter what your web design skill level is, remember the basics. You can find the basics in many places, which can make the search hard. Hopefully, you have gained some good insight here that will increase your confidence and success with website design.