Designing your page yourself can be done easily and could save you a fortune by not having to use a company. Don’t fall prey to having someone else do for you what you can learn on your own. The useful tips outlined below will help you get started.
Be sure to view your website designs in all the popular web browsers. Different browsers show websites in different ways. You want to know about the different popular browsers and approach website design accordingly. You may also want to view your site using a different computer operating system to make sure that everything is compatible whether they are using Windows, Mac, or Linux.
Testing your website in every browser available is a great way to ensure it works as you wish it to for every visitor. While a certain element may look wonderful in Firefox, it may appear incorrectly on Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Safari. Monitor how the pages look in major browsers before taking your website live.
Encourage visitors to come back to a website repeatedly, by offering them a newsletter. This is great for captivating someone whom may have viewed your site, but then gone on to forget about it entirely. Place the signup form in a sidebar on your site, and keep track of the people that sign up. Only send out a newsletter to people who have subscribed to it, otherwise you will have angry customers.
Always categorize your content by subject. Separate topic of discussion throughout your site by putting them on separate pages. This will keep things clear and simple for readers, and also help you rank with search engines.
Keyword research is important. You definitely want to focus first on providing relevant content, but keywords should be planted appropriately to help you grow that customer base. To ensure the success of a website, there must be a good understanding of the keywords that will attract visitors to the site through search engines.
File Types
The file types will affect the load time of your website. Your graphics should be GIFs and JPEGs. Other files such as PNGs and BMPs use more disk space. By converting your file types to more manageable sizes, you will provide your visitors with a better experience.
Optimize load times on your website. If people visiting your site are waiting for pages to load, boredom will quickly set in and they will leave. Reduce file sizes, graphics and fancy coding to bring your pages down to acceptable load times.
You constantly want to test your page to ensure it is functioning well. While you’re designing the website,it is very important you perform the usability tests and website’s user interaction as soon as you can. That will allow you to make necessary design changes during the build process.
If you feel stuck, do some Google searches to find out how others worked through it. You can get inspiration for any one of the millions of sites already out there. Find an interesting site and borrow features that will work on your site. Keep in mind that in order for your website to be truly successful, it is not enough to simply borrow ideas. Then, improve on the design elements you like.
Design Tools
Using a host’s design tools to build your website is a good idea for the basic layout, but you don’t want to rely on the design tools completely. In order to personalize your site, you will want to add features that differentiate your site from the millions of generic cookie cutter website online.
Begin small when you start off building your websites. This way you can ascertain what works well and what does not, and you will be able to improve your skills based on that. As a starting point, try to design two or three basic pages that only contain text, and then work your way upwards from there.
If you need to design more than one website, then you should check into multiple platforms. Learn as many technologies as you can, including SQL, PHP, and even the humble JavaScript. Whether your interest in site design is recreational or exclusively professional, you must always be motivated to take it to the next level.
Now that you’re more familiar with site design, you can get some practice in with different features. These ideas show just how simple it can prove. All you have to personally do is read this article carefully and use what you learn.