Publish a newsletter, to increase your likelihood of having repeat visitors. You can keep your visitors informed about important events, updates, and changes when they sign up for a newsletter, and the flow of information will often tempt them to revisit your site. Have a signup form in one of your sidebars, and document everyone that signs up. You should then only send your newsletter to people who have requested it, or individuals could sue you for unsolicited emails.
Do not place any popup adverts on your website. The average user finds pop-up windows to be an annoying distraction, rather than something useful. When the windows pop up, many people become frustrated and decide to leave the site rather than see what information is available.
Always be sure to make a visual sitemap. This is useful in planning ahead with accuracy. With the visual sitemap, you’ll be able to see how your site structure is developing. You can also find places that require improvement or maintenance. Nothing is more important that maintaining a visual element that is clear.
Pay attention to the background of your website. Remove obstacles to easy text reading by avoiding things like GIF backgrounds that move. Use a light colored background which fits into your site’s color palette.
Look at the previous work of any web design company you hire. It’s important to make sure the company you hire has done quality work for reputable companies. Reviewing their portfolio can help you to know if they meet all of these important qualification.
Don’t use Flash on your site. Flash may seem high-tech and splashy, but it might cause a visitor’s computer to load slowly and lag. Also, keep in mind that there are mobile phones and tablet PC’s which are not flash enabled, and if your visitor goes to your site it will not be a fun experience.
Make sure the color combinations that you use on your site don’t hinder their ability to be read. Your text should be easy to see against your background. Using a dark text color on a lighter background is generally easier to read than the opposite. Ask someone to look at your color schemes to ensure you are making the right choice.
Make sure that you prune content that is no longer relevant. When you are offering specials that are past their expiration, you will watch your visitor counts dwindle. Users are careful with their time and if they can tell that your site is not updated often, they will leave. Make it a point to regularly update your content, and replace dated information with current things.
Content often trumps design when it comes to building hits. Stay true to your original purpose and use imagery to help you achieve that; in other words, keep design simple and make sure it communicates your message. Simpler pages load more quickly.
Speed is the governing factor of the Internet and it is imperative to ensure your web site loads at a fast pace. If your website takes ages to load, they will wash their hands of your site and find one that loads in a reasonable amount of time.
Do not hire a loved one to assist in designing your website. When trying to find someone to design a webpage, hiring family members or friends isn’t a good idea. You will have a hard time criticizing their work and firing them if you need to.
You should be consistent when using fonts and color schemes in your website. If visitors encounter changes in the fonts and colors utilized as they move from one webpage to the next, they could end up being confused. In fact, these kinds of changes could lead visitors to believe that they have wandered off your website. If you apply consistent use of graphics and colors, this will not happen. In order to achieve the most consistency, utilize the same fonts and color scheme in brochures.
Many of the best domain names are currently taken, but you may find it beneficial to explore auction sites like Sedo to see what may be available. These sites offer access to dozens of domain names, including those that were abandoned or sold.
Concept sketches are a great way to organize and plan out a website during the earliest, most flexible stages of the web design process. These sketches can help you plan the look of your site and determine what your planned site may lack. It’s an excellent way to start the design process.
If you are new to web design, you should start with a very basic layout. This allows you to modify the structure as you become more comfortable with design principles. Starting with simple designs allows you to acquire basic skills before you can improve and work on more advanced projects.
You should create a useful ‘About Us’ page A lot of websites offer nothing of substance in this area, and some even leave this page empty. Try spicing things up! Share some information about yourself, your inspiration and your web design business.
To make the most of your site’s space, you need not assume that every single pixel must be accounted for and packed with images, text and videos. Using white space makes your website easy to read. This makes your site’s message much easier to understand and process.
Preserve the personal information users submit on your site safely. For instance, if a visitor registers for your newsletter and they are going to use the same information to make a purchase, be sure the data they’ve already entered is kept, so they do not have to re-enter the same information. Creating transferable form information will make the overall process simpler and quicker for your visitors, and they will be happy with the time you have saved them.
As previously stated, web design can be a beautiful thing to view, but only when it’s done correctly. It’s easy to distinguish good from bad in web design, but getting from good to better — or best — takes more subtle touches. Use the tips you’ve just read an start creating great web designs today.
