The Best Tips For Design On The Web

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The Best Tips For Design On The Web
A website has multiple uses. You can use it as a hub for information, a communicative social network, or an entertainment portal. Proper design is critical no matter the site purpose. The following article will give you some great ideas for creating your own website.

Don't neglect cascading style sheets. Using a style sheet makes it easy to give all pages of your site the same look and feel. It also reduces the file size of your pages, as the CSS file can be accessed once on the server and then from the user's local cache thereafter.

Avoid using so-called "mystery meat navigation". This involves using unlabeled images or other elements for the site's navigation. In many cases, the visitor has to mouse over the buttons to even see what they do. Navigation is best kept simple. Use text links across the top or along the left side of the page.

Does your site pass the NoScript test? Try downloading the Firefox extension and activating to make sure your website is readable. While you may need to have some scripts running, you do not want to see a completely empty website if they are turned off.

Break up long text blocks. Having a huge wave of text is unnecessary for any site, especially when you can break it up by using images, or even separating it into different pages. Boring your viewers will only make them leave, so keep things as simple and fresh as possible.

Always mark files that must be opened in an external program with an icon. Many sites host PDF files, and less commonly, DOC files, that must be opened in Foxit Reader and Microsoft Word/OpenOffice, respectively. These files should be marked with an icon representing the file type, and a link to download the appropriate viewer if the user does not have it.

Keep the sizes of your files and images small. Excessive loading times are a death knell for any site. The larger the files are that must load, the longer a user's load time is going to be. Most users will click away if the page doesn't start to load within the first few seconds of opening your page.

Make sure everything is easy to locate on your website. Spend some serious thought on how everything on your site will be laid out. When content is randomly thrown on your site with little thought to the layout, you are making things harder for the people whose use of your site ensures your online success - your site visitors.

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.

Always use the same type of fonts so that guest to your site don't become agitated by reading different types of fonts. You want people to browse through the site with ease so that they can just concentrate on the material on the site and what the site has to offer.

If you become lost at all during your web design process then you might want to look up videos online. You can find a lot of videos on places like youtube which give you step by step tutorials on what you should be doing during your web designing processes.

Use a basic layout to get the hang of designing a website. This allows you to get comfortable with the general processes of web design in an easy-to-understand environment; you can always move on to more complex layouts as you gain experience.

Use a site map on your website. Site maps serve two primary purposes. First, it helps visitors understand your website better. People can find what they're searching for easily. Secondly, it is a good tool for SEO, or search engine optimization. These maps will make it simple for search engines to index your site.

As was mentioned earlier, there are many different websites on the Internet. Getting a website built for whatever reason means you have to know what you're doing. Use the tips you read above to fine tune your skills in designing.