Learn About Web Design With These Simple To Follow Tips

http://www.programmingisnothard.com/topics/betamore-academy
Learn About Web Design With These Simple To Follow Tips
Many people want to learn to become a good web designer, yet they aren't sure if they have what it takes to become good in the subject. Anyone can be a good web designer they just have to learn how to first, the more you learn from places like this article the better you are sure to become at web design.

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.

Always include a search tool for searching through your site. Visitors may look for something specific, and that box will be the one of the first things they look for. If you don't get one of these, they may move to a site that has something like that. The ideal placement is the upper right hand corner of your page.

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.

Use images wisely. Bitmap images do not tend to fare well for internet use, and some GIFs do not work well with lots of color. Image size is important as well, as larger images may make your viewers have to wait for them to download. Choose smaller images, and use them sparingly to make your site more manageable.

Learn the basics of HTML and CSS. Although there are many templates that allow you to just fill in the blanks, in order to create a web page, these templates provide only limited design possibilities. Understanding how the mark-up language and stylesheet work together will enable you to customize your website to your heart's content.

Separate your topics. If you have several topics of discussion on your site, put them on different pages. This helps alleviate any confusion that your customers may experience, as well as giving search engines a broader and more clear view of your site, potentially bumping you up higher in their rankings.

To help you design a site that is easy for people to read all the information, make sure the pages are not too wide. If the pages are not too wide then they will fit on most people's computer screens. If the page is too wide, then part of your valuable information could be left off the page.

Do some keyword research. While your main focus should always be on providing your customer with relevant and current information, you first need to work on gaining a customer base. Understanding what keywords will bring people to your site from a search engine is a needed step to becoming a successful site.

Be sure you take care of the people that use your site's needs. As a web designer, it is your job to always keep your attention tuned to the needs of your user. Factors of note are usability, accessibility, user experience and interaction. These are some important considerations to make. Try looking at the websites from your audience's perspective when designing.

Optimize load times on your website. If visitors must wait a long time for something to load, they will want to leave the site. Try reducing your number of graphics, Flash, and script on your pages, optimizing your HTML, using SSI files, using client and server caching, creating expire headings, and minimizing your JS and CSS coding.

Using the advice from this article you can become a good web designer in no time, and you should now feel a bit more confident and think so as well. So now that you have some insightful knowledge on the subject you can apply that towards your web design efforts and become a great designer of websites in no time.