The Basics Of Web Design: Gimmicks Don’t Sell

Some website developers make the mistake of believing their visitors are stupid. Now, they may not say it directly, but they allow visitors to come to that conclusion every day.

Some ecommerce websites want your business so badly they reprogram the back button on their site to bring pop-up advertisements to your screen without actually sending you to a previous page. In most cases you need to eliminate the page completely and start your Internet program again just to have the opportunity to continue looking at other sites.

It may sound clever to think you have the potential of keeping a potential client locked into your website for a longer period of time, but the truth is this tactic generally creates highly motivated customers. These are the type of customers that are extremely motivated to never visit such the site again.

Another tactic that usually does not connect well with visitors is one that is ultra hard sell. If the customer feels as if you are not interested in anything more than the sale they will leave quickly.

It’s natural to want to close the sale, but the truth is cyber business is all about information and trust. If you don’t provide relevant information potential customers may refine their search and keep looking for someone who does.

Customers are also happy clickers. Web users make decisions about your website very quickly. If your site takes too long to download they will likely click the back button and venture down a different trail.

Consider using only important graphics like your business logo and product photos. Work at developing a streamlined and easy to navigate site. Make sure the pages load quickly and that any reasons for your potential client to leave are eliminated.

Whenever possible you should also make all of your web pages consistent in navigational function. Your online visitor needs to be able to get to virtually anywhere on your site in n more than two clicks. This means a comprehensive and easy to understand main menu with sensible sub menus that have them moving through your site like a pro. Too many times netrepreneurs will have pages that have no means of navigating back to the main page or even a sub menu.

If you find the page through a search engine you may have no easy means of connecting with the rest of the site.

Help your customer with information, respect and easy navigation and you are much more likely to find them actually considering a purchase. Internet consumers are becoming much more savvy and have little tolerance for cyber gimmicks.

About the Author

Scott Lindsay is a web developer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of HighPowerSites and many other web projects. Get your own website online in just 5 minutes with HighPowerSites at: http://www.highpowersites.com. Start your own ebook business with BooksWealth at: http://www.bookswealth.com

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Web Design Basics You Do Not Want To Miss

As a web designer, there are some fundamentals of web design that you are expected to know without having to be taught. The following are some of them.

File size counts. Graphics tend to make for relatively large file sizes and this could severely slow the loading of pages that contain too many graphics. Despite the advent of broadband internet and faster load times, many web users are still not willing to wait very long for pages to load. Your web design company will undoubtedly wish for you to make the load times required for your pages as short as possible so as not to discourage impatient viewers from visiting your web site.

Use appropriate graphics. Images that you place on your web site should be related in some way to the content of your site. You should not include images simply because you think they look nice or because you like them. That will simply clutter up your web site and discourage visitors. Perhaps the only exception is with regard to design images. These images constitute the page design and may not have any relation to the content of the site.

Images should be static. Making images blink, rotate or flash simply distracts viewers from the content of the web site and gives your site a tacky feel. Your main aim is to get visitors to view the contents of each page and not simply notice the graphics that you have added.

Web Design- On Layout

Refrain from using layouts that are too complicated or confusing. Pages that have a large number of frames or require visitors to scroll the page in many directions in order to view the content are not conducive for readers and may confuse or annoy visitors to your site. It should not come as surprise, therefore, if your web design company encourages you to use the standard three-column layout for the web pages that you design. The reason for this is that this layout ensures that your web page is very clear and easy to read.

White space is important. You should not simply ignore white space because it contains nothing. The amount of white space that is present in each of your web pages affects the way in which readers view your page. It is important to ensure that you pay attention to how the layout of your web page affects the amount of white space present. Neither too much nor too little makes for an attractive web page.

Graphics can be used as actual elements in your web page, instead of being relegated to a background design role.

Web Design- On Fonts

Try not to be overly creative with fonts. Serif and Sans-serif are widely accepted fonts that are also fairly attractive. They are also easier to read on computer monitors and your web design company is likely to recommend that you use it in your web site. Use Serif for the titles or headlines of your pages and Sans-Serif for the rest of the body.

Pick two or three fonts and stick with them. Using a large variety of fonts in the same web site comes across as being amateurish and unprofessional. Your web design company is likely to limit you to a maximum of three font families per web site and you should make an effort to stick to this limit.

Using non-standard fonts is risky. Some non-standard fonts may look good but require users to download and install that specific font before they can use it. Standard fonts stand a much better chance of making your website look good and not giving viewers any problems when they visit your web site. At the end of the day, taking risks with non-standard fonts generally does not pay off well.

Web Design- On Advertising

Advertisements may be profitable, but they generally detract from the overall attractiveness of your web site. Your web design company should not ask you to place too many ads on your site, otherwise readers may be overwhelmed by the sheer number of advertisements and not bother staying to read the content of your web pages. Small and tasteful advertisements are preferable compared to large or flashy ones. They should also have some relevance to the content on the page and be positioned such that they attract the viewer’s attention.

Web Design is about remembering Your Readers

Web pages sometimes suffer compatibility issues with different internet browsers, depending on what software was used to create them. Your web design company is likely to reject any pages that can only be viewed on certain internet browsers. It is not necessary to make your pages compatible with all internet browsers, but compatibility with most, if not all, of the popular internet browsers and operating systems is a must.

Understand what your readers want from your website. Your content should reflect your readers’ wants and not simply what you want them to see. In order to keep your web design company, you should take steps to ensure that your content choices reflect topics that readers want to read about.

About the Author:

Moe Tamani is a SEO web design consultant Dallas Web Design.

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Article published on March 14, 2008 at iSnare.com

Web Design Basics

When designing something, a designer should first go through the basics of designing. Whether he is designing a print design or web design, he must know the dos and do not's. The following items will help you know the basics of web designing as well as some techniques that are specific to coming out with the best web layout.

1. Create a design that seems friendly.

There are actually a lot of web designs that scare people away and not attract them. If you want people to return to your website, make it soothing and light. Keep your site as friendly as possible.

2. Create a great homepage

When designing your website, you should keep in mind to conceptualize a homepage that would attract your viewers. Remember that the first page that your customers see can also be the last. So learn to create a page that will attract your visitor’s attention and then draw them deeper into your site.

3. Keep in mind the principles in designing web sites

Remember to apply your design principles such as balance, contrast, emphasis, rhythm and unity. This will serve as your guide and will help you conceptualize a good web design.

4. Think small in terms of graphics

Slow pages can be really very annoying. Whether you like it or not, one cause of slowing the pages is large graphics. To avoid such problem think of using images with a size of 10-12 kb.

5. Use graphics that fit the content

Just because you have a wonderful picture of you and your boyfriend doesn’t mean that you should include it on your website. Use images that are appropriate and that connect with your site’s content.

6. Don’t use blinking images

There have been studies proving that blinking images actually annoy people. If you want to use them, though, use them sparingly. You wouldn’t want your site viewers to leave your page just because of an annoying blinking image.

7. Stay with standard layouts

Try to use a layout that is simple as possible. The 3-column layout might sound corny and boring but it helps to keep your readers stay where they are and keep reading your site’s contents. Keep in mind that readers and site viewers stick with things that are simple and easy to understand.

8. Use standard fonts and limit the number of different fonts

Use standard fonts such as Arial, Verdana, Geneva, and Helvetica. They might seem too familiar but they look better on most browsers. Now, you don’t have to worry whether your fonts will work or not.

9. Don’t be greedy

Though ads help you make money by posting them on your site, keep in mind that people visit your site because of their perceived content and not because of the ads that you put in it. For all you know, these ads may drive your viewers away, if they are too many, and could possibly make you lose money.

10. Remember your readers

Understand that, unless you’re writing a site for yourself, your site’s content should include topics that your viewers might want to read.

About the Author:

Hunter currently writes for Dolphin Promotions SEO and Web Design Company.
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Article published on December 10, 2007 at iSnare.com

Web Design Basics You Want To Know

Here are some of the basics of web design that you should know on your own without your web design company having to teach you:

Web Design- on Graphics

• Always think small. In order to optimize your page and avoid slow loading pages, make sure you set your graphics to a file size of only about 10 to 12KB per image. It is true though that broadband technology have advanced leading to increase of speed, but the number of broadband users are increasing at a steady rate as well. Slow pages are always annoying, and no doubt your web design company will agree with this.

• Use graphics that are suitable to the page content. Adorable pictures should not be posted on the page just because they are adorable. Make sure that all your graphics have something to do with the site. An exception will be on design images, which are made up of photos and graphics that make up the page design and have nothing to do with the content.

• Minimize the use of blinking, rotating, flashing or changing images or graphics. These types are the ones which annoy and distract people the most. You need your online visitors to look at the contents of the page, and not get distracted by these graphics.

Web Design- On Layout

• Try to get by with standard layouts. I have seen them all: from those pages with eight frames, to those which you need to scroll to the right then downwards. These layouts are novel and cute, but they are pretty darn confusing. The reason why your web design company suggests the use of the standard 3-column layout is because it is what works well with the general audience. The same is true for newspapers and other media print. This can prove to be boring, but you have to bear with it to make sure you do not drive your visitors nuts.

• Pay attention to whitespace. You should know that whitespace is not just a CSS property, but is one of the functions of your layout. The whitespace actually has a bearing on how the page content is viewed, and is just as important in your web page layout as it obviously is in paper.

• Use graphics as actual elements in your layouts. If you use graphics as actual element in your page layout, it serves a far better role.

Web Design- On Fonts

• Use standard fonts. You can get by using Serif for your headlines and Sans-Serif for your actual text. Do not wonder if your web design company advises the use of this font family. Serif fonts are actually easier to read on monitors than it is in print since screen resolution is lower in the former.

• Minimize the use of different fonts. It is undeniable that ages with varying fonts here and there look like they are made by an amateur. Doing this will not make your web design company very happy. Try to limit your site and page to about two or a maximum of three standard font families. Trust me; they look a lot more professional.

• Use only standard fonts. You can use rare fonts that look pretty good. However, the chances that your online visitors will have the same font installed in their system might be low. If you stick will general fonts such as Arial, Helvetica, or Verdana, your pages will look better and your designs will likely be in the right places once they are viewed.

Web Design- On Advertising

• Never be greedy of advertisements. Yes, you and your web design company have the actual control over the ads that can be placed on the site. However, know that your readers do not visit your page to read the ads, but they need significant content. Do not overwhelm them with ads that overshadow the content of your site, or you might tend to lose their interest immediately. Instead, keep them small and subtle (no flashy ads, please), but relevant and strategically placed to draw attention.

Web Design is about remembering Your Readers

• Make sure to test your page in different browsers and operating system combinations. Your web design company requires you to come up with sites that are viewable and effective. Coming up with a page that is only compatible with the most modern browser and the latest operating system is simply unacceptable. Make sure that your page design is compatible with as many browser and OS system combinations as possible.

• Write the content that readers want. Remember that you are making a website that is not for yourself, but for your readers. So make sure that you create content that covers topics that your visitors would like to read. Your web design company will appreciate this as well.

About the Author:

Semul Johnson is a Marketing expert with a leading SEO services company specializing in SEO web design.

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Article published on November 09, 2007 at iSnare.com