3
Helpful Website Creation Tips For Anyone To Use Whether you have a blog or a business, a website can be a great part of your success. How you design your website is very important in helping to grab visitors' attention and keeping it. The tips shared in this article will help you create a successful site. When designing webpages it is important that you use the correct graphics. Bitmap images usually are big and don't work as well as PNGs. For non-photographic graphics choose a PNG if the graphic has less than 256 colors. Otherwise, choose a GIF. JPEGs are ideal for photographs. If you're creating a website, make sure you look at it in different browsers. What you see on your side may not always be what the others see on theirs. Do research on the various browsers in use, and design your website accordingly. In addition, ask friends and family to check out the site, too. You never know if another operating system makes a difference. Speed is vital online, so be sure your pages load quickly. No visitor is going to wait more than a few seconds for your page to load, so ensure they get what they want quickly so they don't go to your competition's website instead. It is essential to test the pages in your website to be certain they look as they should on every different browser; a successful site needs to display correctly in all browsers. Each browser is a little different, and a site that looks fine in Firefox may look wrong in Safari, Chrome, or Internet Explorer. Test every page in each browser before you let your site go live. You want to keep the website page size minimal. Not every person using Internet has a high-speed connection, so if a site takes longer to load, they won't be as interested in it. If a user has to wait for each page to download, they may leave your site altogether. Try the common "newsletter" technique to keep your readers reminded of your services. If you have your clients subscribe to updates, they will have a reason to come back again and again. It is good practice to place the newsletter signup form in your website's side bar. Furthermore, you should always keep track of everyone who signs up. Make sure the newsletter only goes to those who actually asked for it, or you're going to get some serious blowback. You should always make sure to implement a way that users can submit feedback to you about your website. This will let them communicate with you if they feel something is missing, or they do not

Helpful Website Creation Tips For Anyone To Use

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Helpful Website Creation Tips For Anyone To Use

Helpful Website Creation Tips For Anyone To Use

Whether you have a blog or a business, a website can be a great part of your success. How youdesign your website is very important in helping to grab visitors' attention and keeping it. The tipsshared in this article will help you create a successful site.

When designing webpages it is important that you use the correct graphics. Bitmap images usuallyare big and don't work as well as PNGs. For non-photographic graphics choose a PNG if the graphichas less than 256 colors. Otherwise, choose a GIF. JPEGs are ideal for photographs.

If you're creating a website, make sure you look at it in different browsers. What you see on yourside may not always be what the others see on theirs. Do research on the various browsers in use,and design your website accordingly. In addition, ask friends and family to check out the site, too.You never know if another operating system makes a difference.

Speed is vital online, so be sure your pages load quickly. No visitor is going to wait more than a fewseconds for your page to load, so ensure they get what they want quickly so they don't go to yourcompetition's website instead.

It is essential to test the pages in your website to be certain they look as they should on everydifferent browser; a successful site needs to display correctly in all browsers. Each browser is a littledifferent, and a site that looks fine in Firefox may look wrong in Safari, Chrome, or InternetExplorer. Test every page in each browser before you let your site go live.

You want to keep the website page size minimal. Not every person using Internet has a high-speedconnection, so if a site takes longer to load, they won't be as interested in it. If a user has to wait foreach page to download, they may leave your site altogether.

Try the common "newsletter" technique to keep your readers reminded of your services. If you haveyour clients subscribe to updates, they will have a reason to come back again and again. It is goodpractice to place the newsletter signup form in your website's side bar. Furthermore, you shouldalways keep track of everyone who signs up. Make sure the newsletter only goes to those whoactually asked for it, or you're going to get some serious blowback.

You should always make sure to implement a way that users can submit feedback to you about yourwebsite. This will let them communicate with you if they feel something is missing, or they do not

Page 2: Helpful Website Creation Tips For Anyone To Use

understand what they see on your webpage, and you will be able to fix it. Giving your visitors a voicemakes them much more likely to return to your site and continue the conversation.

Remember to utilize ALT tags for images as you design your website. This allows everyone to gainaccess to the intended information. Should your images serve as links, these ALT tags will offer ameans to describe the link's behavior also. Finally, ALT tags are used by search engine crawlers;therefore, using them can help boost your search rank.

You must be sure that your site is optimized properly so that it can be viewed in all browsers. Lots ofpeople grumble about IE, but they still use it, and they often use outdated versions. Since manyelements are not up-to-date you will have to work around it. Make sure you look at the very vexing"box model bug" that IE experienced.

Run tests on different browser applications to make sure your site works on all of them. Eachindividual browser will interpret your site differently, and sometimes, the user experience variesdramatically between each browser. Using available resources, determine which browsers are themost popular among your target demographic. Check your site on every browser, and include thepopular browsers on cellphones too.

Test your site early and test it frequently. You must test its user usability and interaction early sothat you can add these aspects to the design later. Also, testing allows you to make crucial changesto ensure the site is as good as it can be.

Even if you invest a bunch into your site, hosting yourself isn't wise. As much as is practical, the webdesign should be your responsibility. But arrange for it to be hosted elsewhere so that you are nottied down into focusing on the website's security.

Usability tests that are task based are a good way to see how effective your website's design is. Thegeneral use for these tasks is to be able to locate a function or some information within your site. Awell-designed site allows the user to easily complete the task. Then again, if not, it can provideinsight in regards to which site aspects need improvement.

Include some form of "site searching" from your home page, and all sub-pages if possible. This isvery important for making the web site easy to use and accessible. It is pretty simple to put a sitesearch in place. The time spent will be well worth it.

Do not require each new user to enter a CAPTCHA for your site automatically. Captchas makeviewers feel that they must jump through a hoop just to see a simple webpage. Unless visitors arealready addicted to your site, they will probably leave your site in search of simpler pastures.

An important aspect of your site is security. An SSL certificate will benefit you if financialtransactions are to take place. Also, check with the website host for other security option.

You should create a visual sitemap so that you are able to plan ahead more effectively. This will helpyou visualize the development of your website. Then, you will have the ability to isolate areas thatneed more work. There's no better way to keep track of your project than a visual sitemap.

Regardless of what type of website you want to design, you should understand best practices.Whether visitors find your website attractive, and even whether they trust your website depends in

Page 3: Helpful Website Creation Tips For Anyone To Use

part on the design of the website. Design a great site with the above advice.