Web design is not without its intricacies. Web design can be overwhelming if you aren't prepared enough. Use the information in this article to help make an easier job of the process.
Make sure your text and background has the proper contrast. There's evidence showing that white text on a black background is easiest for most people to read, but other colors are fine so long as they're readable. Also keep in mind that people with visual impairments may not be able to read your site if the contrast is poor. Check to see if your site complies with various contrast standards using the tool at http://snook.ca/technical/colour_contrast/colour.html .
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 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.
Always categorize your content by subject. Break up pages by discussion. Not only will viewers be less confused, but search engines can pick up on your site easier, which gives you a higher ranking.
If you are not feeling confident in any area at all when you're designing a website then go ahead and ask for help from someone. You can either find help from a friend or from strangers on places like forums on the web. Just be sure you don't tackle anything without knowing what you're doing first.
Keep the reading level of your potential visitors in mind when writing website content. A variety of visitors will visit your site and you want everyone to have access to the information shared. When expanding your audience, you want to develop content they understand.
Be sure load times for your site are good. Most visitors will leave if it takes a long time to load your website. Minimize the amount of Flash, scripts and graphics on your site. Optimize the site with HTML, SSI files, caching options and minimize CSS and JS coding.
To help you create a website, you should learn HTML. Knowing HTML helps you understand how a website functions. When you understand how a website works, you can incorporate your own HTML code into your site. This helps you to easily correct changes without having to rely on outside programs to build your site. In other words, you have more control over your site's content.
Practice as much as you can each step of web design until you hone your skills. When you practice, it helps you learn more about web design. You don't need to think that you've leaned something only to find out that you didn't fully grasp it.
Usability tests that are task based are a good way to figure out what design works best for your website. The idea of the tasks, generally speaking, is to find information that is contained somewhere within the website. If the site is designed well, any user should find the task quite easy. But if it isn't, you need to reconsider your design choices.
You want to ensure that your site is capable of being viewed on all types of operating systems and programs, ranging from browsers such as internet explorer to firefox. You also want to be sure that your site works on both windows and mac operating systems so as many users as possible can view your content.
Site maps are an excellent piece of technology that allow users and search engines to get a better view of your site's functions and layouts without extra work. Include a link check here to your sitemap from the homepage and leave it as simple as possible. The sitemap doesn't need fancy graphics or fonts, just layout your website and update it when needed.
Focusing on your target audience is important even for website design. For instance, if you're designing a site in order to sell winter coats, you're not exactly going to have a beach themed background with Joe Strummer tunes playing upon entry. Keep your site closely related to its targeted audience.
As stated before, just about everyone, including you, has wanted to create a website. People have had ideas on what their website will be like for years, but become stuck in the actual creation process. This hurdle can be easily jumped from using the web design tips mentioned in the article above.