Making your own website – An overview of design principles
Let’s take a quick look at some basic web design concepts for you to keep in mind.
The best way to learn how to make a website is to look at a lot of websites and note what you like and what you dislike about them. How do different design elements in other web pages make you feel? Is that how you would want visitors to your own site to feel or think?
In much the same way that a photographer develops a trained “eye” by looking at lot’s of professional photographs, or a animal breeder can spot a good cat just by looking at it because he has seen so many, you should be able train your eye with what it ought to see on a professional website.
Besides load, some basic things that you need to consider are:
- Navigability. Navigation on your website should be easy and straightforward. Your website visitors should be able to tell which page they are on and how to get back to the previous page. Pages must be clearly marked and you should always have a “home” button at the top of your webpages that visitors can click on if they get “lost.”
- Compatibility. Check your website on as many different browsers and screen resolutions as possible to make sure that it shows up as well as possible on all of them.
- Readability. Don’t clutter your web pages, keep them to the point and clear. Keep webpages short in length to help with loading time and also to keep your website visitors from having to scroll a lot, which can be annoying. It would be better to have lots of short pages than just a few really long ones. Of course, you wouldn’t want to go over the top either and chop it up too much. You need to ensure a good balance of content on each page.
- Simplicity. Use graphics that are not outrageous, common fonts that are easily deciphered, and color and text color that your visitors will find easy to view. Animations can be distracting so keep them to a minimum.
- Harmony. Make sure all of your links are working and that any pictures you use show up. You might need to use a friend’s computer to see if all of your images are visible. Include title tags with all your images so that if the image does not load your visitors will still know what was supposed to be there. The quickest way to loose a visitor is to have broken links and empty spaces where pictures should be.
- Accessibility. The website must include a way to contact you as the website or business owner. When creating websites for others make sure you include your information as the webmaster of the site.
- Professionalism. Also make sure you check both the spelling and grammer of your web pages. Poor use of language and spelling errors can really effect your credibility. You don’t have to write a complete novel; you should just follow the rules of spelling and grammar. If you’re not confident with your writing skills, you can hire a professional to write your web content for you for a relatively small price.
If you stick to the above principles, you will be able to build a website that is user-friendly and invites your visitors to stay for a while. These basic ideas are easy to implement, and it is worth the extra time that it takes to plan for the best website you can create!
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