Learning how to become successful in web design can seem overwhelming at times. Yet if you read through you can learn some insightful information on how to become a success in web design so you can concentrate on reaching your future endeavors.
If you're designing a website, make sure the code you write has a valid HTML+CSS. Although most browsers can make sense of code that isn't valid, it could be rendered correctly or incorrectly. Valid code will render the same way most of the time in modern browsers. You can check the validity of your HTML code with an HTML validator.
You should also consider implementing fixed-position navigation. What occurs when the navigation is fixed is the panel follows the users scrolling. In other words, it moves down the page as the user moves down the page. This is good for visitors, but also for internet marketing professionals, because it helps facilitate the desired action.
It may look pretty, but stay away from having too many animations on your site. Having your sales splash page rotate, spin and blink may look cool to you, but it will likely drive potential viewers away. When you add too many flashy splashes like that, it makes your site look amateurish which is not the message you want to convey.
Let your users have the option of canceling any action if they wish to do so. This could mean ordering products, opting in to an email newsletter, or returning to the homepage from deep within your site. If you don't give visitors the opportunity to cancel their actions, you are depriving them of control, and that can prove fatal to your website.
Test your website before it goes live. There's nothing worse then launching your new website and having to take it down right away due to bugs or other issues. Get a group of people together who are using different web browsers and computer platforms, and ask them to use a beta version of your website, writing down any issues they come across.
Test your website in the most popular browsers and platforms to make sure that it displays correctly. Sometimes scripts that work in one browser may not produce the same results in another browser. So you may need take extra measures, like adding a function for browser detection, in order to ensure that your website will display properly under most conditions.
Familiarizing yourself with Photoshop and using it from the very beginning of your web designing efforts can improve the results you achieve right from day one. Using a program that has great reviews behind it can help speed up the time it takes to create a website. If Photoshop is not something you have access to, then being able to create a good site could take some time.
Do not use blinking, scrolling text or other animations. Also, steer clear of sounds or music that plays automatically. All of these things are distracting to users and provide nothing of value. In addition, connection speeds vary from one site visitor to the next, and everyone does not have the same speed. Those users with slower connections will resent the slow-loading elements of your site.
Remember to use ALT tags on any images you use in your website. It helps those who are surfing the web with disable graphics. It also helps those with visual impairments, as images can be translated to voice. When links are used for images, having an ALT tag lets you describe the link's behavior. Finally, ALT tags are used by search engine crawlers; therefore, using them can help boost your search rank.
Make text easy to ready by using colors that contrast or backgrounds that are easy to read text on. When your text is harder to read because the background or text color creates eye strain or portions of text that are unreadable, site visitors are less likely to stick around.
Organize your links and avoid putting too many links in one area of your site. Doing this can confuse visitors and make them leave your site. If you do have many low- to mid-importance links, emulate the "blogrolls" seen in many blogs and tuck them away in a column on the right side of the page.
Use custom error pages to make your site more informative. For instance, if you want people to report dead links on your site, either put a server-side script on your 404 page or have a form or email address that visitors can use to report the error. You should have custom pages for 403, 404, and 500 errors, at the very least.
Watch the amount of flashy multimedia that is on your site. Don't overdo it with a bunch of "extras". Flash graphics and multimedia may appear enticing, but these may make it difficult for visitors to find the desired information from the site, particularly if they're viewing your site from a non-Flash compatible device.
Website counters are pretty unattractive, so stay away from them. Although it may be something that you find valuable, your visitors are not interested in seeing it. Get rid of the counter and monitor your traffic by other means.
So now that you know what it takes to become a great web designer you should feel a lot more confident with handling any website. Whether it is a site that you want to work on for yourself or for business related matter you know what it takes to design websites to become successful and reach your goals.