If You
Would Like to Learn Website Design
Beginner
Web Site Design Tips - Do It Yourself or Hire a Website
Design Company
Beginners sometimes have a
misconception about what makes a good Internet site. No
matter if you plan to start an online business or just
create personal web pages you still should know some basics
before you begin. Here are a few tips to get you
started.
Free Web Site Services
Let's face some facts. It isn’t
very difficult to design a bad website. In the past you
needed to know how to format and program in HTML, but with
today’s what you see is what you get html editors, even
those provided by free hosting sites like angelfire.com and
geocities.com, anybody can set up their web site within a
few minutes, for better or for worse.
Other free weblog hosting services,
like blogger.com, give you all sorts of website design
options, called templates, which you can alter to fit your
needs and desires. Again, going through the free signup
procedures through these sites is a snap, and you can add
your two cents to the overall content of the world wide web
in minutes. But is anybody going to read what you’re
writing? Are they going to want to?
Make Your Website Functional and Fun
Website design choices range from the
boring and mundane to shiny, gee-wiz java applets that can
make the text literally jump off the page. If you’re
just getting into website design, either for a business or
for your own personal site, you’re going to want to
learn the HTML basics, even if you’re using a WYSIWYG
editor.
Tutorials, Tips and Design
Lessons
Find a beginner
web design tutorial, there are
lots of them out there, and learn how to create boarders,
add text, manipulate photos, and setup links. Once
you’ve figured out how to do these things you can go
onto designing your site, either from a pre-made template or
from scratch.
There is a lot more to learn, and
it’s to your advantage to keep learning once you get
started. Figure out how to add backgrounds, page dividers,
and how to manipulate the text you’ve entered. However,
don’t feel the need to get too flashy.
Don't Overdo It!!!
One of the biggest mistakes in website
design, both by professional programmers and first-timers,
is that programmers try to make their websites too flashy.
They include flashing banners and text
and animated images. Big intros eat up bandwidth before
users even get a chance to find the information they’re
looking for. Colored text clashes with colored backgrounds
and shimmering headers. Though all of these extras may show
off your design chops, they’re going to make your
website hard to navigate for users.
What If I Want to Hire a
Webmaster?
If you just don't have the time to
learn web design from home, you might consider hiring a
professional website design company. There are many
different web designers, and all of them have their
strengths and weaknesses. Some people go for the national
Internet page design companies.
This can make a lot of sense because
these people have the most resources, and often the most
experience. They can get you high page ranking, national
exposure, and a sleek, well put together page. For some
projects, however, it makes a lot more sense to use a local
web design company. Almost any major metropolitan area will
have a few Web design firms, and it is much easier to work
with people who live close to you.
Local Small Business
Websites
Using a local Web design company is
especially advantageous if you have a business that caters
primarily to local clients. They will understand the local
culture better than a national firm will, and will be able
to give you just what you need to get the Web traffic you
are looking for. They might even have local contacts that
will serve you in drawing in customers from the demographic
groups that you are targeting.
Check Previous Work
The most important thing is to look at
a portfolio of any Web designers you are communicating with.
Sometimes, a very reputable web designer will just not be
into the kind of thing you are looking for. They might have
a completely different sense of style than your own, or
specialize in another kind of business.
Remember, the Internet contains plenty
of great Web design company businesses, so you don't need to
settle for the first one you find that looks legitimate. You
can always afford to shop around.
Build Your Own Website
Of course, if you are looking for
something simple and straightforward, you might want to try
your hand at doing Web site design yourself. The website
design software nowadays is really amazing. It is easier to
use than ever before, and extremely powerful.
If you are working on an extremely
elaborate web page, or something heavy on animation, it
always makes sense to get a professional to do
it.
If You Do It Yourself Keep It So
Simple
So, follow the golden rules of website
design. Keep your site simple and easy to navigate. Be sure
to link your pages internally; nothing is more frustrating
to a user than having to navigate back to the front page
every time they want to get to another area of your site.
Web Color Codes
Colors are great, but pick a color
code scheme and stick with it. Make important content easy
to find, and link every single page back to the home page.
Follow these simple tips and you’ll keep your website
design from looking like a train wreck, and more people will
listen to what you’re trying to tell them. This is how
traffic generation is born (covered in other pages on this
site).
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