Web Design
Focused Web Design
by Bob Stone on Jul.27, 2009, under Web Design
When browsing the Internet, most people have very little patience. They’ve come to your site for something, whether it’s to purchase something or just to discover some information. A lot of traffic that most sites get comes directly from search engines, so it’s important to keep in mind how easy it is for people to find a replacement. All they have to do is hit the back button, and click on the next option in the search window. With that in mind, it’s your job to get straight to the point and let the visitor know what you can offer them. Or you could simply hire an affordable website designing service.
Optimally, your main home page should let a user go wherever they want on your site. You don’t have to link to every single sub-page, but you cover all of the major categories. It should also include some sort of mission statement, letting them know exactly what it is that they’ll be able to find on your site. Most people don’t want to browse around a site for ten minutes only to discover that it doesn’t have what they’re after – so they’ll just find a site that they’re sure about.
Another good idea is to embed some sort of search feature right on your main page. This will let visitors just run a quick search and find out the information that they’re looking for. The first instinct might be to make your web sites labyrinthine, like a department store, but there’s a key difference: all a person has to do to leave a website is click. Focused navigation is the best way to ensure an enjoyable viewing experience for users.
Very Basic HTML for Webmasters
by Tony Sanderson on Jun.08, 2009, under Web Design
With all the web design tools out there, it’s pretty easy for just about anyone to create a basic website and call themselves a Webmaster. However, if you really want to be a good Webmaster you can’t rely on tools to do all the work for you. You should take the time to properly learn how to use the basic language of web pages, which is called HTML.
HTML stands for hypertext markup language. This may sound really complicated, but what it refers to is that HTML documents are basically just regular text documents that have certain notations that indicate how the computer should display them. That means, despite how complicated HTML files can look, all you need is a basic text editor to create and modify them. And if HTML is too complicated for you, you can always use a PSD to HTML service.
One of the driving forces of HTML scripting is the use of tags. Tags tell an Internet browser how to format the text that’s found in between the tags. For example, <head> is a tag that indicates to the browser that the text should be formatted as the title of the page, while <body> indicates that the text is part of the main body text. It’s important to remember to close out each tag so that the browser knows where each section ends. This is done with the forward slash, like this: </head> or </body>.
With just this basic knowledge, you can create a very rudimentary website, just using the head and body tags. Of course, if you really want to call yourself a Webmaster, you’ll have to learn a lot more than that.
Clean Web Design
by Bob Stone on May.22, 2009, under Web Design
There are a lot of different features that you can add to websites, thanks to the powerful technologies available. However, just because you can add something, doesn’t always mean that you should. If you’re not careful, it’s easy to fall into the trap of loading your website with too many flashy gizmos that simply overwhelm and distract the user. This is a major reason why you should always work with a professional IT consulting company. This article covers a few of the biggest offenders that you should use sparingly, if at all, on your site.
Music and sound are a big one. Many people make the mistake of adding music and sounds to websites without properly modulating their volume. When the user opens the page, they’re hit with a sonic assault that, nine times out of ten, will just annoy them. It’s especially rough on people who are using headphones. It might also clash with any sounds or music that the user is already playing, and just end up confusing.
Flashy animations are an easy thing to overdo. While a nice, clean flash animation or game can be a fun part of a site; a poorly designed or obtrusive one can be an annoyance. For instance, if a user is trying to read something on your site, but there’s some flashing image flying around the screen, then it’s sure to get in the way. Another no-no along these lines is scrolling text, as it can just stress out the reader since they cannot read at their own pace. A nice, clean web page is a much more comfortable and enjoyable browsing experience.
Low Key Web Design
by Bob Stone on May.09, 2009, under Web Design
Web browsing can become a truly interactive, multimedia experience with the right tools. However, just because you can do something doesn’t necessarily mean that you should. One of the quickest ways to turn off a potential visitor to your site is to force them to download some sort of plugin or additional software in order to view it. Not only do most people simply not want to spend the time, but also many inexperienced web users get intimidated when asked to install things, fearing viruses and other malware. Always keep this in mind when working on a new website design.
If you’re thinking about adopting an exciting new technology, you should do it with care. The best bet is to simply wait until the new software application has hit the mainstream and become accepted as par for the course. Things like Java applets and Flash animations require plugins, but many people have already downloaded them for use on other popular sites. Or, in some cases, they’ve become so popular that they’re just built into many web browsers.
There’s also some value to being one of the early adopters of a technology, but you have to weigh this against the risks. On the one hand, you may develop a loyal user base of other early-adopters, but you also may drive off a lot of potential visitors. Perhaps the best choice is simply to offer alternatives: if the user can’t or won’t download something extra to check out you site, provide him a way to see what you have to offer without the extras.
Web Design Clichés
by Bob Stone on May.06, 2009, under Web Design
The web is no longer the exciting new technology that it once was. Over time, as the medium has matured, people have come to expect certain things from the websites they visit. A certain level of quality is required, or people will just click away from your site without a second thought. In addition, some web design elements have been so overused that people are just plain sick of them. The best India web designing company is very careful not to use any of these elements.
For instance, one of the overplayed and archaic elements is the page counter. For the most part, no one other than the site’s designer actually cares how many people have visited the site. It is certainly useful data, but putting in your front page can make your site look amateurish. There’s easy way to fix this problem, fortunately – just use a hidden counter, or for more serious projects, use some sort of analytics website or software package.
Perhaps the most hackneyed and tired element of web design out there is the animated .GIF. In the earlier days of web design, they were a popular way to add some movement and flash to a site. Even then, however, many people saw them as a major turn off. If you want to add some motion to your website, there are far better ways to do it, today. The best way is to use Flash or a similar program, which allows you to create custom animations and even web games. Live in the present, and stay away from the web design clichés of the past!
Good Web Design Layout
by Bob Stone on Apr.30, 2009, under Web Design
Good web design is about striking a balance between utility and aesthetics. A site that is pretty and easy to navigate but has useless content is just as bad a site full of useful information that people have trouble getting to. There’s no exact science to designing a strong layout, but there are some basic guidelines that you can use.
Your home page is generally the most important one, so be sure to focus your efforts here. Imagine if you walked into a store and the front entrance was covered in grime and litter. Even if the inside of the store were pristine, few people would want to go inside. The same logic applies to web design India.
Splitting up information is important. If you just bombard people with giant walls of text or pages that consist of dozens of images but no meaningful text, visitors will get overwhelmed and convinced. Aim to give the user enough information that they can make a decision on where to go next within you site, but not too much that it frustrates them.
You should also take the time to think about certain thematic choices, such as color and fonts. If you radically alter your color palette from page to page, then it makes for a jarring experience. Fonts are the same way, if you have a straightforward font on one page and an outlandish looking one on the next; the site lacks unity and distracts your visitors. The best bet is to pick a theme and stick with it!
Web Design and Programming
by Tony Sanderson on Sep.04, 2008, under Web Design
Main purpose of any web studio in creating a site is developing a unique web design that gives specifics of your company’s business and to submit information in a convenient and easily understandable form for consumers. However the necessary artistic value and complexity of web design, animations and audio effects are determined by the set objectives to the web site.
For some sites, such as news and publications is sufficient in simple web design with beautifully formatted text, because information itself is a significant interest to consumers. For others - such as Internet shop is better to choose a web design with more graphic elements and animation.
Generally, web design consists of:
– Preparation of content (pictures, text), manufacture of basic structure of the site, information structure - databases, design of functional navigation;
– Graphic design - choosing a color spectrum, fonts, formatting of graphic elements, flash animation, logo, i.e. creating a unique web design and uniform style pages these can often be found in places like Graphic Design forums.
- Technical web design, programming - optimization of graphics and text encoding, connection with a database.
During the first stage, starting concept of building a site complying with your company might need the services offered, target audience, its social and geographical identity, themes, the expected visits and more.
Then, using different images, buttons etc, produce unique web design that can transmit a message and the visitors needed to make the visit a pleasant aesthetic site.
Thus, the finished site gives interest and leave a good impression in the consumer (both for the site, and your company as a whole), which subsequently significantly eases the process of optimization and attracting new visitors. Quality web design largely depends whether your site will be successful or not.