Practical Web Design Tips

Web design is a thought out art. There are many small yet necessary factors that go into designing an appealing and consumer friendly website. It is important to create an easy and clear design and smooth navigation through your site.

Though you may thing the bigger the better in the image you portray on you page, this is not always true. A bigger image causes pages to load much slower which may frustrate your browsers. A neutral size is like 10-12KB per image. Graphics that move around, flash wild colors, rotate, etc. should be avoided or at least used VERY sparingly. Studies have shown that many browsers find these images annoying and distracting from the real page content. Sometimes browsers will even physically cover the image on the screen in an effort to understand you page's content clearly!

Images that don't have what to do with the content should be eliminated. No matter how beautiful or eye catching it is, if it's not relevant to your content, skip it. One exception may be for "design" images. Design images are photos or graphics that are included in the design of the page and are not there to portray your content.

When building the layout of your page try to stick to something simple. Many newspapers and web sites employ the three column layout and though you may think it boring and typical you will definitely keep more visitors by using readable and understandable content. A funky layout or something with a twist like a horizontally wide page that you just scroll to the right instead of down to read further, may seem more enticing and fun to build, but generally readers don't appreciate it. It's definitely more confusing and hard to figure out just how to navigate around, who would have the head to process the content too?

When it comes to choosing fonts, again the less the better. Having multitudes of different fonts is one of the best ways to create an amateurish look. Limiting the number of fonts on your page and throughout your site is easier to read and gives a much more professional look. Try to stick with just two or three. Another thing to keep in mind is choosing fonts that most browsers have too. Chances are your browsers will have the more standard fonts, though there may be a select few who will also be equipped with the more wild ones. Choosing a standard font will ensure your designs will show up properly and that your page will come across as neat and professional to all viewers.

Some websites display other businesses advertisements on their pages (to make money...) As stated earlier concerning images, be careful that the advertisements aren't too big and too flashy and don't distract readers from YOUR content. After all if they came to your website they may as well notice what you have to offer too! Additionally it may be worthwhile to only post advertisements relevant to your content. A relevant ad is more likely to get the clicks that it's there for.

There are many ideas, graphics and layouts to choose from when designing your website. Though it is possible to do it on your own it may be to your benefit to enlist the help of a Website Design professional. They are in the business, know the ropes, and most important they know what gets you the traffic and profits you are looking for.