Learn About New Directions In Web Design

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Learn About New Directions In Web Design
Do you need special templates and expensive software to design a great website? Well, that all depends on how much you're willing to learn. Lazy web designers will have to pay someone else to do it or buy a program. However, if you are willing to spend some time and effort, you can build an awesome site on your own.

Don't neglect cascading style sheets. Using a style sheet makes it easy to give all pages of your site the same look and feel. It also reduces the file size of your pages, as the CSS file can be accessed once on the server and then from the user's local cache thereafter.

Avoid using so-called "mystery meat navigation". This involves using unlabeled images or other elements for the site's navigation. In many cases, the visitor has to mouse over the icons to even see what they do. Navigation is best kept simple. Use text links across the top or along the left side of the page.

Do not use frames; that is old school. Frames were in heavy use during the beginning days of the Internet, but they were very flawed. If you use frames, visitors may find it difficult to add your site to their favorites,and scrolling is problematic. A number of better ways exist that make it easy for users to navigate your site.

Include a link to the homepage on every page of your site. One of the best ways to do this is to make a graphic title for your page that can be included on all pages. Web users are used to clicking on a graphic to return home so there won't be a learning curve to navigating your site.

Don't force users to install strange BHOs. Many tech-savvy users won't do it. Common offenders include unusual video players, image viewers, and platforms for interactive games. For most standard use cases, there is a trusted plugin, such as Windows Media Player or even Flash) that will do what you want without driving away users.

With large websites, it's always best to add in good search capabilities. The upper right of the main page should have a search box for users to search your whole site. If you need a search function, FreeFind and Google offer their services for your site.

Include a links page for your site and use it to provide a variety of resources related to the site's purpose. You should also include a variety of links, including links to sites that are offering backlinks to your site. If related sites link back to your site, your site ranking will move up in the rankings on search results pages.

Provide a navigation menu on every page of your site. While this menu does not have to link every single page of your site, as this could be an exhaustive list if you have a very large site, it should provide links to the main pages. This ensures that your visitors do not have to return to the home page and start completely over when it is not necessary.

You want to ensure that your site is capable of being viewed on all types of operating systems and programs, ranging from browsers such as internet explorer to firefox. You also want to be sure that your site works on both windows and mac operating systems so as many users as possible can view your content.

Acquiring an understanding of web design concepts is not nearly as difficult as training to become a neurosurgeon. You don't have to attend school, and someone's life isn't going to be depending on you. If you can heed the advice that you've just learned, you can design the website you're longing for.