Expert Tips About Better Web Design Strategies

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Expert Tips About Better Web Design Strategies
Technology moves at a rapid pace and keeping up can be frustrating. The fact is that a company without a website is missing out on many customers that they won't be able to get any other way, so implementing technology in your favor is important. Read on to find some techniques and secrets which will help you get into the game.

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 buttons 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.

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.

To help keep your site visitors happy, do not underline words. Underline words on the internet signifies that the word is a clickable link. If you have too many words on your pages that are underlined with being clickable links, then your visitors will be frustrated after continuously trying to click on them.

Elicit feedback from your visitors. You will find out if a link is broken or if a page is not loading properly. Giving your visitors a voice makes them much more likely to return to your site and continue the conversation.

Every page of your website should have a way to return to the main page, or "home." This ensures that when users navigate deeper into your site, they always have a way to start over if they lose place of what got them to the page they are on currently.

For your image tags, always try to include a brief description in the ALT attribute. Not only is this good for search engine optimization, but it is also beneficial to the sight-impaired users who rely on screen readers to describe image tag contents. Make your description short and as descriptive as possible.

If you find yourself stuck in the design process, remember that you have the entire Internet at your disposal to look for examples. There are literally millions of websites that you can browse to find the inspiration that you need. Find a website that you like, identify what makes that website appealing, and determine if it is an idea that you can borrow and improve upon. Keep in mind that in order for your website to be truly successful, it is not enough to simply borrow ideas. You must also improve upon them.

Always make sure that your site design works well on every browser. Your coding might look great in Firefox, but it could be askew in Internet Explorer. You need to find out exactly how things look in all browsers and then code in a way that leaves your site looking the same on every popular browser.

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.

Get signed up for a design newsletter to stay current on web design trends. This way, if you ever are at a loss for ideas, you will be able to find inspiration through the newsletters. Both pros and novices can benefit from reading good newsletters.

In the end, web design has become so simple that anyone can do it. From your 8 year old neighbor who has her own Pokemon site to my 90 year old Grandmother and the Quilting forum she set up, everyone seems to be active online. Get your company set up with its own presence and enjoy the profits it brings!