It can feel very challenging to design a website! How do you build a distinctive website that will stand out from the competition? Do you know anything about coding? This article will contain tips and tricks that help you know what to do when creating a site and how to make it look great.
Use JavaScript to include a custom font on your webpages. Libraries like Typekit and Google Web Fonts make it easy to include esoteric fonts on webpages, even if most visitors don’t have those fonts on their computers. It works by embedding the font itself into JavaScript so that it can be decoded by the client on the fly.
Always mark files that must be opened in an external program with an icon. Many sites host PDF files, and less commonly, DOC files, that must be opened in Foxit Reader and Microsoft Word/OpenOffice, respectively. These files should be marked with an icon representing the file type, and a link to download the appropriate viewer if the user does not have it.
Simplify your home page. People who are shopping around decide quickly whether to use a site or continue searching by viewing the front page. Spend time describing your business and what it offers, but keep the rest to a minimum so that people do not get distracted.
Personalize your site. Your clients want to feel comfortable with you, so use testimonials from trusted customers, as well as photographs of people. Building trust with your customers is very important, so be sure to let them know you personally care about the product or service you are providing them.
Content is the most important aspect of your site. Website design is critical, but without content, it won’t matter. Visitors will come back over and over when you provide content that is of value to them.
If you are not feeling confident in any area at all when you’re designing a website then go ahead and ask for help from someone. You can either find help from a friend or from strangers on places like forums on the web. Just be sure you don’t tackle anything without knowing what you’re doing first.
Avoid using animated GIFs on your site. These were popular in the late 1990s, but newer technologies have replaced the uses for animated GIFs that were actually useful. Animated GIFs are low in quality and large in file size. Use static icons for page elements and actual video files for complex animations.
Your links should always contain content in text form on every page you insert them. The content makes the link visible to the users who are on your site. If your links don’t have text, they may not be helpful.
Reading this article is a great start, so consider printing it out and going over it a few times to absorb it’s content. Keep finding news ways to improve the quality of the websites you create, and you will not only match the corporate giants, but actually beat them.
