Pointers for Web Designers

Web Designers

For some, web design is as easy as 1, 2, 3. But many web designers have fallen prey to marketing tricks that made web design more complicated. Sometimes you come across a web site that looks good with a particular browser but when viewed with a different browser you cannot even read the text. What is worse is that with the different operating system available today, these sites may not be seen properly by some of the surfers.

Creating a good website requires good web copy, easy and spontaneous site navigation, good graphic design and sound site layout. Thus, the goal of most website designer is to create an easily accessible, creative and functional website that will convince visitors to make some action.

Say for example you have a web site that sells jewelries online. The fact that the site cannot be viewed by the users means losses to you and failed investment. So when designing websites it is important that designers exercise creativity, skill and technical prowess in order to create a site that translates into profit.

Here are a few guidelines that can be considered as a rule of thumb by web designers.

Use images. A picture is worth a thousand words. Pictures enhance the look of the page. But see to it that you do not go overboard and stuff your page with a lot of images. Keep in mind that the average time to load a page should be five seconds. If your page takes longer than that the visitor may click away and surf some other site.

Consider the content. People use the internet to gain information. So, as much as possible you want your visitors to gain a lot of information and knowledge from your site. Poor grammar and spelling will reduce your credibility and reputation. You would not want this to happen so make sure that your site provides valuable information or else your visitor will again click away from your site.

Site navigation. Functionality and navigability should come before artistic excellence. Site navigation should be simple, easy and spontaneous. It’s no use making your site artistic if users cannot navigate around it.

Browser compatibility. There are hundreds of browsers in use today. Hence, you must design your website to work properly in the most widely used browser.

Likewise, occasionally test all site links to make sure that they are valid. Nothing discourages a visitor off faster than broken links.

Simply put a good web design is a combination of good planning and common sense. A good website is like a good storefront – it could mean the difference between a casual visitor and a serious customer. Remember that your visitor is the king. Hence, it is important to make them happy and to keep them happy.

7 Pointers about Web Design

In order to master the art of web design, designers must follow the subsequent pointers:

1. Web designers are marketers per se. Web sites are all about advertising products, ideas and services. Thus, a web designer has to understand the mindset of marketers in order to create a design that sell.

2. Read, read and read. We do not experience everything. Thus, our tendency is to learn from others. Reading web design books, newsletters and tips are pretty valuable since they can save you time and effort. Basically, books are more conclusive than newsletters and tips however, they are for free and mostly updated.

3. Narrow down your target market. You cannot please everybody same thing that you cannot be good at everything. Thus, this fact calls for the narrowing of your target market. Even in the interface of the so-called web design, a designer cannot claim that he is an expert at anything or everything about the needs of a website. It is better to pick a certain audience and try to be good at catching their attention, preference and choice. This practice allows you to be best at a given area thus developing expertise.

4. Answer your target audience’s needs. In order to answer the visitor’s needs, web designers must know what kind of visitors his site is welcoming. Do they belong to the younger generation or otherwise? What do they want from your site? Are these information, details and pleasures in your site in order to get their undivided attention and loyalty? Bear in mind that colors, font size, style of graphics, contents and the entirety of the site affects viewer’s decision and choice.

5. Know the basics of SEO and copywriting. Though Search Engine Optimization and copywriting are not directly related to designing, still, designers must have basic knowledge about them. This is because web designing is intertwined with marketing, use of keywords and visibility.

Aside from that, designers must also have knowledge of the programming basics. If not, the tendency is waste time or to create a mediocre or unsatisfactory design to the detriment of the sites.

6. The primacy of functionality. If ever you are faced to make a decision between a web site’s aesthetic form and its functionality, you have to be firm in upholding the latter. Not everything that is pretty is ‘saleable’. Besides, you don’t create web sites for the sake of making it nice-looking.

Above anything else, the site must be functional so as to cater to every visitor’s wants and needs. Appearance is a means to catch visitor’s attention nevertheless, it is not the end. If a designer prioritizes appearance alone without considering its primary consideration the web site’s marketability will suffer.

7. Know when to break the rules. Rules are only guidelines, if you feel that the rules are inappropriate for a certain creation follow your heart’s desire and venture on an experimental adventure.