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[S936]Starting Web Design Business

by Peter Brittain, Pet

If you want to design and develop your own website but are confused and not sure how to go about it then you have two simple choices. You could either hire a team of professional web designers to do the job or you could let your creative spirit help you learn the ABC of web designing. It is certainly not difficult to get started in web designing and a little bit of training will help you get your foot in the door.

You need to know certain software programs to design and load your web pages on the Internet. To start off, you can familiarize yourself with various terms such as HTML, SEO, Meta Tags, etc. It is important to understand their relevance in the virtual world because using these things will help your website look eye-catching and as a result it will attract huge traffics. While HTML is the programming language required to construct various kinds of web pages, Meta Tags and Search Engine Optimization [SEO] keywords are critical words and sentences that need to be inserted into the text of your website so that various search engines are able to identify and display the name of your website during any searches by Internet users. The right combination of the right words coupled with a well-designed web page will decide whether or not you have truly translated your training into application.

Visually, the most important aspect of web designing should be reflected by your home page as this is the page your visitors will see as soon as they access your website. You will only have a few precious seconds to impress them enough to retain their attention on your site. If they are really excited they would explore your website thoroughly and eventually end up being your paying customers. In order to achieve this, you will need to construct a visually appealing website that not only looks hot but also performs all the expected functions without any difficulty. Speed of your website is of equal importance as many of your visitors might be looking at your site through old machines with slow Internet connections. Hence it is advisable to limit the use of graphics, images, animations and even video. Avoid them unless absolutely necessary. Search engines do their searches based only on the text and not on graphics, so make sure that you only sprinkle your site with bare minimum color graphics instead of smothering it with overdoing it.

In addition to limiting your graphics and colors on your website, make it a point to test your website by accessing it through various browsers and machines that use different screen resolutions. It is important that your newly designed website is accessible to the maximum number of visitors. After all that is your prime objective of creating your own website. If you succeed in attracting a good amount of traffic you have certainly perfected your web designing skills. Make sure that your text fonts are readable and that the colors of your text and background do not merge with each other to the extent of making your text hazy. Your menus and navigation keys too should be clearly defined and should work flawlessly. In short, the entire package should be well presented and should also work well in order to offer your visitors a remarkable experience.

Thus, you too can design your own website within a short period of time. Experience will teach you the finer points that may be required to further improve your website. The right mix of graphics and content will ensure that your creativity gets rewarded by your visitors when they turn into your regular and high-paying customers.

Search engines don't care about web design. People do. While search engines will not index a website for its great layout, but for the content, people will forget the website that has nothing distinctive about it. No visual impact, no interest! Now, if you are a serious online entrepreneur and want to have a website that sends the right message to the visitors, you must know that there are some web design techniques simply inappropriate for a business website.

Many web design companies promise websites that respect the web standards, are usable and search engine friendly. Yes, that's how any website should be. But these are simple tools. A professional company will mention them, but it will also let you know how a website will increase revenue, reduce expenses, bring more customers and so on. A professional web design firm will not fashion a website “out of the blue”, but conceive a design after understanding your corporate values, after analyzing the target market and respecting your brand image. That's what you should care about when you choose a web design company.

There are many elements of web design that screw up a business website. Many are simple bad practices, other purely ugly and useless. For an unknown reason business websites with really bad web design are still fashioned every day.

One of the worst web design techniques is to use Flash instead of text. Web designers have fallen in love with Flash, but that will do a website no good: it increases the size of the page and it is not search engine friendly. Flash is great for music bands, movie sites and other sites that need to make a “cool” impression. Business websites need to send other messages: reliability, customer support, experience and so on. There are some astonishing Flash creations on the web, but the most are simply annoying, useless and visitors just hate them. Flash is exceptionally bad when the designer forgets to put a “Skip Intro” button. On a second thought, a “Skip Intro” button will suggest that the content on that page is insignificant. So far is clear: Flash pages send out mixed messages. However, if you are really in love with flash and simply must have it on your website, create a non-Flash version.

Small text could also be really annoying. If people can't see your message, they'll just go away, eventually to your competitors. Another bad web design practice is using too many images and animated buttons. There's nothing worse than a website that twinkles and gets you dizzy while you try to find your way to the information through a bunch of flashy banners, buttons and useless pictures. Many web designers still use background images.

Seriously, have you ever see a global business website that has employed such a web design technique? Most of them have a standard, classic design, with simple navigation and plain text on a white background. The graphics are in perfect harmony with the content, they are not misleading and do have proper ALT attributes. There is a reason for simplicity in web design: creating websites that are simple, logical and easy to use, creating websites that sell.

It takes a real web designer to develop simple web pages that are both appealing and simple. Simplicity in web design should not by synonym with ugliness. Simple websites could be well-designed, elegant and bring other important benefits: they load faster, they are easier to scan and easier to navigate, they are quicker to design, build, redesign, maintain and they require less server space and bandwidth. Best of all: a simple web design will cost less and bring more!

Article Source : Professional Development Of Teachers

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Both Peter Brittain & Scott Lindsay are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Peter Brittain has sinced written about articles on various topics from Wine and Spirits, Web Development and Payday Loans. Peter is a based in Perth Western Australia and owns. Peter Brittain's top article generates over 49500 views. to your Favourites.

Scott Lindsay has sinced written about articles on various topics from Payday Loans, Computers and The Internet and Mens Health. . Scott Lindsay's top article generates over 1830000 views. to your Favourites.