If yours is a startup, online business, you may not be able to afford the expense of hiring a web designer. If you are just starting out with an online business, designing your website yourself can result in huge savings. Don’t cut corners! The following tips will help you get started.
Users can navigate your site easier when you have fixed-position navigation. By locking the menu to a fixed point on the screen, you can make sure it is constantly visible to the user regardless of where they scroll to on the screen. This isn’t only very convenient for your visitors, but is also great for marketers.
If you want your site to bring in more visitors, you should ensure it’s simple to navigate. Your links need to be prominently placed, easy to understand and functional. Menus also lend to easy navigation. To help visitors find their way back, be sure to have a visible link to the main page on all your pages.
Don’t overdo it with graphics. They are good for making your site more professional, but too much looks messy. Graphics are not meant to be used as mere decorations; they’re meant to better your site content. Having the right amount of graphics improves your website’s usability.
Have the data that users enter into fields preserved so that it can be transferred over to other portions of the site where the same information has to be filled out. For example, if a person has to enter their information to register for an account, and then is filling out a form on your website that requires the same information, you want to have their data saved, so that they do not have to take the time to fill everything out again. It’s annoying for visitors to have to re-register for different site functions, so work to make the site experience positive for your users.
Do not use JavaScript too much. Although it provides many methods of building a site that is more responsive, this can cause some problems for some visitors. Not all web browsers are alike, and they are updated pretty frequently. Not all visitors have the most current version of their browser. Also, people sometimes don’t have JavaScript enabled in their browsers. Both of these factors can determine whether a user is able to access your site.
A search function should always be included when you develop a site that is very large. Try having a search box in the upper-right of your homepage that allows searching for terms on your site. FreeFind and Google both have these capabilities for a website.
Becoming a website creation pro is no easy feat. In truth, you’ll make mistakes more than once. Just stay the course and keep learning all you can and you’ll master website design in no time.