Many people love the idea of having a web site, but get scared when they hear the phrase „web design“. After all, don’t you need to be an artist with years of computer programming skill to make a great web page? Thankfully, making a good site is not as hard as it sound once you know the basics.
Before you start working on the pretty part of the site, you need to work on your site’s content. After all, people are going to want to visit your page for more than just pretty pictures! Grab a sheet of paper and make a list of the main areas that you think others will want to visit. „About me“, „home“, and „links“ are usually good pages to get your started.
Once you know what you want on your web site, it is time to start organizing! People like it when it’s easy to tell what is where but do not like a flood of links to click. If several similar things go together, it usually is OK to put them on the same page. For example, „About me“ could also tell your hobbies and favorite music instead of having separate pages for your music, your hobbies and you.
Once you have planned out what is going on your web page and how it is organized, it is time to design your site’s layout. The three most important things are ease of use, visibility, and compatibility.
Visibility means that your page is easy to read. Choose two contrasting complimentary colors for your pages. It is important to make sure the colors are very different in shades to make it easy to read. Usually light text on a dark background or dark text on a light background works the best. Also avoid using background images as it makes reading difficult.
Ease of use means that it is easy for people visiting your page to find what they want. All the main pages you came up with earlier should be clearly linked on an easy to read menu that will be in the same place on every one of your pages. If you have any sub pages, a site map linked in the footer of your web page is also a great idea.
Last but not least is compatibility. How well does your website function across multiple browsers? Will something not work in Firefox or cause a slower computer to crash? Generally flash is very bad for compatibility, so avoid using it to make your web site. Using proper W3C compliant code will greatly help your compatibility, so do not be shy to keep yourself updated.
As you can see, web design is not as scary as it sounds. With a little planning and care taken towards visibility, ease of use, and compatibility your web site will be just fine. Do not be afraid to try to go out there and make your site yourself, there is plenty of help out there if you get „stuck“. Have fun with your web page, the world is waiting to hear from you!
Does your website need of an overhaul? With over 10 years of web design and content management experience, this company is sure to help change the Toronto web design of your website into something that would attract, keep, and convert people into customers.