Who can design web sites?
Everyone! Maybe that's where the problem stands. In order to design web sites you need nothing more than a computer, a web design software program. and a little patience. So why is there a problem, you ask. Well, first of all, because many so called "web designers" are simply experimenting with each new website they produce - there is no cleat path to follow, no guidelines to adhere to - anything goes! Professional web designers will tell you that in order to design a website that is well built and functions flawlessly you need to follow a series of rules and principles, of which many of the amateur web designers have never even heard of. Of course, if you want to design a personal website, you should, by all means try to do it yourself - I mean, who would pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for something like this. The problem is triggered when you make a hobby out of designing company websites from an amateur level - your web design will do more harm than good!
The most frequent problems of website design
Many web designers can produce a great looking site, which is, however, completely non functional. In order to design successful websites you have to make them look nice but also create an intuitive navigation system that will allow the user to get the information they are looking for without any technical or design obstacles. You don't need to use tons of Flash or fancy graphics to design a web site. You don't need to use millions of colors on a web page and design websites in the colors of the rainbow just because you can use so much color variation. Don't put important text in red huge fonts! Reading internet text is more tiring than regular reading, so use a non cursive font (like Arial or Verdana) and offer enough contrast for the reader. The more complicated and abstract you design web sites the more chances that the visitor will get lost and soon exit your site.
Design web sites like a pro
Functionality comes first, good web design later. Intuitive navigations systems are the first problem you have to deal with - do not think that if you find a file easy to access all users will. A good trick, when you design web sites, is to test your "creation" on different people in different stages of development. Remember that you are designing a website for your visitors, not for yourself. Professional web designers also stick with a consistent look of ALL the pages in the website. If you are building a company web site, make sure that the company symbols (such as logo, color scheme) are present in each page of the web site and use a web design software program that makes it easy to test the site in different Internet browsers. The best idea is to design web sites that you will be proud of 2 or 3 years from now!
More information on logo design, business card creation, graphic design tips and other useful resources can be accessed through our other articles.
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