Web Design Insights For People Of All Ages And Experience

You only get one chance to make a first impression, and this is as true of websites as it is of people. Because you want to give a good first impression, you want to make sure your website is designed correctly so that people do not leave as soon as they hit your site. These tips may help you prevent this.

Dont neglect cascading style sheets. Using a style sheet makes it easy to give all pages of your site the same look and feel. It also reduces the file size of your pages, as the CSS file can be accessed once on the server and then from the users local cache thereafter.

Avoid trying to add every new gadget to your website. It can be tempting to make your site look cutting edge by including every new web design option out there but it can end up turning people off. Simple will generally get the job done even better than a flashy layout.

Break up long text blocks. Having a huge wave of text is unnecessary for any site, especially when you can break it up by using images, or even separating it into different pages. Boring your viewers will only make them leave, so keep things as simple and fresh as possible.

White space is an important part of web design, so dont be afraid to use it. Cluttering up your web pages with too many images or too much text, or using a distracting background, will only irritate your visitors. White space can make the important elements of your page more visible.

To help your website visitors easily navigate through your site, design it so that it becomes easy to find "stuff." When you have a simple site that makes it easy to locate information, you keep your visitors there much longer. If you make it difficult for them, then they will get frustrated and leave.

Make sure that all the files on your website are small in size. You need these small file sizes regardless of the overall design of your site. Large files cause your website to load slowly. Maximizing the loading speed of your website is always better. You should also keep in mind that not every visitor will be using a high speed Internet connection. Test your site to make sure that it loads up quickly, even when accessed on a dial up connection.

Make sure your website uses a consistent font throughout. Some websites change fonts willy-nilly without any design reason to do so. This makes the content difficult to process for visitors. Most websites, especially business websites, will do just fine sticking to basic fonts like Arial, Veranda, or even Times New Roman.

Use relevant meta tags to increase site traffic. Having some meta tags that offer quality will be able to help show different search engines what your site is all about. Not putting enough effort into their content can severely hurt your page rank and reduce your traffic.

Try using readable and professional-appearing fonts. The quality of a professional website is measured by its fonts. Do not employ exotic fonts that will be absent from many visitors computers or over-used fonts such as Comic Sans. If they dont have that font on their computer, it might be subset to their default font. This could cause it to look bad.

The design of the website is one of the first things a visitor will notice, and it can have a big influence on how much time they spend at a site. Make a website immediately inviting to a visitor. The tips and suggestions outlined above offer advice as to what you can do to design sites that will keep people there and keep them coming back often.