Web Designing Tips

More and more people are getting fond of web design. Whether for work related purposes or for personal-use purposes. Some people get short courses to study web designing and some rely on e-learning and get web designing tutorials on-line. For people who works as a web designer, they know the do's and dont's of web designing, for most of them at least. For those who don't, especially those who are new in the field, here are some basic tips that would help in enhancing your web designing skills. 

Keep your index page short For the convenience of your visitor, don't place all your content on the index page. Remember that you can use several pages on making a web site. Having a single-page site with all the contents there will make a visitor dizzy and confused. Create a toolbar or menus easy navigation This will make your visitors stay in your site longer. After reading the content of your page, it is more likely that your visitor will look for other pages on your site that would interest him. Using short, clear and precise words will also help the visitor know the content of the page where your link is going. 

I suggest to place the navigation menu on top and the other main links on the right hand side menu. You can also use a drop-down menus if you have many links. Clean layout design Align the contents of the page properly. You can use as many tables as you need to be able to insert the images or whatever you need for the page. Beginners tend to put as much images as they can, thinking it would be nice to look at, but it is advisable to put minimal photos. For a safer design, you can also use templates. Use uniform fonts As much as possible, use only two to three kinds of font face and the suggested sizes are ten to fourteen points. 

Just use different font styles, italics for instance, to emphasize keywords. Also, use a font that is available on all computers to prevent having a messed up design. Cross browser compatible Keep in mind that there are other internet browsers other than what you are using. At least make sure that your codes and design are compatible to the major browsers like Internet Explorer 5+, Mozilla Firefox 1.0, Opera 7.0 and Netscape Navigator 6+ . These are just basic tips and suggestions on web designing but are guaranteed useful. These can be used as guide on building your own site but still the overall design is in your hands.

Hire A Web Designer Or Build The Site Yourself?

After you've planned the design and layout of your website, you need to decide on how you're actually going to build the website. This will usually take up a lot of time and hard work, but once you get your site up and running, it should be well worth the effort, considering the potential profits you may reap. 

There're basically 2 options: One is to build the website on your own, the other is to hire a web designer to build it for you. In this article, we will discuss the pros and cons of each option, and help you decide which option is the best for you. Build The Website Yourself If you have some programming skills and are well versed in HTML or PHP, you should definitely choose to build the website on your own. 

The benefits are: You have the greatest flexibility in customizing your site. This means you get full control over exactly which components you want to include on your site and where you want to place them. Since you'll be testing a lot and restructuring your site frequently when your business is just starting out, you can manage all the changes yourself without needing to approach your web designer again each time you need to restructure your site. 

You can maintain your site on your own. Each time you need to make small updates to the product catalogues or new promotions, you can make the updates on your own without difficulties. You do not have to pay the hefty fees of hiring a web designer. Thus, as you can see here, designing the website on your own is definitely better than hiring a web designer to build the site for you, if you're willing to spend more time learning HTML and building the site.

What to Expect From a Professional Web Design Company

If you are looking for a professional web design company that can provide you with comprehensive, effective web design services, along with internet marketing solutions, consider researching web design company web sites on the internet. Compare and review services, prices, and client testimonials before choosing your web design company. There are many different web design companies to choose from, be sure that you will get an expert and professional service that can lead to profitable business solutions. 

Most professional web design companies can offer the services of staff that are talented and specialized, trained professionals, all experts in their chosen fields, choose a company that values not only local and international clients. These companies can supply the services and technical expertise to not only provide an innovative and market researched web site, but also to deliver a comprehensive service. An expert web design company should be able to provide you with ideas, advice, assistance and solutions to creating an effective web site. 

Choose a company that can also offer innovation, inspiring web design, web site development, graphic design and art direction. An excellent choice for your chosen company would also be where experienced staff can also offer online marketing solutions to promote your web site. You should expect professional, speedy, versatile, open, friendly and cost efficient service, it is also advisable to research and compare other design companies to the one you have chosen to use. The web design company you choose should be able to provide you with the tools and materials to market your new venture effectively, leading to successful online business. 

Price is also an issue that may require research from your side; unfortunately, there are a number of web design companies that are renowned for over-charging their customers, where in fact there are many web design companies that can offer great services and skilled knowledge to create an effective web site for an affordable cost. Research and compare quotes, if you are still unsure, research client testimonials for your chosen web design company to prove competent and professional services. 

It is also recommended that your chosen web design company can offer follow-up services, such as expert online marketing. It is suggested that your web design company is able to provide services similar to professional search engine marketing companies. These companies can effectively promote your web site once development is complete, the idea here is that the marketing tactics will create more internet traffic (potential customers) to your web site. Get comprehensive and effective internet services from a top web design company.

Solutions for your Business: Denver Web Design and Internet Marketing

Internet marketing and web design go hand in hand. The web allows the whole world to find out about a certain product or service through online advertising. So, it's only natural that marketing strategies and the appreciated Denver web design companies are very popular nowadays. Since a pleasant web design is necessary for any website that wants to attract customers, it's not wise to avoid personalizing your business when working online. You shouldn't fear the web just because of a few tricks you haven't found out about yet. There are a lot of people that don't know their way around the information superhighway. 

One thing you should know about this great world wide market called the Internet is that it offers a lot of possibilities and the chances to sell information grow if your packaging is attractive. Denver web design and Denver internet marketing are indispensable for a successful business. Providing visually appealing sites, Denver web design puts your site in front of the competition. The information you present on your site can be very useful, but the web design matters just as much. 

Clients first come into contact with how your business services are presented. Their first impression is not formed by the formal articles that appear on your pages. Denver web design knows this and they provide professional help. Using cutting edge tools, designing easy-to-navigate sites, making user friendly pages and keeping in mind that the business has to be promoted, Denver web design creates exactly what your customers look for. They do their job in a wonderful manner because they are experts who want to please not only you, but your clients as well. So, you see, web design is the first step in making your business a popular one. You probably remember visiting other websites and recall enjoying only some of them. 

Did you ask yourself why? Could it have been the web design? Their brands haven't faded from your memory. They were easy to spot, yet they did not bother you. Their custom web design was better than what you usually see. You especially liked the flash videos. Although the wonderful colors did not distract you from the information you were reading, they had a special charm. You felt safe and everything worked smooth. "The pages load easily", you thought. You don't like to wait and this site seemed to know it. The site didn't know it, but the people that worked at it knew. 

Denver web design wants to make your business work by itself. If you want your customers to remain as pleasantly impressed as you did, then a Denver web design is a wonderful choice. You can even have your corporate identity synthesized and your standards of communication set. Web design allows your business to transmit a certain clear message to your clients: "Please visit our site again!" After you succeed in offering the best to the world, you have to make your business known. Search engines display hundreds of sites to the interested clients that look for certain services. How will they find you? This is where internet marketing comes in. There will be lots of questions you will ask yourself, but Denver Internet marketing can be the answer for all of them. 

If you need SEO, advertising, link management, banners, affiliate marketing, local marketing - shortly said traffic - , then you need internet marketing. Because there are so many options through which you can gain publicity, you will need a strategy, people to work for you and to manage this sort of problems. Denver Internet marketing offers alternative methods and puts web experience in your service. You can have several advantages because, having internet marketing done for you site you will be able to profit from illustrated brochures, business cards, letterheads and artworks. 

So you decided to use Denver web design and Denver internet marketing. What do you start with? Getting informed, of course. Try to find out which service provider is best for you. Any appreciated Denver web design or Denver internet marketing company has itself a well developed web site. Their promotion can inform you on how well they promote others. Internet marketing is their job. Their business survives because of the traffic they provide for themselves. Is their company among the best? Is it popular? Is it advertised? These are questions that will tell you how well they know internet marketing. The first encounter with their web design should talk about their services' quality. Is their site pleasant? Does it attract you like those well made sites that you can't forget? Is it elegant or stylish? If you think the Denver web design company you chose has talented people, then you can work with them without worries. The same goes for the Denver internet marketing providers.

Importance of Browser Compatibility in Web Design

Though browser compatibility is an important part of successful web design, I found that most of the clients are ignorant of this fact. Throughout my career in web development I found very few client who mention this aspect in their requirement document. I shall not hold them solely responsible for this. I came across many colleagues (web programmers) in my tenure in the field of web design who also do not take proper care of this aspect. Now I shall explain the browser compatibility issue from my experience.

 Hope you will enjoy the reading and it will be helpful for you in future. What happened when a viewer opens a web page? He sends the request to open a particular web page by giving the URL (universal resource locator) in the form of "http://www" (http means hyper text transfer protocol and protocol means rules) to the server via a software application. This software application is called the 'Browser'. Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari etc. are the examples of such browsers. The browser connects the server through the Internet gateway. We send the request to the modem through the computer's IP number.

 Modem sends the request to the ISP's (Internet Service Provider) IP number and finally connects it to the Domain Name Server (DNS), the server which keeps the mapping of the IP and the Domains). After connecting the web page, ISP sends the contents of that web page to the requesting computer through the browser. Whatever may be the form of the info, it comes in the form of html (hypertext mark-up language) only and the browser converts this html to normal output what we understand. That is why html is called a client side scripting language. So, a visitor can open a web page using any of the well-known browsers he likes. The choice of the browser may vary according to the availability of the browser, using habit of the particular cluster of viewers etc.

 Here lies the basic problem. Because each browser does not read the HTML code in the same fashion and you, being the site owner, do not have any control on which Internet browser will be used to view your site. What may happen if a website is not built compatible to multiple browsers? Non-compatibility to multiple browsers normally does not effect the functionalities of a website. Rather it mostly affects the design view of a site, which creates the first long lasting impression on a viewers mind. A website may be displayed perfectly in a particular version of IE, but may look much different in Fire fox and even in other versions of IE also. The whole thing depends on the level of complexity of the design. In case of simple designs, if some conventions like W3C validation and standard resolution of 1024 pixels X 768 pixels are followed during the development process, normally it does not create any problem. But in case of a complex design, lot of other things should be taken care of. Now, to the best of my ability I shall try to write down some suggestions for the site owners and the web designers. It is nothing new; but may act as a reminder during the development process. My suggestions for the website owners: It is a common practice for a good web development company to make all the websites compatible to two major browsers, named Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Still I like to say a few words to the respectable site owners.

 Don't forget to mention this aspect in your work specifications document. Set your target audience and try to anticipate their browsing habits. Suppose your target audience is the viewers of Western Europe and there, viewers prefer Safari to IE or Mozilla. Then you have tell your website designer to make it compatible to Safari and at least another one of global acceptance like IE and Mozilla. You may have your website compatible to more than two browsers at time. But it may cost you few bucks more. My suggestion for the web developers: Even if your client doesn't mention anything about the browser compatibility or is ignorant of the fact totally, it is your moral obligation to make it compatible to the most frequently used version of IE and Mozilla (IE 6.0 & Mozilla 3.0).

If the client is specific about his choice of browsers then get relaxed. There are many tools available that will help you to make your Website compatible to multiple browsers. Alternatively you can download a version each of the browsers you need and test your Web site in each of them. It is important to know that most of the discrepancies you will find are because of the different ways the browsers handle erroneous code. Always try to get the HTML coding of your website W3C validation by using validating tools. Develop the web site of your client by setting your computer's resolution to 1024 pixels x 768 pixels. This resolution is fairly common and should take care of almost all your visitors, including those using wide screen monitors and laptops. It is a common practice for the web programmers to apply CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) for designing purposes. They develop many CSS classes that are applied to different HTML components. While creating a CSS class remember that a single CSS class may behave differently in different browsers.