Building your very first website can be a nerve-wracking and difficult process for any business owner, whether you’re just starting up an Etsy page from home, or if you’re in charge of a redesign for an old company site. Knowing the best ways to incorporate graphics, logos, videos, and the right content will be the backbone of your efforts. Follow these best practices to make the process a little easier. In no time, your business site will be on the right level.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Practicing your skillset is important in any career, especially web design. Make sure you learn and develop the necessary skills to handle web design programming language like CSS3, HTML5, Corel, Photoshop, AJAX, PHP, and JavaScript. You might need to take a refresher course, or watch a few tutorials to help jog your memory and get you on track.
Keep it Simple
Although it may be enticing to make your work as complex and interesting as possible, it’s best to just keep it simple at first. The key is to lure readers in with your design, not confuse them with too much content. Learn to make your pages readable and navigable for anyone visiting for the first time.
Stand Out
One of the hardest things to be as a graphic designer, is a competitor that stands out. If your designs feel unoriginal to your clients, you may be seen as a copycat designer, and won’t be treated as professionally in your field. However, you can still take techniques from other designers while still being unique. Stay true to your influences, and keep things easy to digest and look at.
Be Consistent
Make sure you’re not using different styles for the web pages you create. Each website under you control should have its own consistent theme that won’t confuse visitors. This is especially crucial when it comes to site navigation.
Incorporate Easy-To-Use Navigation
Along with a consistent theme, it’s important to make sure that you use an easy and simple navigation that any viewer can operate.
Maintain an Easy Readability
Make sure your website is eye-catching, but not too difficult to read, or causing too much eye strain. It’s important to keep the character spacing on your site at an optimum level for easier readability.
Update Regularly
A crucial part of designing a website is keeping it updated. Web pages should be regularly updated to sponsor new content, or even a refresh every few months to keep readers enticed. One of the biggest things to avoid is keeping old content posted and promoting a dull, boring design that isn’t catching people’s attention. You should also be sure your website design will be adaptable for mobile platforms.
SEO
Before publishing your site, make sure that it has the proper keywords, Meta tags, and engaging title that will increase your SEO, or search engine optimization. This will help you reach a broader audience and improve your sales of whichever product or service you are selling.
Consider Hiring a Professional
If you need to build a website for professional purposes and you are still not confident in your abilities, it may be wise to hire a web design company. These experts can build you a functional, aesthetically pleasing, and professional website for a fee. This way, you do not need to worry about making any mistakes.
By following these best practices, you can create the best website possible. Remember to keep it simple, optimize for search engines, and ask for help when you need it.