Advanced Web Design Principles

Home Page

Your entire site consists of a number of pages. Your Home Page being the first page, serves as the preface of your entire website. So with the viewers' convenience, it has to have sufficient information which is easy to acquire and fast downloadable pages. With your Home Page at the first, it introduces your offered products and services to the viewers and potential buyers. It must have sufficient links that easily connects the customers to your other pages providing them more information of their desired products and services. But then, you should be careful not to overload your Home Page with too much information. Remember that your first page only serves as an appetizer to the customer. It is to avoid confusion on the part of the viewers. Oftentimes, too much confusion and poor accessibility would lead the viewers to leave your site.

Your Home Page has to have the right ingredients to easily catch the viewers' interests. If possible, refrain from unnecessary things such as these flash introductions that don't provide significant information.

Site Structure

Your site's structure is one of the important factors that should be carefully considered. It must have a specific system capable of enticing the viewer from your Home Page to various succeeding pages of your site.

Like in a complete set of meals, the structure of your site should have an appetizer, a main course, and of course, a dessert.

As said earlier, you Home Page act as your Preface or an appetizer for your offered products and services. It contains short and enticing details that would lead your viewers to your succeeding pages.

The main course of your site contains detailed information of specific products and services arrayed in your site.

The last part serves as a dessert which completely satisfies your customers by placing your contact information or order slip for the new craving customers.

Navigation Structure

Sometimes, it can't be helped to have a very long page in your site. Most people even yourself would find it irritating and feel the hassle of scrolling down and up or navigating through the page too long. Chances are, your viewers just might as well skip through your site or page.

To avoid such a thing to happen, try keeping your navigational structure as plain and as effortless as possible. Also place a menu on the top or at the bottom of the page to make your users free from scrolling from the top of the bottom and vice versa.

Text

Viewers are too important and sometimes have no time to read all the contents of your page. What they usually do is that they just scan through the pages seeking specific information that would satisfy their needs and interest such as your featured products and services, your personal or company's background, price variables and your contact information.

It is sometimes inevitable that customers may not find what they are looking for so it is best to provide options for further research. Furthermore, purvey easy obtainable information to keep viewers in your site. By simply avoiding customers waiting for information, more sales are reachable.

Creating Emphasis

As discussed earlier, visitors on your website, usually just scan through the pages. So it is very important for you to consider the things or ideas on your site that should be emphasized.

How to do this? Be as creative as possible with your words to better highlight the ideas you want to be emphasized. Thus, increase in your sales is highly possible.

Graphics

Another way of being creative with your site is through graphics. You wouldn't want your site to look dull and lifeless because this will only bore your viewers making them leave your site instead. But never use graphics simply because you like them for your site. Maximize their uses. Graphics are of best use as a tool for emphasizing and highlighting your offered products and services.

Graphics should emphasize how good your products are which will easily catch your viewer's attention thus, creating a high probability on the increase of your sales.

Speed

Nothing beats a faster download. In the internet industry, one minute is already too long to wait for. Viewers oftentimes tend to be very impatient. Even still, there are some who still use dial-up connections so it is important for you to make sure that the download time is fast enough to increase your sales. As many people say, time is gold. Now, you can take that literally.

Note: You are given the right to copy this content to your website or blog as long as you keep the resource box and links of the author.

Percival Pelaez is a Professional freelance with more than 15 year history in computer hardware and software troubleshooting, internet security, internet marketing and website development & design. He's currently running http://www.surigaodigitalservices.net/pages for web design services and giving advices through blogging.

For affordable web design and development visit http://www.surigaodigitalservices.net
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Web Design Trends to Avoid

Having a website with a great design, animations or flash may not always be as great as you think it is. Some of these can be a complete turn-off to your visitors. You do not want your potential clients to click the back button as they land on your website. If you already have a website and considering a redesign or you are looking forward to get your first website; below are a few trends that you should avoid.

Unreadable Text
Some websites have their font so small that is it almost impossible to read. You need to keep in mind that everyone might have a different screen resolution, you must take this into consideration so the font do not look too big and neither too small. Even better you can have an option to automatically increase or decrease the font size with a click.

Cluttered Content
It is important to have white spaces on your website for the eyes to rest. White or blank spaces make it much easier to read and move around elements on a webpage. Also it is much easier for a visitor to pay more attention to the "call-to-action"

Animated Backgrounds
We all know that it is a lot easier to read a book than reading online. If there is an animated background, it becomes difficult to read and annoying for the eyes.

Website Completely in Flash
No matter how much you like flash, know that some people may have flash disabled in their browser thus they will not be able to see your website. One more thing to avoid is to have a flash intro which is bad if you want to optimize your website for the search engines.

Having a good website that converts does not always mean you should have lots of graphics. Though it is important you must also give as much attention to content. Unlike what you might have heard, creating a website requires a lot of planning and time, so it is best that you avoid everything that will not help your website to achieve its purpose.

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