Web Templates & Web Design Blog

Have you ever visited a Web site that looked, well … strange? Something about it just wasn’t right. The design was well done but it just didn’t seem to fit the screen. It happens quite a bit. The cause is lack of attention on the designer’s part.

One of the most challenging things a Web designer faces is designing a site that looks good on everyone’s computer screen. Because there are so many different browsers, and because each surfer can have their monitor set to a different screen size, the designer must pay attention to how the pages will look in a variety of situations. Let’s take a look at the three most important issues:

Does This Look Small to You?
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The effective design is this one, which is maximum simplified, conformable to your users because they are your main purpose. This one, simply and clearly announcing what is your website about. This one, quickly offering the users exactly what they are expecting to see on your pages without being troubled with insignificant information. The big mistake made by lots of web designers is to project their activities from their own point of view, without thinking about user.

Factors, damaging the website design effectiveness

• Additional time needed for website downloading

• Badly written content
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Flash is a powerful web technology that achieves a high level of visual impact from the graphical point of view. Unfortunately, it is widely misused in web design. There are still many problems with Flash, especially related to usability and search engine behaviour; we need to thoroughly understand what those problems are before we decide to use Flash for our site.

As with any business decision, it all boils down to understanding what our target audience wants.

If you want to make a big impression from a graphical point of view, Flash is definitely a good approach. However, concrete evidence still points to the fact that most web users utilize the web to find information, and what they regard most important is:

a) quality of content
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With the increased affordability of web space and bandwidth, the growing use of high speed modems, and the abundance of implementation technologies like Flash, audio and video, comes the temptation to overuse them in web page design.

One important characteristic that has always differented good web designers from bad ones is the restrain in embracing every new technology that comes along. Good designers focus first on functionality (making sure that the web page achieves the objectives for which it was created) while bad designers rush to make gratuitous use of elements like graphics, flash animations and javascript, just “because they can” or because “it looks cool”.

Today, approximately ten years after the Internet started its exponential growth, and in spite all the technological developments, minimalist web page design still wins big over fancy, flashy, confusing design.
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A professional website is, above all else, professional. What constitutes professional though? This question has been asked by many, and the answers are as varied as those asking the question. There are at least a hundred or more possible aspects to consider, some consisting of parts of others, such as demographics and content. Each factor has its own affect on how customers perceive a website.

Being professional is an attitude portrayed by you, the business owner, your business and your website. You don’t have the luxury of smiling real big, wearing your best suit, and shaking hands with the customer. Your site has to do that for you. This brief list of what to do and what not to do when creating a professional website is only the beginning, one small step towards success.
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Ever wondered how some websites seem to have multiple “layers” of designs? Although some use frames and other design techniques to accomplish this look, I’m going to show you a simple way to create the look without the “headaches” of complicated design techniques.

You’ll be glad to hear that you can create a dimensional look for your website using only two simple tools.

1. Background Images
2. Tables

How to Insert a Background Image:
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Advertising agencies tend to design awful websites because they are obsessed with getting attention. When people come to your website, you have already got their attention. They want to do something. They want detail. They want facts. The thing they value most is their time. So don’t waste it.

Advertising is about standing out in a crowd. It’s about getting a clear signal through a world overwhelmed with noise. You don’t turn on TV specifically to watch ads. You don’t read a newspaper to look at them. So, advertising is like an army unit entering behind enemy lines to win that vital prize: your attention.

Advertisers tend to think in intervals of 30 seconds or less. This has a huge influence on the type of communication. It becomes much more emotional and visual. The Web is a very different world. The Web is a result of an increasingly literate consumer. It is no surprise that the Web started off in universities. The Web works better with facts rather than emotions.
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In the big, wide online world there are millions of websites and billions of webpages. In the increasing sprawl of this virtual jungle there must be an evolution. Some of these webpages must grow stronger and thrive whilst others will weaken and die.

There are 3 types of websites in this jungle. It’s important that you ask yourself which category your website fits into. Your website survival may count on it.

The Poster Site

A stunning work of art with intricate graphics that both amaze and dazzle the visitor. Poster sites are created by graphic designers for large companies or for use by the graphic design firms themselves. They’re built to look good. Usability is not normally a factor nor are good search engine rankings. Looking good takes second place to being useful.
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The essence of a website is self-service. There are three core things that self-service needs to get right: convenience, speed, and price. Convenience means task achievement with minimum effort. Speed means that you get in and out of a website as quickly as possible. People are cheap on the Web.

It’s hard to design for self-service. It requires an absolute focus on simplicity and clarity of message. People read on the Web like they read motorway signs. They are moving at speed. There is precious little time to focus, so the message must be clear.
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How a website has written its links is an excellent way to judge its quality. Good websites tend to have a rich and intuitive link structure. Good web writers think clearly about how each piece of content links up with the rest of the content on the website.

I was looking at a website recently which had a Services and Clients section. However, when I read about a particular service, I wasn’t linked to information about clients who had used that service, when that information was actually available in the Clients section. Instead, I had to go to the Clients section and scan though a list of client case studies, isolating the case studies that related to the service I was interested in.
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