Take a look at a high-level professional site, then compare that to a personal site on a free host, and you’ll quickly see that not all websites are created equal. You will immediately see how they are different and will start to understand that web design is a crucial component of a site. Here are some solid suggestions on how to make website development work for you.
Look at your site in multiple browsers when designing it. If you just check it from you personal computer, what you see may be vastly different from what others see. Always go out of your way to discover what browsers are the most popular and design your site to work efficiently in all of them. Before you decide to go live, you should always have others using different browsers and operating platforms review your site to verify it works on different systems.
You should never go live before previewing the site and ensuring images load properly and all links work. Clicking on links that bring you to errors is quite annoying. You can do this manually or run a software program if you like.
If you are designing a very large site, you should always include search capabilities. The upper right of the main page should have a search box for users to search your whole site. You can find search functions to use for your site on sites like Google.
Apart from the aesthetics of your website, remember that all files included must be small. Keeping your files small will directly affect how fast your website loads. Of course, having your website load quickly is the best scenario for visitors. Remember that some of your visitors are going to be using slower Internet connections than others. Test to be sure that even computers with slow dial-up modems can connect quickly to your website.
Optimize your website for older IE versions. People may say they dislike Internet Explorer, but a majority of them still use it. Workarounds are needed because the browser is not 100% compliant with standards. You should read up on the frustrating “box model bug” that has plagued IE for a long time.
It’s unlikely that you’ll design a social networking powerhouse like Facebook or Twitter. Odds are weighted against your favor. Fortunately, anyone who has a solid understanding of website creation fundamentals can create an attractive, functional website. The above advice will help you get started, so begin brainstorming!