How To Design A Web Site


I'm not a professional web site designer and openly admit there is a lot that I don't know. But if you're a beginner I probably know more than you do, so listen up.

Rather than give a lengthy dissertation on web design I have broken it down into the following points:

Keep your navigation bars either at the top or left of the page (a recent tip I heard is: by putting the nav bar on the right of the screen it appears below your site content in the html code and therefore will be read by the SE spiders last). You can clearly see my navigation bar on the left of every page at http://www.007workfromhome.com

Have your navigation bars visible on every page unless its a sales page, in which case you don't want them to go anywhere else.

Divide your navigation bar into related groups of links for easier navigation.

Have your company name and logo in the top left or top middle of the page.

Keep the theme of your site standard throughout. Don't use different fonts on different pages or mix fonts on the same page without a good reason for doing so. A constant theme also includes the color of unvisited, active and visited links.

Keep your use of colors to no more than about 5-7 different colors per page (less if you can).

Include a site map which lists every page. Good for your visitors and site maps make it very easy for search engines to spider your site.

Don't have more than 3 layers in your web site. That means if I was to start at your home page I should be able to reach any other page in your site in 2 clicks or less. Any more and your visitors may become lost and search and engines will leave before they have finished indexing your entire web site. This is easier than it sounds if you have a comprehensive navigation bar and a site map.

Limit your use of graphics on a page unless they are essential to your marketing because they will drastically increase load time and some visitors won't be prepared to wait.

Keep your background white and the majority of your text black. Mixing background colors and texts not only looks unprofessional it is can also be difficult to read.

If possible, keep your links the natural blue color because they have proven to get the most clicks. If you want to use styles for your links, text or other tags, use css (cascading style sheets) because it will reduce the amount of non-keyword relevant text the engine spiders need to wade through before finding the meat. If you don't know what I'm talking about here, don't worry - it's not vitally important and something you can pick up further down the road.

Include a links page which can be reached from the navigation bar. On your "Links" page have instructions describing how someone can post a link and the link you would like them to posted on their site. I prefer to view links before I post them in case they are not appropriate.

Written by Murray Hughes
http://www.007WorkFromHome.com

http://www.007workfromhome.com/how-to-design-website.html

Learn how to easily build your own Internet marketing business from the ground up from a long-time marketer giving away his experience for nothing. A Warehouse of Internet Marketing Knowledge at no cost, EVER! Go here now: Work at Home

MORE RESOURCES:
RELATED ARTICLES
Increase Your Website Sales Instantly
If there's one thing that I've learnt so far, it's that nothing beats good copy. You may have found a way to bring in 10,000 visitors a day to your site, but if your copy is lousy, you're just wasting your effort.
Ten Fatal Mistakes That Make Web Sites Stink
Since you'll spend lots of time and money to create your web site, don't you want to make sure you're not making mistakes that at best irritate users, and at worst make you lose customers?After all, when you alienate users, you lose potential revenue. Who can afford that?Dr.
Do You Really Need A Website?
Nope. You certainly don't need a website.
The Brutal Truth
Not too long ago while looking for businesses that do web design I stumbled upon website. It looked great.
Five Common Web Design Mistakes
There are often many mistakes encountered when creating a webpage or website. Learn about the top five website mistakes, and how to avoid them.
How to Use Sliced Graphics to Layout Your Web Site
The problem with designing your site as a graphic, is that it would take too long to load. Your visitors would leave your site immediately and move to your competitors web site.
Some Useful Common Site Ideas
In my web surfing adventures, I've found a few site elements which make surfing easier and more enjoyable. There are no concrete, hard- and-fast rules to follow - these are just observations of some things which I virtually always look for in a site.
When You Create A Web Site, Dont Make A Splash!
Don't make a splash!Are you thinking about using a splash page when you create a web site? You would be wise to think again.What is a splash page?Generally, it is a fancy entrance graphic which requires your visitor to click in order to enter the main home page of your web site.
Love at First Site: Giving Your Website Visitors the right Impression
Think of the people who visit your site as blind dates. When you open the door, your blind date usually knows whether they are attracted to you within the first minute.
Hiring The Right Webmaster
The Questions You Should Be Asking ? The Answers You Should Be ReceivingWhen interviewing webmasters, don't let price be your deciding factor. Among webmasters there is a split between those who are skilled in the fine art of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and those who are not.
Color Psychology in Marketing
On the internet we don't deal with face to face selling. The internet is a visual and psychological medium.
Branding Web Strategy Mistakes - Brand Identity Guru
1. Lack of overall strategy and clear definition of success:Most people realize the need for a site, but don't understand what it can/should do for the company.
14 Ways to Add Content to Your Web Site - Part 2
7. Create high quality content - make clear points with each paragraph you write.
Bad Web Design: ActiveX
ActiveX uses an interesting method for enforcing security ..
To Hire or Not to Hire a Website Designer
In the early years of the internet the actual design of a website was either very basic or had to be done using a software package that needed a specialist to use it. Not surprisingly, website designers were in short supply and could command huge fees for their services.
Through The Looking Glass
My mother used to take me along when she visited an old lady down a cobbled lane who had a crystal ball on her dining room table and a pack of playing cards. My mother was superstitious and really believed a lot of what she was told by the old lady.
Cheap Website Design In Birmingham
Due to the large number of people offering website design services in Birmingham, there is always a bargain to be found.Web design companies in Birmingham are in a very competitive market and some offer some great deals at various times of the year.
7 Reasons Why Using CSS is a Must
CSS is a new option for website designers that have been using HTML and tables for most of their web designing careers. Of course, it is a huge change and requires learning a new language and skill, however most people are saying CSS is worth it and it will give you more control, options, and is easier to edit.
Meta Tags - An Introduction
A long, long time ago? In a galaxy far, far away?meta tags were the key component to search engine rankings. Okay, it was about 2 years ago, but that's a long time in the Internet galaxy.
Build It And Build It Cheap!
There are several very good reasons why you should consider building your own web site versus having someone do it for you. It's more cost efficient, you can make it much larger in content, you are more involved in how you want the pages to look, and I have actually enjoyed learning the dos and don'ts of website profiling.