website design
Using an advanced website builder, I designed and created a professional looking website for my own business without using any computer code. Not long ago, building and operating a website was best left to the experts, but lower prices and advanced technology have made website creation available to everyone. The availability of free blogging sites and cheap website creators have de-mystified the whole process and so today, most people and all organizations want their own website. Unfortunately, a large number of those websites are ugly and some look as though they have been thrown together. What many people still believe is that if you want a really professional looking site its best left to the experts and that can cost a lot of money.
All web pages you see on the screen are the result of complex looking computer code written using Extensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). This is interpreted by our internet browsers to display what we actually see. However, word processor style software makes it possible to create websites without encountering all this code. These website builders are designed for both the beginner and advanced user, it enables you to have a website template within minutes. Instead of typing CSS and XHTML code you add text and drag and drop graphics to a blank page as if you were using a word processor. It produces all the code so you don’t have to worry about it.
In the past, these word processor type editors, better known as What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) have had a very mixed reception. Many use over complicated code that is prone to failure and take up large amounts of bandwidth. Worst of all, they are too inflexible to allow you to design the page exactly as you wanted it. Sadly, this is still the case with most WYSIWYG editors. It is the ease of use, reliability and the quality of the end product that makes the new advanced website builders stand out from their predecessors.
With technological advancement, digitalization and integration of various platforms a number of websites is increasing day by day. Just having a website would not do, how many aficionados are there of your website? How many clicks do you get on your website per day? Does your website rank well and generate leads? Effective website design is most important to attract your visitors so that they stick to your website and also find solutions on your website. I believe for effective website design basic knowledge of web design and web development is essential.
In this tech savvy world, we require expertise and pragmatism in web design, graphics, search engine optimization and content as well. Mere web design knowledge would not work if the website is not search engine friendly.
You are thinking of creating world class website; do not worry! Just keep the following points into your mind for designing professional website.
Layout and design of a website is accountable for its effectiveness. Moreover, these are the key points on which a website’s popularity depends. Website effectiveness includes text type, text size, font size and font color, navigation system, color scheme. Web page with lots of graphics, images, flash banners may take time to load; visitors may get agitated and leave your website. Web design and development companies are advised to spend considerable time in finalizing final website design with clean layout and all web pages elements should be well organized. A professional web design and development company should consider these points. A professional web development company follows different development methodologies like agile development, extreme programming, rational unified process and model view controller before deriving any final conclusion.
Online business, media optimization, internet marketing and technology like web 2.0 have led to growth and increase in number of small, mid sized and large web design and development companies taking them to heights.
For internet presence of a website there are a number of prerequisites. Also, these companies are driven by rise of online business, social networks and communities, mashups and lot more.
For a company with a core competency other than IT, the best way to get it done is by outsourcing its web design and development requirements to any offshore company to ensure cost effectiveness. Moreover, there are a large number of startup offshore companies which offer professional web design and development services at cheap rates. The fact that they are cheap should not be mistaken for their web design quality. Rather these offshore companies by providing cheap web design and development services, want to build a strong list of client base and also attract a large number of customers and thus get established in the highly competitive market.
Web is the best place to find number of offshore web design and development companies. When a user enters a query string (keyword or keyphrase) for simple search then major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, MSN etc. will give a list of these web design and development companies. These search engines have a huge database of affordable, cheap, professional web design and development companies and a simple search will show you a list of such companies.
The top ten fonts for website design might change in order, but for the most part the fonts that make up this list stay the same due to their popularity. In general, the top ten list includes Arial, Frutiger, Futura, Gills Sans, Helvetica, Lucida, Optima, Palatino, Agfa Rotis, and Univers.
The reason these fonts are so popular is because they are simple and easy to read on computer screens with low resolution. As a result, most of the time fonts that are unique, wild, and distinctive are not used on web pages so as not to distract the reader from what is trying to be said and communicated through the font on the page. Since the website uses content to get the point across, it is prudent to use fonts that are easy to read. If you make it difficult for a visitor to read the content, they will more likely leave than put forth the effort. Consider the following points as well when developing your fonts for your website.
- Big Fonts
This is your web page and likely your livelihood, not a term paper or research project that has a defined style. Because of this, you can use big fonts, bold them, make them stick out and attract the reader. You can drive your point home with larger fonts and they also will be significantly easier for your visitor to read. The object of your website is to present information that is easily seen, read, and found by visitors. So, go ahead and increase the font size even in regular text that is not in a heading or title. Many of your visitors will thank you because they will not have to put on their glasses or strain to read the text. Sometimes bigger is better.
- Sans Serif
If you have no idea about fonts, how they translate to your web page, or how they will affect your visitors and ultimately sales, then you should definitely stick with a san serif font. The reason for this is that these fonts are the most legible and provide the best readability for visitors in a low resolution atmosphere. Don’t take risks with your fonts, go generic and use a sans serif font. Your visitors will thank you for it and your sales will not suffer from it.
- Simple is Safe
Again, don’t let yourself get carried away with your fonts and designs. Instead, keep the thought in mind that simple is safe. If you want to be bold and brazen in your website design then don’t take that route with your fonts. Keep it simple, basic, and easy to read, and you will benefit significantly more than if you try to mix it up.