Tips And Tricks For A Budding Web Designer

Every kid on the block seems to know web designing these days. Actually thinking along those lines it is not difficult at all to learn how to design a web page or for that matter even a site. What with FrontPage, Dreamweaver and the gang making the job even simpler.

But one has to realize there is more to web designing then knowing how to write a few HTML codes or use one of the many commercially available programs. While teaching you how to code or code correctly for that matter is not the objective of this article, I would be giving you some tips that distinguish the real web designer from the rest of the pack.

1. Always code your pages manually or at least clean up the mess made by WYSWYG programs before putting your site up on the web.

2. Always remember not all monitors in the world operate at your resolution. Optimizing your web page for 800X600 though is a safe bet at this point of time but more and more machines are shifting towards 1024X768

3. Make your pages cross browser compatible. Though this is very difficult even for the most experienced among us, TRY!

4. Time your page for its loading speeds. Remember, though a graphic image looks really good on your site, its hateful if your visitors have to wait hours for it to load. You may be using a high speed connection, the whole world doesn't. Your page has to be quick to load.

5. Too many images have exactly the opposite effect then they are meant to have. So, do everything in proportion… including putting in graphics and animations.

6. Colour combinations matter. Your text has to be readable & as importantly if not more, worth reading.

7. Always work on a good navigation structure… Remember if a client cant find your contact info or order link, you'd miss on a sale.

8. Make your site search engine friendly. Its no use having the best site in the world which no one can find. And for every one's sake don't mess around with hidden layers to get a high listing on the engines. It is JUST NOT worth the risk!

9. If you have ad banners, place them with a little thought. Too many of those little pop ups are the most annoying thing on the web and more often then not deter visitors from sticking onto your site rather than earn you some extra cash.

10. Lastly… you never know everything. Over the years and after designing a dozen sites, I still learn something new from ever project that I undertake. Guys you can never be perfect when it comes to coding… And if you are… then there is always room to improve perfection.