Website Design

 Website design is basically the look and feel of the site - the framework.

It consists of the page layout, colour scheme, navigation, graphics, fonts, style sheets (if used) and logo.

Main Web Design Aspects

There are several aspects to website design. The main ones you need to decide on are:

• Website Fonts - You will need to standardize on a Font type and size.
• Website Logo
• Website Layout
• Use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
• Website Navigation

I prefer to create my own Templates and use those. However my websites are technical and hence the graphics aren't as important as the actual content.

 However in some industries it is necessary to have high quality graphics, but even then I would be wary of overloading the site with too many graphics and avoid over complicated appearances.

Always keep the design simple.

Remember less is often more in web design. Web pages should look clean and professional and not like a Salvador Dali imitation. If your unsure then take a look at the Google homepage and see what a multi billion dollar company prefers.

Many web designers use an existing website template as the basic design and modify it to suit the customers needs. You can adopt the same approach and obtain a website template and modify it as necessary.

Alternatively you can choose a website building system like Wordpress which comes with many pre-built web designs to choose from.

You can even have your design/template done for you by a professional design company, or if you have an existing site then get them to do a site makeover.

What a Good Design Does for Your Website

“Unless the first impression is favourable, visitors will be out of your site before they even know that you might be offering more than your competitors”

(Dr Lindgaard 2006)

A good design doesn't get visitors to your site but once they are there it makes them either want to stay or to leave.

So if you have a business site and aren't happy doing the design yourself or want an opinion on the design then I recommend you consult a professional web design company.

You may have noticed that I recently had a site makeover by a company called High Impact, and they have kindly offered a free quick site critic for my visitors. (business websites only just enter your contact details and "free critic" in the message).

Web www.build-your-website.co.uk