subject: Web Design : Advice And Considerations [print this page] Web Design : Advice And Considerations Web Design : Advice And Considerations
Websites continue to pop up all over the internet at an astounding rate. These purveyors of information reach people of all walks of life every second. So many people try their hand at designing and hosting websites that it can prove difficult to stand out from the crowd. Therefore, there are some important things to pay attention to when designing a website.
Websites are published online to be seen. The more people that land on a particular website, the more possibilities open up for that site. That is why it is very important to figure out the target audience of the site. After it has been determined whom you are trying to reach, decide what kind of information they will be seeking. Decide if the site will have a retail aspect to it as well as information. Just like authors of books and articles, a target audience needs to be determined, not only to make the website appealing but to focus the content to be found on it. Poor marketing will relegate a website to the trash heap.
Compatibility on various browsers is an important thing to pay attention to in web design. The site has the potential to reach millions of surfers, and they will be using any number of browsers. Internet Explorer is still quite popular, but it is somewhat restricted in the parameters it is able to use to read a website. It is limited to XHTML 1.0 and CSS 1 and lower, so bear this in mind when designing a site. If you program it with code that is beyond certain browsers' capabilities, you are losing many potential readers. Other browsers such as Firefox are often less limited, but you will probably be better served to take every possible user into account. If you aren't sure if the site will work on a particular platform, test it.
Though a website should be attractive and interesting to look at, it needs to be easy to read as well. That is where the aforementioned target audience comes in. The content on the site should be appropriate to the age and experience level of the intended readers. You would be better off to optimize the site as well. Search engine optimization places a website higher up on the results listings of search engines. Also make the site easy to navigate. Frustrating a surfer with labyrinthine links will only chase them away.
Coding and compatibility are obviously important concerns of web designers, but those reading the site will most likely not care about these issues. Just like someone reading a book or magazine is looking for entertainment or information, a web surfer is looking for an end result without considering programming issues. Remember for whom the site is being designed and the rest will follow.
