If you're looking for affordable web design, the best option you have is to do the designing yourself. Yeah, it might sound like a difficult task, but it really isn't. As long as you're willing to read the tips below and follow them to the letter, you will be able to design a website like you've been doing it for years.
To make your website as easy to use as possible, consider using a fixed-position menu. This technique involves locking a site's navigation panel in place as the visitor scrolls down the page. You can use this both to allow your visitor to navigate more easily, and to keep your call to action in view.
Use JavaScript to include a custom font on your webpages. Libraries like Typekit and Google Web Fonts make it easy to include esoteric fonts on webpages, even if most visitors don't have those fonts on their computers. It works by embedding the font itself into JavaScript so that it can be decoded by the client on the fly.
Speed is king when it comes to webpages, so be sure that your images are loading quickly. If someone visiting your site has to wait a while in order for a page to load, it's likely they will click off your site and leave. They probably won't return.
Web design is a subject that you always want to stay informed on. With this in mind, if you have any friends that are also into web design then you will want to keep in contact with them. You can exchange any new information you learn so that you're both on top of your game when it comes to web design.
Don't force users to install strange BHOs. Many tech-savvy users won't do it. Common offenders include unusual video players, image viewers, and platforms for interactive games. For most standard use cases, there is a trusted plugin, such as Windows Media Player or even Flash) that will do what you want without driving away users.
Keep page size to a minimum. Not every person using Internet has a high-speed connection, so if a site takes longer to load, they won't be as interested in it. You do not want your page viewers to be stuck waiting for every page to download, or they may end up abandoning your site.
Use images wisely. Bitmap images do not tend to fare well for internet use, and some GIFs do not work well with lots of color. Image size is important as well, as larger images may make your viewers have to wait for them to download. Choose smaller images, and use them sparingly to make your site more manageable.
Icons
Avoid using animated GIFs on your site. These were popular in the late 1990s, but newer technologies have replaced the uses for animated GIFs that were actually useful. Animated GIFs are low in quality and large in file size. Use static icons for page elements and actual video files for complex animations.
Make sure your website's call to action (CTA) is highlighted in your web design. If the visitor can not easily find what you really want them to do next, then you will be hard pressed to get them to move forward in your action cycle. Call out your CTA using icons, white space, a font size increase, bolding or some other format change that works with your design.
The most important thing in site design is that you do it correctly. Other than that, you're free to roam wherever your imagination takes you. Use what you have learned throughout this article so that you understand how to code correctly. After that, you're ready to put your personal touches on your own website.
