| The terms web designer is used interchangeably in the | | | | without sacrificing picture quality. |
| media and advertisements. The goal of most web | | | | Background Colors - If you use anything other than |
| designers is to create an attractive, easily accessible | | | | white behind text, be sure to specify link colors |
| and functional website that will convince the visitor to | | | | otherwise the user’s browser defaults will |
| do something. Creating such a website requires good | | | | determine what color the links are which can make |
| graphic design, easy and intuitive site navigation, logical | | | | them unreadable. |
| site layout and good web copy. | | | | Multimedia - Multimedia is composed of flash movies, |
| Web Design Guidelines: | | | | video clips, audio clips and background music. Make |
| Web Content - You want the visitor to see you as a | | | | sure the visitor can stop and start multimedia files or in |
| knowledgeable information source and/or a reputable | | | | the case of flash introductions, skip them if they want. |
| business. Poor grammar and spelling will immediately | | | | That way people with slow connections or devices |
| reduce your credibility. Remember that people use the | | | | that don’t support multimedia can ignore them. |
| internet to find information. | | | | Site Navigation - Site navigation should be simple and |
| Cross Browser Compatibility – There are at least a | | | | intuitive. Every area of your website should be |
| hundred different browsers in use. You must design | | | | reachable within three clicks from anywhere else on |
| your website to work properly in the most widely used | | | | the site. If you use anything other than simple text links, |
| browsers. To do that you may not be able to use all | | | | make sure to test your navigation in all the major |
| of the really great special effects that are available | | | | browsers. |
| because they may not be supported in most | | | | Links - Periodically test all site links to be certain that |
| browsers. Good web design requires your web pages | | | | they are valid. |
| to work in Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape, | | | | Frames - Avoid using frames, since they make it |
| Firefox, Opera and Safari at a minimum. | | | | difficult to bookmark individual pages on your web site |
| Graphics and Photos - Always use the height and | | | | and you want people to bookmark pages so they can |
| width attributes on the picture so the rest of the page | | | | come back. |
| can load while the graphic files is downloading. Use the | | | | Only large companies can afford to hire separate |
| ALT HTML tag so people with graphics turned off and | | | | experts in graphic design, content creation, |
| those using hand held devices know what the picture | | | | programming and usability testing when building a new |
| is supposed to be. Optimize your photos and other | | | | website. So it is always advisable to hire a good web |
| graphic files to have as small a size as possible | | | | design company. |