DIY Web Design
Designing your own website is fairly easy even if you only have a basic understanding of how a website works. If you have the time and patience to learn how to design websites properly it’s immensely rewarding to see your work on-screen.The good news is you can design a website without needing to understand the complicated coding that lies behind the pages. It’s easy to purchase DIY templates that are straightforward to use and if you think about the points below before you start designing you’re more likely to produce a professional looking site.
Planning a Website
A good website will have gone through several planning stages. It won’t just have been thrown onto the screen. When planning a website you should think about the following:- Who are your target audience?
- What is your principal message?
- What tone do you wish to convey − informative, serious, light-hearted, professional?
- Once you have these three key points clear in your mind you can start to build the pages.
Building a Website
The purpose of your website should be clear on the homepage. Purpose falls into three main categories:- Information − a site designed to enhance knowledge
- Shopping/retailing − a site to bring the owner profit
- Interest − a site discussing hobbies or leisure interests that shares opinions
A tip is to design and write the homepage last, once you have the bulk of the other pages complete, as it’s really just a summary of what you’re offering.
When you design your site you should categorise your supporting pages. These categories should feature as the navigation bar and should be the subjects that the visitor will be looking for. The homepage text should duplicate the navigation categories with links, to make it easier for the visitor to find what they’re looking for.
What Makes a Good Web Page?
A good web page is clean, crisp and attractive and makes good use of space. Consider the following when designing a web page:- It should be easy to use and navigate.
- The colours should be easy on the eye (no shocking colours and ensure the text complements the background colour).
- Don’t include too many graphics as they slow down loading.
- Use different text sizes, headings and bullet points (it’s not like reading a book or magazine article).
- Ask yourself what your visitors will be looking for (eg don’t hide delivery details, contacts or pricing information at the bottom where visitors can’t find what they need quickly).
- Avoid seasonal tackiness like snow flakes at Christmas − they just make the site look unprofessional.
- Don’t slow things down by asking visitors to register if they don’t need to − this can be really annoying.
- The key is not to write too much whilst still getting your message across. A visitor needs to see everything they need on the screen; scrolling down wastes time and can loose them.