This tutorial will show you 5 quick tips that are useful to bear in mind when you start designing a website:

1. Knowing Your Target Audience
Probably the most important factor to bear in mind is knowing the type of audience your site is looking to reach. Is it business to business or business to public, is it aimed at a younger or older customer base, for men or women etc etc. Determining these factors can help to know how to approach the design and layout. For instance you wouldn’t want heavy animation or bright colours on a corporate website but you might on a childs televsion site.

2. Knowing Your Competitors
Its always a good idea to check out any competitors websites. This will not only assist in any inspirational problems but also give a good basis for what potential customers will be choosing between. Have a look at sites that work well and sites that don’t and try to include some of the good features, obviously without copying.

3. Alignment & Positioning
Any good designer will know that alignment is key to the foundation of an attractive design, you could have the most attractive banners, images and fonts used but if they’re not layed out correctly then they will look a mess. So ensure there are correct padded gaps between elements, logos should be placed top left and line page elements up as best as possible.

4. Use of Colour
Try to keep to 2/3 colours on a webpage and use your key colours as sparingly as possible. This way the colour can be used to highlight certain key elements, like a call to action button. Generally you should base the use of colour around the logo and use complimentary colours throughout, also try to avoid using dark backgrounds for large amount of text unless used appropriately.

5. Keep Things Simple
Above all else just try to keep things as simple and clean as possible. Even when creating a bright, animation fueled website for a childs TV programme, you still need to keep the elements on the page simple and not have things constantly flashing or distracting the user. Simplicity is key, keep things clean and let white space be your friend. That way it gives you the oppurtunity to make key elements more interesting and colourful.

With the battle between the smartphone giants Apple and Android (amongst other market leaders) raging on fiercely this year, the number of web users taking advantage of the mobile browsers has risen dramatically. Contemporary web designers should surely be taking mobile users’ needs into consideration now that over 15% of the UK’s internet traffic relies on mobile phone access? According to a recent study conducted by Heart Internet, one of the leading hosting companies in the country, only 50% of 500 web designers surveyed take mobile users into consideration when building a new site.

There’s no denying that the majority of designers and developers are still creating sites for the desktop platform above all other browser options, which is considered by many to be a backwards approach. Now that the mobile web market has risen to such prominence within the industry (according to recent statistics, more smartphones are being shipped into retail outlets than desktop PCs), there are a number of free webmaster tools that are available for professional web designers to utilise if they currently have limited experience when it comes to web design with WAP compliancy in mind. In particular, goMobi offers fast and easy ways for business owners to convert their existing site to comply with the requirements of all mobile phones, while there are a number of free sites that offer the same service such as Google Mobilizer (also known as the Google Conversion Utility) and mobisiteGalore.

With recent trends in mind, designers should take into consideration that their client is likely to be missing out on huge volumes of traffic if their site lacks functionality when it’s viewed with mobile devices. Similarly, search engines such as Google index mobile listings differently to traditional web listings, so from the point of view of an SEO company it would be important to explore the impact that mobile search has on their clients’ SERPs and code sites accordingly.

The process of website design is a complex but rewarding process. Complex because of the fact that there are a lot of scripting languages, images editing and hosting knowledge that a website designer must integrate together. For example a website designer must know or have knowledge on the lingua franca of the web and that is the Hypertext Markup Language, in addition, he or she must also have knowledge in the use of the other scripting languages like JavaScript for the client-side programming and PHP or ASP for the server-side programming. In addition to all of these the website designer must also know how to edit images using photoshop or any other image editing software this is for the purposes of enhancing the aesthetic value of a website design. Because of the fact that there are a lot of skills involved in website design most companies are trying to outsource this process and hire the services of professional website developers and website designers, but because of the global economic crisis the impact is so great that many companies are force to start a website that is done in-house. Let us take both options in perspective and see which of the two ways of making a website design is better, in-house? Or outsource?

First, if a company utilises an in-house method of making the website design it is important to note that such company is of course not specialising on website design and therefore it’s website designer must or will undergo a learning-curve process. This can be a disadvantage if and when the development of the website is time critical but if it is otherwise then the learning process could be an advantage because it will enhance your employee’s knowledge and thus enabling the worker to perform modifications and enhancements on the website in the future.

For an outsourced website design on the other hand, the website designers are all professionals and they make a living out of website designing therefore you will be able to cut down on time and on errors that may be committed during the process of website design because also of that fact that they know the in’s and outs of website design. If your website design needs is time critical then outsourcing is the choice for you but you have to remember the fact that in outsourcing web design you have to be prepared to pay a hefty price.

The Hypertext Markup Language or commonly known as HTML has been revered to be the lingua franca of the web or the main language for the web. This means that every website design or web pages will have to contain the HTML scripting language the other scripting language incorporated in a website design is just secondary. Thus we can safely assume that a website design will have HTML to be its structural programming or scripting code or in other words HTML is the building blocks of a website design. So what is an HTML document? An HTML document is actually a text file that contains HTML elements that are made up by HTML tags. The HTML document follows a basic structure which allows a web page in a website design to be considered as a web-understandable document. This is because of the fact that a website design may not be created entirely by using the HTML scripting language, but because of HTML’s ability to provide the basic structure for a web page in a website design it now also allows the recognition and the interpretation of other scripting languages incorporated within the web pages’ basic structure.

The Hypertext Markup Language’s basic structure is made up of four components namely:

1. <html></html> tag – the <html></html> tag signifies the start and the end of the entire HTML document. Similar to the terminal commands in any programming languages, all those contained within the <html></html> tags will be interpreted by the web browser as part of the web page in a website design.

2. <head></head> tag – this tag is considered as the header of the web page in the website design. The header tag are commonly utilised to contain the meta tags that will contain the web pages’ keywords used in Search engine optimisation. Further the <head> </head> tags will also contain the different link tags <link> that will connect the web page to any external scripting languages that should be incorporated in the whole website design, scripting languages such as CSS and JavaScript are common in the area of external files being linked into the web page using the link tag within the head tag.

3. <title> </title> tag – the title tag as the name implies provides the title for the whole web page. The title tag will contain a webmaster defined title and whatever is contained therein or within the opening <title> tag and the closing </title> tag will be displayed on the web browsers’ title bar indicating the web pages’ title.

4. <body> </body> tag – this tag will contain almost all the website design features of a web page. This tag will contain the other tags and scripts that are needed in order to instruct the web browser to display the desired appearance of the web page.

Having the four basic structure of website design using the Hypertext Markup Language create a basic format to follow wherein within the basic structure you can apply your creativity by incorporating different website design strategies utilising various scripting languages.

Okay I admit this topic does not deal specifically on website design, but I find that having an ample knowledge about domains more specifically those three domain types on to of your main domain is essential. Uploading a website design into a web host is fairly easy, just use your ever dependable File Transfer Protocol and you already have a live website, but what if you are trying to conserve your precious finances especially during this time of recession? For a novice website designer the usual understanding would be one host for one domain, little did they know that there are ways to use multiple domains for just one host. This is where the other three types of domains would come in. If you are using cpanel provided by your host you will see these three types of domain configuration in your Domain dashboard, the Sub Domain, the Parked Domain and the Addon Domain. To clarify and differentiate the three we put each one in focus.

1. Sub Domain – this is usually a free service that goes along with your hosting plan. It utilises or connects to your main domain name and thus not having it’s own unique domain name. This is especially useful when you have a web page or a website design that is incorporated to your main website using the main domain name. This domain type does not need a paid registration from a domain host.

2. Parked Domain – a parked domain on the other hand would have its own domain name however it is just part of the main domain name. This means that when the parked domain is accessed by a user he or she will be directed to the web page of the main domain. A parked domain must thus have the same name server as that of the main domain on top of the parked domain to be registered.

3. Add-On Domain – the add on domain is like an independent website but it uses an existing host from a main domain. It allows you to have more than two unique sites on the same host server but having different URL’s or domain name. Although it gives an impression of having a two separate websites the add on domain must have the same nameserver as that of the main domain.

Knowledge on these types of domain names will help website designers identify the hosting and domain plan that will conform to their online needs.

The emergence of several versions of the Hypertext Markup Language or HTML became more organised or clean due to the introduction of a new scripting language that is functions the same as that of HTML but with an extra feature, the most important of which is the strict compliance to rules set in writing the script. This scripting language called the Extensible Hypertext Markup language or XHTML is the recommended World wide web consortium or the W3C the governing body of the web, who are in-charge of setting web standards, some of those standard is the use for constructing the structure of a UK website design.

Since XHTML is not new it would be proper to refresh the memory of those who have knowledge of the use of this scripting language before merits such memory refreshment, for those who has only heard of XHTML for the first time this would be a good introduction for a more intensive discussion and application.

What is XHTML? XHTML stands for Extensible Hypertext Markup Language, but to give a clear cut definition we dissect XHTML, basically Extensible Hypertext Markup Language is actually HTML that implements the rules in sytax of XML or the Extensible Markup Language. The integration of XML means what for HTML? Or XHTML? Well, XML provided for a stricter and cleaner use of the lingua franca of the web the Hypertext Markup Language.

XHTML have several ground rules that should be followed in order to effectively use such scripting language. First all web pages using XHTML must start with a Document Type Definition, the DTD determines or specifies the type of technique to be used in your coding for the website design.

Second, all codes or scripts including tags must be written in lower case. This rule standardises the codes within the web page and thus making the codes look cleaner and easier to understand because it is not tiring to one’s eyes when reading. This rule also conforms to the XML rule.

Third, all elements must be properly closed. This means that non-empty tags must always have a closing tag. Whatever tag is opened must always be closed, this will not only make the code a much cleaner version but it’s ultimate purpose is to prevent errors in the coding of the web page.

Website designers are likened to artists who rely on inspirations before he or she could start his or her masterpiece. For a website designer every website created or developed is unique and each design has emanated from a certain inspiration that motivated the website designer. Inspirations may come in any form and may be found anywhere but for website designers inspirations may just be a click away, whether visiting a website, viewing an inspiring image online. This means that for a website designer inspiration will also emanate from the same area and that is the web. Every time a website designer browses the web he or she encounters constant inspirations from the myriad of websites that he or she is visiting but what makes this inspiration truly actual and functional is when it is applied into the website designers’ masterpiece.

Unfortunately, during the course of the viewing of such inspiring images and websites, the ability of the website designer to quickly jump from one page to another contributes in forgetting the previous image or website viewed, and when the right time comes to use such image or website for inspiration on the design of a new website the website designer can no longer trace the image and the website, sometimes forgetfulness really gets the best of us. It is because of this reason that sharing this tips in website design seems imperative as of the moment because of the fact that this dilemma is not only confined to selected website designers but are actually one of the common problems being encountered by most website designers. It may seem to be a minor and a trivial problem but when placed we look closer we actually spend so much time trying to recall the image’s or websites’ URL.

Thus the formulation of the Inspiration folder, this is not a technical how-to strategy guide on website design, thus what you see on the name is actually what you get. Meaning, the inspiration folder is actually a folder that will contain all the images and websites that you have seen and where you think this website or image will actually be useful in your future website design endeavor. Creating the folder is easy and trivial thus it does not merit a discussion on it, not on this article at least. Storing the images from the website that you visited to your hard drive is easy you can use the right click function of your mouse and then click the save command, or if provided by the website you can just click on the link that will allow you to download the image or images then store it in the folder that you have created.

How about for websites? One very easy way is to get a screenshot of the website, this is done by pressing Alt+Printscreen when using a PC and Shift Command 4 then Space to turn the cursor into a camera then press Ctrl to and click on your target area on your screen, which is obviously the browser window displaying the website. This will now make the captures screenshot on your clipboard and you now have to open your image editing software and paste the captured images. After that you can now save the file onto the folder that you have previously created. Now you have a collection of inspirations that you can easily access whenever you require it.

To be disabled is very unfortunate but we see the disabled enabling themselves in order to become a useful unit of the society. As web designers we also have a role in helping and reaching out to those who are physically challenged. That is why designs for the web should always take the plight of the disabled into consideration before creating the web page. Here are some tips that could help you make your website design accessible to the disabled:

FOR THOSE WITH LOW VISION
1.    Make your web page dynamic where font sizes are not absolute and are readily resizable.
2.    Make your layout consistent so as not to confuse the disabled user.
3.    Take into consideration the contrast in colors and provide an avenue for those users with low vision to adjust the contrast of colors.

FOR THOSE WITH HEARING DISABILITIES
1.    Add captions or transcripts to audio that had been integrated in the web design.
2.    Since those who are poor in hearing are used to sign language make use of content related images to convey your site’s message.
3.    Do not require voice inputs in your design.

FOR THOSE WITH MOTOR DISABILITIES
1.    Since they have little means of controlling their body’s motor function refrain from integrating time limited response options on your website designs.
2.    Design forms that are capable of being activated using the tab button. This would reduce the use of the mouse.

IMPAIRMENT IN INTELLIGENCE, DYSLEXIA and other Neurological Illness
1.    Do not overcrowd your web page with distracting visual and audio elements.
2.    Your web design must always be logically arranged.
3.    As much as possible do not use complicated languages in your web design.
4.    Make use of more graphics to convey your web pages’ message.
So the next time that you design your web pages make sure to remember those who are disabled that they too have the need to access the web and it is our duty to make that possible.

Creating an impressive website is easier than its spellings! This is true if you are designing the website following the below given principles.

Content
The website content is one way to invite traffic of visitors to your site. The write up should be simple and in the language understood by most of the targeted audience. You also have to take into consideration that no reader sits with a dictionary in hand. More over the articles should be concise. It should have catchy headlines that will help spark the reader’s interest. Pick headlines that are relevant to the whole website content.

Text Appearance
After deciding the content, the next step is how to make your website design appear attractive. There are a few do’s and don’ts that should be taken cared of when selecting the font size and other related format for the text. The text should be visible! The internet user will not hesitate in switching to other site, leaving your content unread if the text is of font size that is less than 12px. With the increase of screen resolutions, the font size 12px also looks small. Hence 14px becomes the ideal size of the font.

Do not ignore the spacing between the lines of the paragraph. The website designers call it “Line-Height”. It should be kept a little expanded thus making the text appear more readable.

Colours and Effects

Pick the colour schemes keeping in mind the theme behind the website. For example whites and greens as background colour works the best on health related websites while the fluorescent colours work wonders for ads selling sites.  Though the simple colours are always pleasing to eyes there is still a need to use some secondary colours, please do not be generous with them.The colour of the background should be enhancing and not hiding the text.The use of the special effects like lens flares, drop shadows among others should be just appropriate. The over use of these effects makes the site look cluttered!

Now that you are aware of the key principles do not just start off creating the website on your photoshop app! Take some more time and look around some ideal examples suiting well to all the above points. That will help you to understand the secret behind a successfully created website design.

When HTML 4.01 was introduced the World Wide Web Consortium had announced that some Hypertext Markup Language tags or commonly known as HTML tags are no longer part of the standards of website design or in other words such tags were already considered as deprecated. Along with the “removal” of some selected tags in HTML to be used in website design is the advent of a new scripting language for web design dubbed as Cascading Style Sheets or CSS. The purpose of CSS in website design is to provide avenue for the presentation of a web page, in other words it gives form or body or design to the web page structure that is provided by the Hypertext Markup Language. Therefore, CSS is here to stay and learning it would provide the knowledge that you need in order to create beautiful and professional website designs.

The first aspect of the Cascading Style Sheet that a website designer should understand is the manner on how CSS is utilised. Cascading style sheets provides an inheritance system that will affect your website design process. Inheritance in CSS has the same concept as that of the familial inheritance. This means that that top level characteristics of your website design is transferred to the middle and subsequently to the lower level. To put things into a more understandable manner, we take into consideration the three levels of inheritance in CSS the external, internal and the inline styles. The top level would be the external style, this style is separated from the web page and is given a separate file name with the .css file extension, this external file is linked to the target web page via the use of the link tag. The middle level is the internal style, the code for this type of style is written within the web page but only within the head tag. The internal style coding is started by using the style tag and all CSS scripts within the style tag inside the head tag is considered to be the existing design properties. Finally, the lower level style is the inline style, this type of style is written directly within the target tag and the design or code in the inline style will be the prevailing style for that specific tag overriding any styles that applied by the other two higher level style.

Does it mean that overriding the higher level style would tantamount to the removal of the scripts written in the said levels of style? The answer is of course no, the design is not eliminated but instead only overlapped by the next lower level of style, that is how inheritance works, your website design will inherit the design from the top level and be applied unless specifically overridden by the next level of inheritance.

For example your website design has this following code for the following levels:

External – color:red

Internal – color:blue

Inline – color:green

Assuming that these three codes targets the bold tag then the text within will be colored green, so is blue and red lost? No, you can test this by removing the inline style, here, expect that the texts’ color is now blue and if you also remove the internal style you will notice the text to be colored red. This proves that the color in the website design is inherited and not lost. Now that you have a detailed knowledge on website design using CSS you can now start designing your web page using the power of the Cascading Style Sheets.