How To Design Your Website Right The First Time

Corporate Website Design and Image:

NRJ Design

The image your website design projects on the internet is oneof the most important aspects you need to keep in mind at all timeswhen choosing a website design firm or designing the website yourself.

It is very important to remember that most of your visitorshaven't spoken to you yet and your site will be the first impressionthey have of your company. If your website design lacks professionalismand/or does not reflect that of a well established company, your newprospect can easily loose confidence.

Although probably very well intentioned, most website designfirms lack the experience and artistic skill to give their clients thewebsite design that truly represents them. You'll probably quicklyrealize that programmers are not the best designers. That is why a website designcompany should have their production teams split in 2. Hire a websitedesigner or designers who create layouts and website programmers who,when the website design is approved, codes the layout so it becomes awebsite. Somewhere around 60% of the work on an average website (10pages) should be on its design (choosing the right pictures, textlayouts, menus and disposition for the overall website).

Website design compatibilities:

It is fairly easy to build a basic website design these days, with all the programs that automate code; hence there are a lot ofso called "professional" website design firms or website designers (theguys who do this from the computer in their apartment). But only a verysmall fraction of people who can actually build a website can do a goodjob at it. The quickest example I can give you is when building a sitethere is a lot to consider when programming the code.

Compatibilities include:

PC
Internet Explorer V4, V5, V6
Netscape V5, V6, V7

Mac
Internet Explorer V5, V6
Netscape V5, V6, V7
Safari, Opera, etc,

Now if the site isn't programmed in accordance with all thesebrowsers, browser versions and operating systems, the website designwill most likely display incorrectly when visited. Exp: some imagesmight not load, some pictures might be crooked; some functions can leadto error messages, etc. And all this is but one of the multiple detailsthat should always instinctively be kept in mind when programming anddesigning a site.

Website design structure:

I am sure you have been on a website before where you have feltconfused and or could not find what you where looking for, and so endedup leaving and feeling frustrated. Unfortunately this happens all toooften because a lot of website designers out there are very computersavvy and program the website in function of how they would like it, notkeeping in mind the fact that most of the visitors will not be websitedesigners or programmers and sometimes barely know how to open theirown computer. When creating a website design, it is important to notonly make sure that the visitor knows at all times what section theyare visiting and can reach any section easily, but also make sure thatthe information in those sections is clearly displayed and notconfusing.

Getting your website design project right the first time:

A lot of the business in the website design industry isgenerated by clients that have already paid to get a website design inthe past, and after using it for a while are not satisfied with it.Eventually these clients end up calling another website design firmbecause they decide they need to upgrade their image so they can usetheir website to its full potential. But sadly for the client he endsup paying sometimes almost twice the amount because the first websitedesign won't be used anymore and the website has to be completelyredesigned from scratch. Unfortunately it is very easy to be misled anda lot a people get frustrated with their website design because thereis so much they don't know about websites and the Internet in general.

You have read our website design article to this point and still want to build your own website? Read On!

Getting your website design project started:

To build a professional website design, you've got to look at the individual, business or organization needs and make thoseyour main concern. Take it from the standpoint of: "what look must mywebsite's design have in order to help the company or individual, besuccessful?

Building a professional website design is complex. Itrequires a combination of knowledge and skill as well as a creative andartistic mind to achieve a website design that will captivate theattention of visitors.

Here is a basic website design guide to get you started.

W3Schools

· Become HTML savvy. The kind of fine tuning of HTMLcode required when doing good website design requires you to learn thebasic HTML ropes. Good website design software can help, but many ofthese programs can be confusing and hard to maintain. For the mostcomplete list on HTML tutorials, visit W3's School.

· Artistic taste is not something given to you withcomputer programs. This is something you develop over time and withenough experience in website design. Although a good tutorial on Photoshop software is always a good way to start.

· Website navigation and user-friendliness. A key aspectto making your visitors happy is insuring they go where they need togo, quickly and efficiently. This can be an arduous task, especiallywith larger-than-average websites (15-20 web pages). Good navigationdesign comes from experience, and should be one of the most importantaspects of your website design project. These helpful website navigation tips can help.

· CGI and database programming. No matter the size ofyour website design project, you are bound to find a "contact us" formor search application on a website that will require some CGIprogramming installation and configuration skills. HTML Goodies.com can help you with that.

· JavaScript and Flash programming. Functional websitedesign is dramatically helped by Flash and JavaScript features such asanimation and small windows that open to answer a hyperlinked question.The best source for this is, again, at W3's school.

Online marketing & exposure. Who else understandsyour website better than you? No one. That is why it is important tolet an outside company, who might be doing your marketing campaigns,know exactly what your website's goals and purposes are. An idealwebsite design firm understands how to incorporate a search enginefriendly design into your website. A search engine optimization firm would be the optimum solution to increasing your website's ROI and increasing your revenue's bottom line.

There you go! Website design in a nutshell! If you have anyquestions please feel free to email me: jonathan @ nrjdesign.com. Letme know what you think and if you have any questions.

About the Author:

The author of the article has been in the Internet business since 1998.His knowledge for website design extends to all the domains of websitedesign and has, over the years, developed a specialization in corporatewebsite design. Being the assistant director of a design firm (takeout* himself), it is needless to say the information found in thisarticle, although very basic in nature, is extracted from years offirsthand experience in delivering quality website design. Please feelfree to visit and take a look at our portfolio.

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