Here You Will Find Great Tips About Web Design

People practically live online today, and bad web pages drive them away. If you are thinking about how to design a website that will engage your users, this is an excellent article for you.

Dont force users to install strange BHOs. Many tech-savvy users wont 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.

Check your pages for broken links. People will become frustrated if they a link leads them to a broken page. You can do this manually or run a software program if you like.

Use a descriptive title. Many site owners forget to name their pages, or name them something generic, such as "Welcome Page." Search engines do use title descriptions in their rankings, so make sure you are as descriptive as possible, without going overboard. Make sure it is usable for your viewers and the search engines.

Test your website before it goes live. Theres nothing worse then launching your new website and having to take it down right away due to bugs or other issues. Get a group of people together who are using different web browsers and computer platforms, and ask them to use a beta version of your website, writing down any issues they come across.

Wherever your logo appears on your site, you should accompany it with a complementary slogan or tagline. Ideally, this tagline should be catchy and informative, and should offer some basic summary of the purpose of your site or product offering. The combination of your logo and tagline should appear on every page to create a sense of cohesion.

It is imperative that all of your webpages have titles. Forgetting to include titles while designing your website can have disastrous consequences. The biggest reason is that it makes your website look unprofessional when there is no title, both on the webpage itself, and also on a search results page. Search engines also place heavy emphasis on titles when determining the content of your website. Remember to utilize keywords, and make your titles descriptive.

Make sure your navigation is simple to use. Where all navigation links are placed will have an impact on how long any of your visitors stay on your site. The navigational tree should be neat, easily accessible and consistent so your visitors have a good web experience.

Use basic fonts which every user will be able to see. The font is one of the first items people notice when coming to a site. Fancy fonts, such as those that look like gothic lettering or calligraphy, can often be hard to read. Other fonts, like Comic Sans, send a message that you arent professional. If a person doesnt have a font on their computer, the browser might render the site using the default font (generally Times New Roman). This can make your website look a lot worse.

Monitor your site periodically for broken links. Do this each time you upload new content to your site. This is important, as visitors who click on your links expecting useful information, only to find a 404 page, will leave your site in disgust. To prevent this from happening, do a quick check to ensure everything is working properly.

Now that you read the above article, you see how much easier it is to design a professional looking website. When you feel confident about your web design skills, you can assemble a site that is almost self sufficient. Keep these tips in mind when you do.