In addition to actual pages that a business website should include to make it a top quality site are some of the formatting options that will help to make the website all it can be. These elements include:

•  Navigation system: Every website has a navigation system; however, the navigation system should be very easy to use and very easy to find. This will help make the website stand out in visitor’s minds.

•  Colors: The colors of the website are important. The colors should not be overwhelming or too dark. Solid colors work better than wild patterns for business websites and make the site easier to read.

•  Fonts: Fonts must be legible. Simple fonts are easier to read and should be used. Formal, fancy fonts are pretty but can be hard to read. In addition, if the person reading the website doesn’t have the font on their system, they will see it in a different font than intended.

•  Layout: Dead space should be used carefully to help draw attention to whatever element on the page the business owner wants them to be drawn to in order to make it the focal point.

•  Scripts and Animation: Keep in mind that a little bit is good and a lot is too much. A little bit of Java or PHP or other scripting can enhance a site; however, too much can make it slow to load in the browser and ultimately cause people to exit out of the site.

This advice is just the tip of the iceberg when designing a website. A quality web designer will be able to help get the website created with the look and feel that the business owner wants it to have.

Many business owners would like to know what they should understand about having a website created before they move forward with having their business put on the web.

In today’s business world not having a website is about as out-dated as the fax machine, yet many businesses haven’t taken the leap because they simply aren’t sure what they want to have in their business web page design. Some businesses are service oriented and simply need a means of marketing their services and their contact information while other businesses sell products and could take advantage of an online presence to sell more products. The information herein is the best advice for business owners considering a web site for the first time.

  What the Web Site Does

 Regardless of the type of business a web site is created for it is the online representation of that business. This is important to keep in mind so that the final website reflects positively on the business. A professional look and feel to the website is important and that ultimately up to the web designer that is selected to create the site. A professional website for a business should not come out looking like a cartoon put together by a child, unless the business happens to be in comic books or cartoons. The point is to make sure the web designer has experience creating business websites and not simply putting together blogs. The website should attract visitors and ultimately clients, and the design will play a large role.

  Elements to Include

 There are many different elements that a website should incorporate to ensure that visitors get a good impression about the business and also get enough information about the business to make an informed decision. Some of these include:

• Well-designed, to-the-point landing page: The landing page has to catch the attention of the visitor and do so quickly. It should be straightforward and to the point with eye-catching images and possibly even Flash elements. Scrolling logos and photos that change as the visitor is browsing, make the page visually appealing and will hold attention more so than simple static pages.

•  About Page: Introduce the business and staff to the world using an about page. Make the visitor feel connected by telling them about the business and about yourself.

•  Services; Detail the services that are available, use scripting languages to bring the pages to life.

•  Contact Page: A business web site without a contact page is simply a bunch of words in cyberspace that won’t generate one lead. There must be a way for clients to contact you. The contact page can be information with ways for the visitor to contact the business, a submission page where the visitor completes a form or a combination of these. The important thing is that there is a way for visitors to contact the business.

•  Locations: A well-designed business page will also include a location page, particularly if the business would like for people to be able to find them or if they have a service business and people need to be able to find them. A good locations place will include map links that show exactly how to get to the location by linking them to Google Maps, MapQuest or other online mapping services.

DIY website design has become a popular way for many people to develop a web presence without spending a large sum of money and still having some creative input on the site design.

DIY projects abound in our world, from do-it-yourself construction projects to home repairs and of course the DIY web design solutions that flood cyberspace and software shelves. The good news is that technology has made many inroads into the DIY market and designing a website on your own can be a fun and rewarding project. The key to designing your own web site is to stay within your comfort zone with the skills needed and take your time making your site the way you want it to be so that you are happy with it and it gets you the exposure you want it to get.

Uses for DIY Sites

While some websites are better left to the professionals, there are many websites that can be done using template software and even online designing sites that help you get a website up and running quickly. Some of the sites that can benefit from being a DIY site are:

• Blogs: These are typically smaller websites that are updated daily or however often the blogger wants to update them. There are many blog templates available on the Internet including WordPress and Blogger. These have both free and paid versions and have many design templates to help personalize the site. Some also offer the option of incorporating ads to generate revenue which makes the blog a cash flow source as well as an informative and fun site.
• E-Commerce: Many e-commerce sites can be created using templates available on the web and using software that is purchased and contains a complete web site. These are usually simple e-commerce sites where a few items are being sold and the website is linked to a PayPal account that accepts payments. There are free hosts such as Weebly that make setting up the site simple and there are other sites that charge a small fee but have more robust options for designing the site.
• Family Sharing: Many people like to set up websites to share family pictures, news and other information and happenings with each other. These types of sites can be easy to set up using templates that are available through the Internet, in fact, even a blog site can be utilized as a family sharing website.

DIY Website Formats

There are many different types of DIY websites, some requiring little more than some data input to personalize and others focused on low cost and ease of use. Some of the DIY formats are:

• Simple and Cost Effective: These websites for people who want to design their own are very low cost and easy to design. Most utilize templates that have built-in variations so that changing them is little more than a few mouse clicks. The Internet is filled with literally thousands of these templates and many more can be found bundled with certain software. These usually take very little time to put together; however, unless the site builder knows coding, there are few options that can be edited.
• Data Input Sites: These are usually simple e-commerce type site templates that allow the owner to pick a design and start putting their products up in minutes. These are ideal for the entrepreneur who wants to try their hand at selling products across the web.
• Totally from Scratch: The do-it-yourselfer who is willing to learn HTML can build their own site totally from scratch and forego the limitations that accompany templates. While this may sound daunting, there are many tutorials and HTML editors that make it simpler than you might think.

Regardless of which type of do-it-yourself web site is selected the one feature that should be included is the ability to easily update the site. While it is true that the design may have limitations on what can be changed, the content you put up on the site should be easily manipulated by you the owner.

The Downside

No guide to do-it-yourself websites would be complete without pointing out the downside to building your own website. The main reasons for having your site professionally built:

• There are no limitations other than budget as to how the site will look. Professional sites can include many more elements than a DIY site, such as Flash and other scripting.
• SEO – It is difficult to get a DIY site optimized whereas a professional website designer can create one that is optimized as it is built.

Both types of sites have their good and bad points; a professional site is extremely expensive in comparison to a DIY site. You need to sit down and determine how important the site is and weigh the options. There are some very good DIY websites if you take the time to research them and choose the one that suits your skills and your needs.

Benefits of Online Courses

The main benefit of online courses is the convene ice of learning from home in your own timeframe. However, this does not mean that you won’t have deadlines and class times. The typical online class has guidelines for when coursework is due. There are often set class times that are encourage as far as open chats and access to the teacher; however, online teachers do make themselves available at other times as well.

Online college courses, particularly those that are graphics or multimedia related are ideal for people who learn better by doing. Using the programs and a computer to follow the teacher’s guidance is practically all that is needed to learn for many people. This makes learning from much less  of a hassle than attending a traditional school and spending hours in a cramped classroom trying to figure out what is going on when you could easily figure it out from home with a little guidance.

Online college courses allow students the freedom to work their regularly scheduled job without having to sacrifice their income in order to go to school. This is a very important consideration for some people who simply can’t afford to change or quit their job in order to go to school.

On the other hand, you have to take into consideration the discipline needed to attend online classes. Without discipline it is very easy to become distracted by the television, the telephone and even social networks on the Internet. Distractions can easily lead to lost class time and missed assignments. Students can wind up losing not only class time but the money they invested in the class and yet did not have the discipline needed to finish.

Online schools for web design have a lot to offer students who are willing to dedicate some of their free time to pursuing their degree. The freedom to complete coursework on your time, yet within a time frame, is one of the most often cited reasons for choosing an online school. You don’t have to get dressed to go to class and if you aren’t feeling up to going you can simply log in and do what you can, no one is going to mark you absent and send it to the dean. An online web design degree is the first step in a professional web design career.

An online web design degree is an easy and convenient way to pursue a career in web design without the inconvenience of going to a local college everyday.

Many people have opted for attending college online to obtain many different degrees and an online web design degree is one of the popular choices. Online courses that lead to a web design degree are easy to follow and allow the student to work from the privacy of their own home and in their own time. Most computer graphics and multi-media courses are not difficult to succeed in using online school unlike some courses that need face-time with a teacher. Obtaining an online degree in web design is a matter of choosing an online school and having the dedication to work independently from home.

Choosing an Online School

The first step to getting an online web design degree is to find an online school that is accredited and offers web design certificates or degrees. The school should be accredited so that if you decide to go to a traditional college later the courses taken online would be applied towards the degree. If the school is not accredited the courses would not apply to any future program at other schools and you could wind up having to retake classes.

The coursework required should consist of the appropriate classes that match the degree you are seeking. You shouldn’t have to take history classes to be a web designer unless of course you are seeking a bachelor’s degree and need basic courses. Your curriculum should include classes like HTML, CSS, marketing strategies, graphic arts, coding and many other classes that are in this field.

Before making a final decision about the school you are going to attend you should research the school’s history and find out everything you can about it. Try to find online forums or groups where you can meet present or past students and discuss the classes and the teachers. You should feel confident that the teachers are available to help you when you need assistance.

Length of School Time

The length of time it takes to get the program completed varies depending on the degree or certificate being sought. A bachelor’s degree can take up to four years but at the same time gives a much more solid background in a larger variety of courses such as design theory and other classes that might not be part of a certificate class designed simply to get the basic skills. A bachelor’s degree allows you to become a web designer, data base developer and a whole host of other careers in the web and IT

Create Practice Sites

In order to become a web designer you need web sites to show that you know how to use HTML and CSS so that web design firms and prospective clients will want you to design their website. As with any skill, practice makes perfect. Create simple websites and gradually progress to more complex ones. Keep these available for display to prospective firms and clients.

 Add to the Skill Set

Learning to design with HTML and using CSS is not the only skill sets a good web designer has in their tool box. It is also important that you learn JAVA and PHP and other web scripting tools. Web scripting languages allow the website to be interactive and have more life than simply staring at a page of text and images. There are many different web scripting tools that can be added to a web designer’s skill set to increase their level of expertise. Web designers are constantly adding to their skills as more web scripts are developed in order to keep up with the changes and give people what they want when searching for a web designer.

Never Stop

Never stop learning something new about web design. Technology moves faster than the speed of lightening, and you should never think you know everything there is to know about web design. There is always something somewhere that you can learn. Stay abreast of the latest technology and practice it as you learn it so that you can implement it whenever needed.

Advertise the Portfolio

 Once you create several websites and have a working portfolio advertise it on social networking sites so that your friends and family can share it with others. Professional social network sites like LinkedIn will give you exposure to the professional world and help get the word out that you are available. You can add links to your websites to your resume, and if you have work that isn’t published on the Internet you can put it on thumb drives and send them out with your resume so that potential employers and clients can view your work instead of simply taking your word for your skills.

Becoming a web designer takes commitment to learning the coding languages and continually following up by learning new software and skills as they become available. Create demonstration websites and add them to your portfolio as you market your skills to the world.

Becoming a web designer can be done through a college or technical school or by simply using online tutorials and learning the various coding languages needed to put a site together.

The Internet has taken graphic design to a whole new level. Creative minds and technological savvy combine to create some astounding websites for business, fun, and just to be creating. Many people see these sites and wonder how they can become a web designer. The steps to becoming a web designer are not that complicated although they do take time and dedication to learning the language that is needed to code the websites properly so that they are easily viewed across all platforms. Here are some of the steps needed to become a web site designer.

 Learn the Language

A truly talented web designer knows HTML frontward and backward. Some people try to get away from this simple coding language by using templates or commercial editing programs like Dreamweaver. While editing programs are useful in some situations, the coding can be difficult to read and edit should the website need simple changes and it is not always compatible with every platform. HTML is an across the board coding language that is read by every platform and makes beautiful websites.

HTML can be self taught using the Internet, or it can be a series of courses in a graphic arts or web design program in college or technical schools. At first blush HTML might appear to be difficult and confusing; however, once the basics are understood it is amazing how simple and yet powerful this web tool can be to the designer. In fact, HTML is so common that some word processing programs have an HTML editor built in for simply coding.

Learning HTML takes time and practice. Using online tools and books will help with learning the basic coding rules. Once the syntax is understood, it is simply a matter of time and practice before the creative ideas come together with the HTML code and bring to life the website.

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

 In addition to learning HTML, CSS is necessary to create an excellent website that shows the world you are a web page designer. Like HTML this can be learned on the Internet, through books and at colleges. These cascading style sheets enhance websites and should be considered a necessary component. The CSS defines the coding that follows it and helps not only with the layout and flow of the website but also helps with the coding by defining formatting, font, colors and other features that are going to remain throughout the site.

More than One Answer

Technology has progressed so dramatically that today’s business owner can create a website in several different ways. There is always more than one answer to a problem and this holds true in website design. The choice is ultimately a personal choice that will also depend on how much the owner wants to handle on their own and how much they are able to do without while they grow into their website and determine if it is working for their company. Some of the choices are:

• Small website: The options for this are static pages with fewer graphic images due to smaller amounts of storage. The upside is that the cost will be much less; however, the downside is that static web pages are not very appealing and many visitors will not return.
• In-House Design: DIY website design sites are abundant on the Internet and there are many websites that have templates that are easily edited to be used for any purpose. The skill set needed to use these vary from one place to another. Some are out-of-the-box ready with very little needed outside of word processing and selecting images while others are a little more in-depth and the user needs to be able to manipulate images somewhat. The sites that offer these do-it-yourself websites almost always have help pages and tutorials to get the design started.
• Eliminate Features to Lower Cost: In the beginning stages of having a website it may not be necessary to have email addresses that are associated with the domain, particularly if the email is already being hosted elsewhere. The web pages can still direct visitors to the proper email without them being part of the website. Eliminating email hosting can save money on the web page design and set up.
• Freelance: If there are features that the business just can’t live without and yet at the same time the budget is a problem, a freelance web designer could be the answer to the problem. Business owners can try looking at local colleges and art institutes for students that are getting ready to graduate and need some real world experience. It is possible to find expert web page designers who simply haven’t been snapped up by a design firm and are willing to work for less in order to add to their portfolio.

It is possible to find affordable web page design. Businesses can design their own site using templates and online tools or find a freelance designer who is less expensive than a firm. Finally, starting out small is another option that will cut the cost. Ultimately, the goal is to have a website that is pleasing to visitors and brings clients and exposure to the company without breaking the bank.

Many people think affordable web page design is an impossibility; however, it is possible to have a website that is attractive and affordable by simply following advice from other businesses.

Businesses realize that they need to have a web presence in order to be competitive in today’s market, more people than ever are using the Internet to find businesses, goods and services. Many business owners shy away from a website because they are afraid they won’t be able to find affordable web page design. The cost of web page design can vary greatly from one company to the next and even from one individual designer to the next. The key is comparison shopping and knowing what to look for in a good designer.

Don’t Skimp on Quality

A website should be eye-catching and easy to navigate if the goal is to gain clients and exposure to the market. Businesses need to keep this in mind when searching for a web design company. The marketing director and business owner should both be involved in the selection process of the web design team, and they should insist on seeing many examples of sites. No matter how affordable the company is, if the work is not top quality it will ultimately cost more. There are many companies that offer a host of free items for using their services; however, the old adage “there’s no such thing as a free lunch” should be kept in mind. Companies that offer enticements often wind up falling short in the end.

Start Out Small