Tips for Creating a Better Website
What are the five most important tips to keep in mind when designing a website?
- First impression matters! If you are not able to create a positive impression in the first few seconds a person sees your website, they will probably never return to your site. So, make sure you are making a good first impression with your design. How can you do that? Follow the next four steps and you'll be able to accomplish this.
- Keep it Simple! As easy it is to be caught up in adding colors and graphics and all kinds of cool things, you need to beware of following in this trap. A simple design always creates a better impression than a flashy website.
- Be Consistent! Since a website represents a business' brand online, you need to keep it consistent across all channels. Use the same colors, fonts, and logos for all correspondence and through all channels.
- Don't Make Users Think! If you don't tell users what to do, you will not accomplish much. Tell your users what to do: include button actions and guide them through the process you want them to follow. That implies you have a purpose in mind for a specific website.
- Test and Improve. Always test and always work on improving your site. See what accomplishes your purposes and play around with different settings to see how users will respond. Many web designers forget to test and improve, and thus fail to fulfill their goals.
Secrets to a Successful Freelance Business
Ok, so you are not going to be shocked by what I'm going to reveal next, but sometimes it is good to be reminded about the basics: Web Design is a process! Yes, that is the first important secret that you need to reveal to your customers. Make them understand that the quality of a website depends on whether they add value to the site or not. Designing the greatest website will not accomplish their goals if they don't continue to maintain it; it might for a short period of time, but a failure to maintain their website will create a very negative impression upon their customers. So, if you want to be a successful freelancer, let your customers know what they need to do to succeed. They will appreciate that and will create more business for you.
The second secret I want to reveal is very simple, but of extreme importance: Give your customers more than they expect! You might ask yourself: Why? Well, if you do it, they will come back to you or refer many more customers to you. It doesn't have to be something big. Sometimes, small things make a difference. Think of ways in which you can add value to your work and, I guarantee it, your customers will come back to you all the time--even if you charge more than others do!
The second secret I want to reveal is very simple, but of extreme importance: Give your customers more than they expect! You might ask yourself: Why? Well, if you do it, they will come back to you or refer many more customers to you. It doesn't have to be something big. Sometimes, small things make a difference. Think of ways in which you can add value to your work and, I guarantee it, your customers will come back to you all the time--even if you charge more than others do!
Recommended:
Here are some links I would recommend:
Ten CSS Tricks You Might Not Know
70 Expert Ideas for Better CSS Coding
Best Open Source Resources for Web Developers
Ten CSS Tricks You Might Not Know
70 Expert Ideas for Better CSS Coding
Best Open Source Resources for Web Developers