One of the key challenges that beginners have to overcome is to come up with a convincing web design.
Unfortunately, so many people get stuck at this stage that they never really got started! Here is a comprehensive site that will (hopefully) get your site launched.Tip 1: There is no need to go for perfection.Don't worry about perfection. Some people I know spend so much time (hours, sometimes days) that the design is never completed! An average design is much better than having no website. So don't dwell on the details. Launch the site first. You can always make changes later on.Tip 2: If you are not good at graphics, outsource.Stop doing everything yourself. As an Internet business owner, you need to learn how to outsource tasks that you are not good at. Some people enjoy working at graphics. Those are the people you want to hire. You can tell the designer what you are looking for, and the designer can have your design created in a matter of days. And you know what? That will probably cost you just about $50 to $100.Tip 3: Learn how to use basic graphic software.If you don't have photoshop, you don't have to buy the software just yet. Photoshop is the leading graphic software in the market, and it will cost you several hundred dollars. The reason why you need to learn how to use image software is because you may need to do slight changes yourself. You don't have to do everything, but you do want to rely on yourself for those little changes that you may wish to make on the website.Tip 4: Pay attention to the style and tone of the website.Your website, in a way, is a communication medium. A lot about you and your business will be written in every element of your site. For instance, if you are targeting a young audience, you want a bright design with more fanciful graphics. The design is supposed to appeal to your target audience. So pay attention to the color scheme and the choice of graphics.Tip 5: Have a very clear focus.Your home page is the most important page. It will be the most visited page. So make sure you get the message across on the home page. Don't make the visitor hunt for links to source for more information. That will just frustrate the visitor and he or she will just leave. Whatever message that you are trying to bring across, slap that on your homepage - whether its in graphic or text form. If the visitor wants to find out more, he can always click on another link and visit another page with more details.Tip 6: Keep your code clean and simple.If you do coding, keep everything clean and simple. You need to do this for 2 reasons. Firstly, clean code makes changes easier. Secondly, search engines find it easier to determine the theme of your website - i.e. what is your site all about? That will help bring more organic traffic to the website.Tip 7: Don't overdo the header.The header is always the first thing that a visitor sees. But some designers make the mistake of slapping a huge header on the website. And that header takes up the top fold of the browser on every single page. On the Internet, the top fold is valuable space for content. So don't overdo the header. A simple header with high quality images will do just fine. In fact, smaller headers make the site look more professional.
Darren Chow is a full time article marketer and SEO specialist who has helped hundreds of clients promote thousands of websites. Join the article marketing newsletter to find out more about how he gets sites to rank well in the search engines.
