The image your website design projects on the internet is one of the most important aspects you need to keep in mind at all times when choosing a website design firm or designing the website yourself. It is very important to remember that most of your visitors haven't spoken to you yet and your site will be the first impression they have of your company. If your website design lacks professionalism and/or does not reflect that of a well established company, your new prospect can easily loose confidence.

Although probably very well intentioned, most website design firms lack the experience and artistic skill to give their clients the website design that truly represents them. You'll probably quickly realize that programmers are not the best designers. That is why a website design company should have their production teams split in 2. Hire a website designer or designers who create layouts and website programmers who, when the website design is approved, codes the layout so it becomes a website. Somewhere around 60% of the work on an average website (10 pages) should be on its design (choosing the right pictures, text layouts, 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 of so called "professional" website design firms or website designers (the guys who do this from the computer in their apartment). But only a very small fraction of people who can actually build a website can do a good job at it. The quickest example I can give you is when building a site there 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 these browsers, browser versions and operating systems, the website design will most likely display incorrectly when visited. Exp: some images might not load, some pictures might be crooked; some functions can lead to error messages, etc. And all this is but one of the multiple details that should always instinctively be kept in mind when programming and designing a site.

Website design structure:

I am sure you have been on a website before where you have felt confused and or could not find what you where looking for, and so ended up leaving and feeling frustrated. Unfortunately this happens all too often because a lot of website designers out there are very computer savvy and program the website in function of how they would like it, not keeping in mind the fact that most of the visitors will not be website designers or programmers and sometimes barely know how to open their own computer. When creating a website design, it is important to not only make sure that the visitor knows at all times what section they are visiting and can reach any section easily, but also make sure that the information in those sections is clearly displayed and not confusing.

Getting your website design project right the first time:

A lot of the business in the website design industry is generated by clients that have already paid to get a website design in the past, and after using it for a while are not satisfied with it. Eventually these clients end up calling another website design firm because they decide they need to upgrade their image so they can use their website to its full potential. But sadly for the client he ends up paying sometimes almost twice the amount because the first website design won't be used anymore and the website has to be completely redesigned from scratch. Unfortunately it is very easy to be misled and a lot a people get frustrated with their website design because there is 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 those your main concern. Take it from the standpoint of: "what look must my website's design have in order to help the company or individual, be successful?

Building a professional website design is complex. It requires a combination of knowledge and skill as well as a creative and artistic mind to achieve a website design that will captivate the attention of visitors.

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

• Become HTML savvy. The kind of fine tuning of HTML code required when doing good website design requires you to learn the basic HTML ropes. Good website design software can help, but many of these programs can be confusing and hard to maintain. For the most complete list on HTML tutorials, visit W3's School.

• Artistic taste is not something given to you with computer programs. This is something you develop over time and with enough 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 aspect to making your visitors happy is insuring they go where they need to go, quickly and efficiently. This can be an arduous task, especially with larger-than-average websites (15-20 web pages). Good navigation design comes from experience, and should be one of the most important aspects of your website design project. These helpful website navigation tips can help.

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

• JavaScript and Flash programming. Functional website design is dramatically helped by Flash and JavaScript features such as animation 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 understands your website better than you? No one. That is why it is important to let an outside company, who might be doing your marketing campaigns, know exactly what your website's goals and purposes are. An ideal website design firm understands how to incorporate a search engine friendly design into your website. A search engine ranking company 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!