Web Design Tips & Tutorials - Page Design Tips

Regardless of how advanced you are at using HTML code, images, and animations, in order to take advantage of these useful tools you must pay careful attention to how you layout your web pages. That being said, it is equally important that you realize that there is much more to effective page layout than simply creating a nice looking page. The following tips will help you make the most out of your images, and allow you to create logically organized, user-friendly web pages.

I. Keep Important Sections Above the Fold

One of the keys to successful web page design is keeping all important text and images above the fold. All significant information should be accessible to users without scrolling down the page, and should be organized in a logical, easy to follow manner. For example, at HostSearch, our most important function is our search function, which is available to users on the first page, above the fold. Information that needs to be kept above the fold include the name of the site, the site logo, and any sections of content or pages that you wish to promote to users. Remember, this is the part of your site that your users will see first, so plan carefully because in the Internet world, first impressions really do last a lifetime.

II. Make Sure Text is Readable

In many web sites today, the combination of text and images is extremely common, and a good way to get the most out of each space on your web page. That being said, it is extremely important to make certain that all text which is combined with images is readable by users. Perhaps the best way to achieve this goal is to use contrasting text and image colors, and to blur the background image. By blurring the background image, you are in effect drawing attention to the clear part of the image, which is the text, thus getting the most out of both the image and the text. In addition, this tactic also helps to reduce the size of these combined images, allowing your page to load faster.

III. Create Grid Layers

When designing your page, it is a good idea to create your page all at once, and save it as a single file. Although the file will end up being rather large, it will give you a good idea of the look and feel of the page. After you have your page laid out, create a new upper-most layer using a graphics program, and set it to low opacity. Next, draw blocks on that layer using a color to mark the edges of the images on the page. Using these blocks as a guide, you can then make changes to the images below. The layer of sblocks will help you keep your page consistent, and are extremely useful for dynamic pages.

IV. Avoid Wide Text Columns

When designing your web pages, it is a good idea to avoid wide, margin-to-margin text blocks, which take up a lot of space and can put off readers. Instead, lay out longer text stories in narrow vertical columns. Also try to avoid putting long vertical columns side by side, as it will make the reader scroll up and down the page.

V. Use Sub-categories

In order to avoid large text blocks, break up text into smaller sub-categories. This will assure that your pages are more aesthetically pleasing, and more reader-friendly. Sub-categories also allow readers to select certain portions of content that they are interested in, rather than making them sift through large text blocks.

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