http://www.articlearmies.com Articles posted by shruti gupta. en-us Copyright (c) 2005 ArticleTime.com http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Web-Design/how-to-make-your-web-design-interactive.html The importance of effective website design can never be undermined. Right from having the potential to attract new customers to getting you more sales, a good quality and attractive web design is something that can mean the difference between a no sale and an actual purchase! Clean design One of the biggest mistakes most people make is to clutter up their website with unnecessary content and imagery. This not only distracts the user but you maybe actually preventing the user from seeing the important aspects on your site. For example you may think that having a Flash introductory page will help in luring more customers. Fact is search engines don’t even recognize such pages! Imagine your home page not even being scanned by search engines! Not such a happy idea, right? Any good quality web designer will advise you against having such a Flash intro page. Interactivity is key When we talk about interactivity we are not talking about feedback forms and text input forms! It is much more and bigger than that. The entire concept of Web 2.0 is fast gaining popularity as far as custom web design services go. Many of such service providers also specialize in Web 2.0 methodologies to help enhance the overall potential of website design. Centralized layout The most important feature of Web 2.0 as far as professional web design goes is the usage of a centralized layout. This often sends out an impression that your site is honest and bold while also being simple. These are traits users look for in a brand and sending out such signals is always a positive sign. Less number of columns In the earlier days of custom web design the norm used to be to use as many as 4 columns while 3 columns on a site were more common. However with the advent of Web 2.0 technology the norm these days is to use just 2 columns on the site and 3 is the maximum that you would possibly go. Demarcating sections It is very essential to let users know which parts of your site deserve priority. One of the best ways to do this is by using bold colors where you want users to look first. For example if you want to highlight a discount on a new product make sure to use attractive coloring and effects there. After all it will decide a sale! A good web designer familiar with Web 2.0 design aspects will ensure your site is well differentiated. For example differentiating the header of the web page from the rest will do you good. http://www.articlearmies.com/articles/Web-Design/how-to-choose-a-website-designer.html A good quality website designer is going to help you go a long way in having a great looking site that is professional and high quality. A great professional web design site will speak volumes about your company and brand image. Here are some tips to help you select the perfect web designer of choice! Check out the freelance sites Nowadays many companies have realized the benefits of outsourcing their custom web design work. Today there are plenty of freelancing sites that advertise quality works of such graphic designer companies and individuals. The good thing about this is that you get to have your website designed on a budget and yet with a high quality finish! You could even manage to get a complete website designed replete with flash animations for as little as 30 or 50 dollars! Get sample works Before choosing any website designer for your website designing needs, be sure to collect previous work samples from all of these designers. It will help you gauge the quality of their work and also see if they can really implement a custom web design for your site. Maybe you could even have a small test for them to check their ability, before you actually select them. Assess the reputation It is extremely important that you go for a graphic designer that has a good track record and reputation online. Otherwise you not only risk taking on a designer with poor quality of work but you never know how professional they are! Any professional web design company that has a good credibility will adhere to deadlines, submit high quality work and will ensure proper communication methods always. Search engine friendliness One of the traits of a good quality custom web design company is that it will usually have a thorough understanding of search engines and how design can affect them. For example having a home page with lot of flash animations may not be a good idea as search engines do not recognize Flash. These are some of the suggestions that the design company may provide you, thereby resulting in a professional web design finish. Navigability Another important requisite of any good website designer is that they will ensure your site has easy navigation. That means users should ideally be able to search for information easily without much hassle. Also, the information and content represented on the website should never be overpowered by the design. For example, too much of flash animations, blinking text as well as other design elements can take away from the central purpose of the page. These are some of the suggestions that a good quality graphic designer will suggest to you.