Considerations when designing a website

A successful website is the combination of a number of factors. If one of these factors is wrong it could degrade the whole design.

Correct use of Website Graphics & Photos

The use of images in any web design is essential to make the page easier on the eye but getting this wrong is probably the biggest single cause of a poorly performing website i.e very slow download. Images need to be reduced in both physical size & file size with photos (always in .jpg format) being `compressed` and graphics (in .gif or .png format) having their `colour depth` reduced.

Making Sure the Website Displays Correctly in all Browsers

Commonly called `cross-browser compatability` this means that your website should display correctly in all the major website browsers in addition to Internet Explorer e.g Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Konquerer, AOL to name a few. If it doesn`t, you could be losing vital visitors to other websites or worse, your rival businesses.
The easiest way to ensure that it looks correct is to have the website written with valid HTML code - the language used to build websites.

Clean & Concise Website Language (HTML)

The code that makes up a web page can become very cluttered using automated programs, particularly Microsoft Word which isn`t designed for making websites. Designers should use programs that create `Valid HTML` language code to minimise the page file size and thus improve the performance of the website along with ensuring `cross-browser compatability`. Blind Lemon (web design) don`t use any automated programs. All our html code is hand written!

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Creating a visually pleasing & informative website is only half the job of a website designer. Any website must have the correct structure. This involves making sure the chosen `keywords` are in the right place in the body of the text, correct use of `heading tags`, titles & descriptions are included in the head section & the `alt` tags are included in images to name just a few of the `behind the scenes` aspect of a website regarding Search Engine Optimisation.