Web Design Exposed: 10 Little Known Facts

1. Just Like Most Things in Life, You Get What You Pay For

Your uncle’s cousin’s nephew is “all into that tech stuff,” and he said he could design a website for you, and he does. When he’s done, you think to yourself, that doesn’t look half bad. I believe it is in the best interest of anyone seeking to enter into a web design agreement for them to know some very important and inescapable truthsShortly thereafter, you notice things aren’t working as they should, and maybe you even get a call about copyright infringement from some disgruntled interested party. What sounded like a good idea at first ended up being akin to a Rolex that you might purchase from some guy on the street – it looks fine on the surface, but shows its defects soon thereafter. The moral of this story was stated in the bold print of this list item. If someone is offering you a web design service on the cheap, chances are strong that they will not give the necessary time and attention to produce a quality product, which leads us to the next point.

2. A Professional Web Design Process Takes Time

To create a custom website that functions correctly on all browsers and platforms, meets current web programming standards, and presents content effectively and professionally throughout the entire website takes a great deal of work and can’t be accomplished overnight. One of the reasons for this leads us to our next truth.

3. It Takes Pages and Pages of Code to Make a Modern Website Function

Right click on any web page and select “View Page Source,” and you will see this hidden truth. When you look at a finished website, you are just seeing its shiny outer shell. Underneath all that apparent simplicity lies a mass of HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, and a host of other web development technologies working in concert to produce the end product. As such, when it comes to web design one should not judge a book by its cover; a website has much more to do than just look pretty.

4. Think About How You Would Like Your Website Look and About What Information You Would Like it to Convey

Having at least a general idea about how you would like your website to look is a great thing. Having at least a general idea about how you would like your website to look is a great thing. Take a look at your competitors’ websites and take notes about what you like or don’t like. Additionally, think about the message you would like your website to present to its visitors. Coming to the table with your own ideas about colors, layout, content, and functionality can greatly increase the chances of your web designer being able to produce a website that satisfies you on all levels.

5. All Web Browsers Render Websites Differently

Whether you get your website from the loftiest towers of New York City, or you hire a Chico web design company to meet your needs, that website will be  created through code. Every web browser, whether it is Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, or Safari, interprets that code differently. To make matters worse, different versions of those web browsers will render a single web page differently. To combat this, a web designer needs to make conditional versions of that code in an attempt to make the website look as uniform as possible across all major browsers. This is one of the most challenging tasks for a web designer and takes a lot of testing and time to pull off.

6. All Websites Look Different When Viewed on Monitors with Different Resolutions

The higher the screen resolution is, the smaller and sharper a web design will look. As screen resolution gets lower, however, the same web design appears larger and grainier. This is becoming less and less of a factor as high resolution monitors are becoming more and more affordable. But many users still access the Internet with computers and monitors that are over five years old. For these users, a modern web design will look less than optimal. For the sake of progress, most web designers elect to target the most popular screen resolutions when crafting a site.

7. Fonts will Appear Differently on Different Computers

Windows and Macintosh computers render fonts differently. Additionally, the fonts that display on a web page can be dependent upon the fonts that are installed on the user’s computer. This is yet another reason web pages look differently from one computer to the next. Although there are ways to overcome this reality, the vast majority of websites in existence today do not incorporate such a fix.

8. Adhering to Google’s Web Design and Optimization Guidelines is Vital to Online Success

At the time of this writing, Google commands about 88.8% of the global web search market. At the time of this writing, Google commands about 88.8% of the global web search market. The nearest competitor, Bing enjoys 4.2%. The nearest competitor, Bing enjoys 4.2%. Any website owner who wishes to be successful online needs to rank well on Google search results. The only way to accomplish this is to adhere to Google’s way of doing things and adjust the content of your website accordingly.

9. Just Because a Website Exists Doesn’t Guarantee People Will Visit It

The Internet is filled with websites that have failed to make an impression on their intended audience. Online success and visibility of a website does not just happen. People need to be able to find your website when searching for relevant keywords, and this requires an active marketing and search engine optimization strategy. This takes time, effort, and maintenance, and is a harsh reality all website owners have to face. This leads us to the final point.

10. In Order to become and Remain Competitive, a Website Needs to Change Frequently

The most successful websites are those that are more than just static information about your company. It would be wise to consider incorporating a business blog, community forum, or image gallery that can provide search engines with a steady stream of new content to index. The more relevant, useful, and unique information that a website provides, the more authoritative search engines will deem it to be. Whether you manage the creation and optimization of content yourself, or you hire a professional to do it for you, it must be done.