Basic principles how websites are built
This is a set of topics every do-it-yourself web designer should consider before starting his/her first web site. We tried to focus on few main principles how web design is created, leaving in-depth information for your own investigation.
1. CHOOSE YOUR DOMAIN NAME
First you have to register your site name and indicate your domain name in Berta.me. If your personal name works as a brand name or your small business has already a company name then it should not be a problem. You may use yourcompanyname.berta.me or something similar. If you want to purchase and add your own domain name, you can find some good tips here.
Remember: You can change a domain name, but you cannot change a Berta.me hosting name (“yoursitename.berta.me”). If you are not happy with already chosen name, make a new Berta.me page before you start designing!
2. EXPLORE OTHER WEBSITES YOU LIKE
Web design trends change rapidly. Do the research to see sites of your competitors or other businesses. Remember that you should look enough similar and at the same time enough unique compare to your competitors to stand out in the crowd.
3. ORGANIZE YOUR WEBSITE
Your menu items will depend on a type of your website and amount of information you have in each section. For an artist portfolio there could have sections, such as, About, Portfolio, Exhibitions, Bio and Contacts. A company site could have sections, such as, About, Products, Team, Shop, Contacts. You may add, delete or re-arrange sections as you wish.
4. YOUR WEBSITE’S LOOK AND FEEL
Before you start designing, think of how your website will feel and look for a visitor. You may choose few adjectives that would describe your site best e.g. light, white, minimalistic, colorful, etc. Remember to reflect on these adjectives every time you make a decision about colors, fonts, layout and other important web design elements.
5. COLORS FOR YOUR WEBSITE
Combine ideas from websites you like and your thoughts how it should feel and look to decide on the background, menu and header colors. You can read an article about choosing color palette for your website. Few main tips are (1) to use natural colors, (2) make a strong contrast between background and text, (3) select around 3 colors and use them throughout the entire website, and (4) take into account people with visual disabilities.
6. WEBSITE PHOTOS AND IMAGES
Many users place their art works as their main focus of their sites. In these situations photos and images should not contradict or disappear in background or elements of the web design. If your focus is not visuals, but text content and you do not have any photos, search for some relevant images in Internet with a high-resolution quality. Usually visuals convey message better than text.
7. WEB-FRIENDLY FONT
Berta.me offers more than 500 Google and own system fonts. They should fit in the overall web design feel and at the same time also needs to be web friendly. Since people have different fonts installed on their computers, it might be so that some stylish or rear fonts may look different on different computers. Safe choice is one of the classic fonts: Ariel, Verdana, Serif, Time New Romans, Courier and some others.
Remember: Check how your font looks on different browsers and operating systems
8. CONTENT FOR YOUR WEBSITE
You can write your content gradually, but it would be wise to put some main bullets of text beforehand to understand overall message of your website. Keep your text short – 2-3 sentences, because people do not like to read long texts. Integrate and remember keywords of each section to add in your SEO (search engine optimization tool). The tone of your text should fit your web design overall feel. There are plenty of web sources to structure and write a good content.
If you have more questions, you can approach the Berta.me team at support@berta.me or try to use search engine to find bloggers and professionals sharing their insights in particular web design topics.