Web design basics: Tips for working on your own

Successful web design means getting down to the basics and starting from the beginning. First, ensure that your website enhances your overall marketing and communications plan. And, just as you would need to decide what a story was about before you sat down to write it, decide exactly what you want the general message and purpose of your website to be before you write copy, take photographs, or choose colors. Always keep the needs of your intended audience uppermost in your mind.

Look at your competitors' sites, look at sites you like, look at sites that talk about Web design, look at any tools your Internet Service Provider might have to offer. Even in this electronic age, people publish good books on Web design, too. You'll be a semi-expert before you know it!

The most popular web design software titles are Microsoft Expression Web and Adobe Dreamweaver. Be sure to look for free "try out" versions of these products. Each software package has its own niche, strengths, and weaknesses, so investigate before you buy so you can make the best choice for you.

Get your creative juices flowing by doing something, anything, different from what you do every day. Whether that means staying at home for half a day and making notes and thumbnail sketches at your kitchen table or going to the zoo and taking photos of the animals that remind you (just a little bit) of your co-workers and clients, do it. You'll feel better, and your work will be better.

Designers sometimes call this visual hierarchy. Create a main focal point--make a conscious decision about which element of the page will attract the viewer's attention first. Remember that if you try to emphasize every element, or if you try to cram too much information on one page, nothing will get the attention it deserves. If you have lots of text on a page, break it up into small one- and two-sentence paragraphs, or use bullets.

Use the same color scheme, font, and writing style on all of the pages in your site. Even if you do something special with the layout of your homepage, all subsequent pages should have the same basic layout and look. You may even want to develop a template to use for sub-pages. All images should have a similar look, too.