3 things you should know about Web Design
A little knowledge about how a website works, will give you an advantage when dealing with web developers and your own website.
1. Your website looks different on other people’s computers
When you view a website from your own computer through Google Chrome, it probably looks very different from how your friend might see it on their work computer using Internet Explorer. Or on your smartphone’s native browser.
This is all because of parsing and rendering – or the way the browser translates code and displays it on your screen. Some browsers load the code in a specific order. Others don’t even recognise certain code at all.
These browser differences can make it tricky to create a website that provides the experience you want for everyone. But that’s where knowledge of CSS and HTML comes in. Web developers should know these problems, and the solutions to make your website look like it should no matter how it’s being viewed.
Issues of browser compatibility and mobile optimisation is becoming increasingly important as more people access the internet through smartphones.
2. Your website’s source code influences your search ranking
Having a beautiful website is pointless if no one can find it. The way your website is coded helps people find your website more easily. This includes having SEO-embedded code.
The way a website is coded also affects how search engine listings look, from the title of the web page in search results to the little meta description of your website that shows up below the title. If your website is coded right, search engines will be a great source of traffic. A good web developer will build your website foundation with this in mind. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to ask either.
3. Images can be positive or negative
Multimedia aspects of a website such as video and images can be very powerful. Not to mention that people like these interactive aspects. But if used incorrectly they can significantly damage a website’s performance.
Large image and video files, for example, can dramatically slow down the loading time of your website – not everyone has superfast fibre optic broadband! If a visitor to your website has to wait too long for a page to load, it is extremely likely that they’re going to be impatient and click back to their search results and go somewhere else.
To ensure any content is engaging visitors and not driving them away, web developers should make sure any images and videos used are optimised for websites. These optimised files make sure pages load quickly but still offer rich multimedia content.
Having this little bit of knowledge should making decisions about your website that little bit easier. Being just a bit informed about some of these basics will also help you think of questions you might have for web developers in the future.
