After the ‘dotcom’ wave swept the world in the late nineties, the number of websites on the Internet have only grown in number. The demand for skilled professionals designing websites also grew thereafter. Today, web designing is a serious and lucrative career option. So, let’s try to understand more about web designing.
Web Page
Any text file with the extension ‘.html’ is termed as a web page. It may contain information in the form of text and/or graphics. A web page may contain hyperlinks, commonly known as ‘links’. When a user first enters the website, he is directed to the home page. Clicking on links, takes him to other pages of the site. Links are in the form of both text and graphics.
Basic Steps
The first step in learning to design a web page is to know the basics of HTML. HTML is the abbreviated form of ‘HyperText Markup Language’. It is quite a simple language to learn and once you get used to formatting in HTML, designing a web page becomes child’s play. It is possible to insert text as well as graphics into a web page with the help of HTML. The ‘notepad’ available on your personal computer comes in handy for learning HTML. After you finish designing a web page, it can be viewed with the help of a software known as the web browser. Along with HTML, newer tools like the Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), are used to add value to the content presented on the web page. The layout of the web page is designed by using CSS. Making use of appropriate colors enhances the overall look of the web page. The HTML color codes can also be used in designing. Creating focal points on web pages is a nice way to draw the user’s attention towards important information. Focal points are often graphics used to convey some important information.
Domain Name Registration
Registering the domain name gives a singular identity to the website. Many companies provide website owners with a registration facility; after which a unique domain name is given to the website.
Hosting the Website
After creating a web page with the help of HTML, you need to upload it on the world wide web (WWW). Web hosting services provide space on the world wide web for organizations and individuals to host their websites. Some hosting services charge the owners of the websites, while others provide space for free. The free services often display pop-up advertisements on web pages in return for the hosting space. Before approaching a hosting service, the following points should be considered.
- It is necessary to keep an eye on the time the servers of the hosting service expend in uploading your web pages.
- Ensure that the hosting service has backup servers.
- The hosting facility provided to websites is time bound. Acquiring information about different types of contracts offered is necessary. It is advisable to go in for a long term contract, in order to make it economical.
Web Design Tips for Dummies
Here are some important tips to be kept in mind while designing a web page.
- Navigating through your web page should be easy for users. The links present on the page should point to relevant information. If the process of navigation becomes cumbersome for the user, he may soon lose interest in the site.
- A website should provide a clean interface for the user. Web pages that have graphics and multimedia applications, take longer to load than those containing text.
The phrase, web designing, conveys the importance of artistic skill in creating web pages. Learning the technical aspects of web designing is important till a stage but after that creativity holds the key to better web designing. With the perpetual improvement in web designing tools, the web pages will increasingly become sophisticated day-by-day. However, one thing is for sure, that web designing is here to stay.