Web Design Choice Of Fixed Width Vs Liquid Layouts
If you have worked long enough for your web design company, or if you have tried designing a site on your own, you should already know by now that there are two kinds of web page layouts that you can choose from. Fixed width layouts are those wherein the width of the entire web page is set at a specific value, while liquid layouts are those wherein the width is flexible depending on how wide the online visitor's browser is. Choosing between these two layout methods can be a little difficult for a web designer, as each has its own benefits and deficiencies. Let us look through each and discover everything you need to know for you to make the right choice.
Fixed width layouts allow you to start with a specific size that you set. This allows you better and direct control so that you know how your page will look like, at least most of the time. They work best if you work with print backgrounds, as they allow for minute adjustments in the layout without inconsistencies across browsers and operating systems. On the other hand, with a liquid layout, you base the layout on a percentage of the browser's current window size. Liquid layouts allows for an efficient use of space given by any browser window or screen resolution. They are often used by web designers who want to get as much information across in a very limited space. Your web design company may ask you to choose one from the other depending on the needs of your client.
What is at stake for you and for your web design company when you choose between these two windows? Well, the method you choose has a large bearing not only on the final site design and aesthetics, but will also affect the ability of your online visitors to scan through the contents of your site. Furthermore, the layout can affect the ease, by which readers will find what they are looking for in the page, and can also reinforce or ruin your marketing efforts in the website. Thus, your web design company may stress the importance of choosing the right one depending on the message that the client wants to communicate across.
The Web Design Benefits and the Drawbacks
To help you and your web design company to decide on which to use, I will present the benefits and the drawbacks for each type of layout.
Fixed Width Layout
1. The web design Benefits
I. Allows you to come up with pages that look entirely identical no matter who is browsing and what type of browser is being used.
II. Elements such as images and graphics will not tend to overpower the text contents especially in smaller monitors.
III. No matter how wide the visitor’s browser is, the scan length will not be affected when there are large segments of text.
2. The web design Drawbacks
I. They will cause horizontal scrolling in small browser windows. Users generally dislike having to scroll horizontally.
II. Fixed width layouts usually result to large coverage of whitespace in large monitors such that there is a waste of unused space, and further vertical scrolling may be needed than necessary.
III. This layout can not deal with font size changes quite well. A small increase in the font may be tolerated, but larger increases can not be handled well that your overall layout may become compromised.
Liquid Width Layouts
1. The Web Design Benefits
I. This layout can contract and expand to fill in all available space on the page.
II. All available space is used up, thereby allowing you to display as much content as you need to in larger monitors, yet still remain viewable on smaller ones.
III. This layout can provide you consistency in relative widths, therefore allowing your page to respond dynamically to restrictions and specifications that may be imposed by your client, such as larger font sizes.
2. The Web Design Drawbacks
I Liquid layouts do not offer precise control over the page width and the elements on the page.
II. This layout may result to columns in the text which are either too wide for comfortable scanning, or too small for the text to show up very clearly.
III. Liquid layouts tend to have problems when dealing with elements in the page which has fixed width (i.e. image and graphics). If the column does not have enough space, some browsers may increase the column width, and all other elements in your page may not be in the proper order.
Many designers usually go for the mixed approach. You web design company may also suggest you to use both layouts depending on the page and the part of the site you are making. You can, for example, set your main columns to fixed width but make your side columns, headers and footers more flexible. With time and experience, you will eventually learn how to make the most out of the features of each layout type to come up with an optimized site.
Samantha Huggens distributed this articles and. she owns a site, turbulence training. Feel free to look at her vince delmonte website and 7 minute muscle website Thank you.
Web Design Extreme Makeover
The development of a web design must be intentional and with purpose. I know this runs counter to any idea of freeform and learning as you go, but there is a solid reason for making sure you know where you’re going before you try to get there.
Because Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies can take so long to have a pronounced effect on your website, and subsequently your traffic, it becomes important to make sure your website matches your objectives by at least 85% before you launch it.
If you need to take time to learn as you go then try doing so through an affiliate revenue program and a site designed for that purpose. Using web builder technology you can build a site at little expense while exploring the possibilities in design and function.
What you learn from this exercise can assist you in bridging the gap between experiment and experience. This will be important as you consider diving into ecommerce.
Some of the standard pitfalls for most web designs are that the pages have already been established and you know what you want to put into each page, but you don’t actually finish the content before you launch. What you end up with is an opening page that gives the consumer high expectations and subsequent pages that are either blank or have the dreaded words, “Coming Soon” or “Under Construction”.
This can be a death wish for your website. Complete it before you release it online. Call in help from freelancers if you need to, utilize free article directories when appropriate, ask advice from someone you trust who has been through web designs and make sure every page is functional and informative.
You wouldn’t start a brick and mortar business without the racks, merchandise and essential items to make your business wholly presentable to customers. Imagine, if you will, a business that placed two 55 gallon steel drums on the floor of their showroom and them placed a couple of 2x12 wooden planks on top to display their latest high dollar jewelry while a couple of mismatched chairs sit in the corner for customer convenience.
This would never instill trust in the product or the personality behind the business and the same is true of a half finished website designed for the consumer.
When you present a fully optimized website that is developed with both the consumer as well as the search engines in mind you stand a much better chance at reaching both of them successfully.
Unlike a brick and mortar store you do not have to live with the sign, “Pardon our mess”. You can develop a new website offline and upgrade the entire system when you need to.
This article is really for both existing businesses as well as businesses planning to launch. If you have an existing business online, but your website is not what it needs to be block out some time right now to begin web design on an entirely new site. You can redirect your domain when you’re ready, but web-building technology can help you achieve that next level in site design that will make the important marketing connections you need to really get noticed online.
Samantha Huggens distributed this articles and. she owns a site, turbulence training. Feel free to look at her vince delmonte website and 7 minute muscle website Thank you.
Web Design Simplicity And Focus
web design,site design,website development,web development,make a website,build website
Article Body:
Web design can be a bit like being handed a box of watch parts with the instruction manual that reads, “Put contents together completely.”
You turn the instructions over looking for more information, but come back to the singular line, “Put contents together completely.”
No matter how long you try to put the watch together you will find it virtually impossible without step-by-step instructions.
Unlike a manual for a watch, web design can be constructed in a variety of ways using the same components. For instance the layout can be constructed in a variety of ways, the color scheme can be original to your own personality and tastes and you determine how large or small the site needs to be.
Web Design is often pursued like a person seeking to build a home out of spare lumber. You keep hammering and patching using whatever you come across in the hopes the site is better for your diligence.
Web building software can allow you to experiment, but articles such as this one can help point you to better tools and quality construction products.
Knowledge-Rich Content
The use of value added content for your site is impressive to both consumer as well as search engines. The consumer values your interest in passing along information that may prove useful in understanding your products and services and how best to use what you offer. Search engines value the use of keyword specific content in determine the rankings of your site.
Ease of Navigation
Seek to make sure site visitors can get from one place on your website to another in the fewest clicks possible. Make clean avenues of navigation a high priority for web design.
Knowing When Not to Overdo it
Many websites attempt to develop their website into something bigger and better than anything you may have seen before. They may include flash and flash animation along with other extravagant design elements. In the end the site can seem to swirl with sights, sounds and colors that can leave some feeling a little green. Over development of a site is really not essential to the ultimate success of the site. Keeping things clean and attractive my do more good than developing a stage and insisting that 12 acts perform at the same time.
Decide What’s Important
In your web design you may want to place a variety of items that you find personally fulfilling, but it is important to determine if those items are a clean fit to the overall focus of the site. If they don’t fit you might be interested in developing a secondary personal site that can be linked from your primary site so visitors can get to know more about you and the things you value as personal interest dictates.
Get Out the Red Pen
Be willing to edit heavily. Strip your site of all the non-essentials. This could be content, photos, excessively long product descriptions or other content. Ask yourself if the site visitor can scan your content easily. Include headings, subheadings and bullet points when possible to assist them in this goal.
Find every reason possible to allow your customer to remain keyed in to your site. Web design begins and ends with an eye toward simplicity and focus.
Samantha Huggens distributed this articles and. she owns a site, turbulence training. Feel free to look at her vince delmonte website and 7 minute muscle website Thank you.
Web Design For The Do-it-yourselfer
Many potential online business owners want to develop a powerful website that is a blending of their own personality and a potent visual presentation that will be attractive to visitors.
Interestingly, these same business developers often have very little in the way of solid direction for their site. They know they want to sell products to customers, but may not be sure how to translate that desire into a web design. This is where a web designer can come into the picture to help identify what you may actually need in the form of a web development and design.
The biggest problem with hiring a web designer is you are likely to pay a significant outlay of capital to get the site up and running and the cost continues as you essentially pay a retainer fee each month to keep the designer on hand in case of any major changes. The straightforward answer to your dilemma is your lack of planning will ultimately cost you significantly in present and future web design application and redesigning.
Is there a way to make design and development easier?
Yes.
Think about a website in terms of a family tree. Instead of the patriarch of the family at the top of the tree, you have your homepage. Under that homepage you list primary pages (instead of children). These pages may consist of features such as “About Us”, “Contact Us”, “Shopping”, “FAQ”, etc. Then you should identify how many pages you will need under each of these pages. For instance in the shopping section you should determine how many pages you need to list individual products and descriptions.
If you can work to develop a site map (something like a family tree) for your web business then you can develop the website yourself at significant savings. What’s more you can also make any changes to your website on your own without needing to work through a web host or designer (who may or may not have time to help you once the original design is finished and they have found a new client to work with).
Template rich site builders can allow you to develop your own web design. The primary difference is you will need to take some time to plan the site and then work to implement the ideas on your own.
Most of us have some idea about how a family tree works. With that same principle a new website can take shape that conforms to your own personality and offers the opportunities to use the latest in web tools to help you make your site unique and distinguishable to site visitors.
Think about it another way. If you are looking to complete a home repair you might likely look at a website designed to provide details on managing a home repair project. This information can allow you to gain the satisfaction and pride that comes with saving money and gaining a new skill.
Online tutorials can help you learn what you need to learn about web building tools for a positive, self-directed web design.
Samantha Huggens distributed this articles and. she owns a site, turbulence training. Feel free to look at her vince delmonte website and 7 minute muscle website Thank you.
Web Design Tips
Web Design is an art, yet following basic steps can help lead even a non-artist to a good design. For the novice or the expert, there is always more to learn with these web design tips.
Web Design Tips
1. Graphic Design of the Site
There is a saying “First impression is the last impression.” The design of the site is one of the most important aspects to be considered while creating a web page. If the design is good and easy to understand then visitors are more likely to view many pages of the site. An ugly, unclear site is likely to result in pages being closed without looking at the content at all. The layout of the entire site should be consistent and each web page should look as a part of one web site. The same content presentation style and color scheme should be followed throughout the pages of the site. The content of the site should be divided into logical sections. For purely artistic sites, there are obviously exceptions to these rules. For sites aiming to make money these guidelines should almost always be followed.
2. Limit the Use of Plug-ins Required to View Your Site
Try to avoid the use of extra components which the user needs to download to view the web page. People tend to avoid downloading unnecessary plug-ins and they might close the web page without viewing it if they have to download and install a new plug-in. However, some external components have become very common. Components such as Java Applets, Shockwave and Flash components, and Active X components are becoming standards for web development.
3. Avoid Unwanted Tools and Effects
Don’t use every tool that is freely available on the market. Page statistics buttons are common, yet most decent web hosts provide the same service with no advertisements required. People also use effects like fade-ins and outs, which can slow down a user looking for information. This is a potential source of irritation.
4. Clear and Concise Content on Web Site
In most cases, the content of a site should be clear so that the visitor knows from the very first page what the site is intended for. To reach the most visitors, the information should be clearly conveyed without the use of jargon that an average person might not understand.
5. Update the Site Regularly
If you want people to revisit your website then make it a point to regularly update your site. If visitors always find new information on your site then they are likely to visit again. If the information is always stagnant then it is very difficult to keep a visitor's long-term attention.
6. Limit the Use of Graphics
Using many images can cause page downloads to be slow. Slow web sites are irritating to visitors on slow connections and fast connections alike. Further more, search engines do not index text in images.
7. HTML Coding Standards
Proper coding standards should be followed for cross browser compatibility. For example, many people omit the use of alt tag for images and people with slow internet connectivity might have problems viewing the images. If alt tag is present then at least the visitor will know what is missing. Proper height and width attributes ensure the page is viewed correctly as the page loads. http://www.w3.org/ provides a widely used standard.
Web design tips can help you over a hump with a site. Use them to get the most bang for your buck.
Samantha Huggens distributed this articles and. she owns a site, turbulence training. Feel free to look at her vince delmonte website and 7 minute muscle website Thank you.
