Anyone can own their own website these days. People, businesses, and clubs all have their own home online. Because of this website design has become a common way to make a decent living. It is even more attractive because you can train yourself so you don’t have to incur a large amount of student loan debt. Keep reading to learn how you can start your new career as a professional web designer.
One of the first things to do when launching a new site is to choose a domain name. This is what you type into the address bar when you want to go somewhere online. You need to get this registered so that no one else takes your domain name while you are in the process of launching your page. Good domain names are a premium commodity, so don’t be afraid to spend a little to get the one you want. Choose a name that relates to the topic of the site, and is easy to remember.
Make sure you have a list of possibilities in case your first choice is taken. It is not advisable to use anything other than a .com or .net address, even if it means you can get the domain you want. Using non-standard extensions will make your domain more difficult to remember and people will see the site as less trustworthy.
While many websites now start with templates, you need to make sure your have at least a basic knowledge of HTML. This is the language that makes up the basics of every site online. You will need to be able to maintain and edit your site’s template so it fits your client’s needs perfectly. You can gain these basics from either online tutorials or taking a class. Once you understand the basics, make sure to get some practice in so you know how to apply what you have learned. Once you understand these basics you can easily modify a template to work for any need.
Find a few great web design tools in order to create sites more efficiently. While they are not going to do all of your work for you, they will take care of many of the tedious tasks involved in coding a site. Look for tools that will provide the basic code for things like navigation bars, tables, images, and other basics. These tools will greatly increase the productivity of your business.
Make sure you have multiple browsers installed on your site-building machine so you can test them in the various environments. While there are some standards in place, many commands vary slightly from browser to browser. You need to compensate for this, and testing them yourself is an important step in ensuring your site will work properly in any browser.
The next language you should work on mastering is CSS. CSS is the part of the site that determines the styling for each page. By containing all of this information on a single page, it is easy to make updates to the style of the page as a whole. Because of the efficiency of this method it has become a standard in web design. While your client may not be able to tell if you have used this sheet when you first deliver your page, they will be very upset when they out they must change each page individually down the road. Save yourself from the bad reviews by implementing CSS pages on all your professional web pages.
While website design can take years to master, these are the basics you need to know to get started. One of the best aspects of web design is that you can learn as you go along. Try to learn a little from each site you build and you will be a master in no time.
