This article has been designed to help you understand how subtle factors of web design can have a massive effect on you design as a whole. The article looks at the use of colour and different colour combinations as well as the implementation of sound, background images and text effects.

When you visit a website, the way the layout has been designed can often have more of an impact on the way you perceive their site than you realise. Typically, when a surfer visits a site, their decision to continue with the desired action can all happen in the first 7 seconds. So it’s important to get your information across fast.

It is possible to create an appealing website and still capture the attention of all your visitors. You just need to follow a few simple rules:

•Ensure you contain a summary of what the purpose of the site is. By including a concise description of your company near the opening of your page, this will give your readers the information they need to continue reading and feel reassured in your product. •Keep products and services displayed prominently on the page as this allows new and returning customers to visualise what they will be getting. •To balance the appeal of your page for new and returning customers, include a sentence or two on the product with clearly defined links to other pages with more information on. For example ‘About you’ and ‘Company Information’. •Include news, press releases and event announcements. This will give your company credibility, and allow your visitors to research further into your company.

Your graphic designs and web imagery should get your readers in the right mood for your page. In the web design world there are certain taboos you should steer clear of when constructing a webpage.

1. Black background with light, white or pale text: using this style can make your website look pretentious and is very difficult to do well even by the most talented designers. Another problem created by this design is that some browsers like to try and print this background, wasting ink. 2.Black with dark text: readers will not be able to read the text unless they highlight it 3.Tiled background images that are too busy: these types of web designs are currently very popular with new web designers, but these images will add to the download time of your site and add no real value to the customer’s perspective. The one exception to this rule is wide tiles that are larger than your screen as they can create a left side gutter on the screen. 4.Everything centred: this can make the page really hard to read and can often be perceived as very boring to look at 5.Too many headlines, over emphasis on themes and bold/italics words: every line should not look like a headline as this will confuse your readers on what to read first. 6.Blinking text: was originally the perfect way to say all you needed to say to your customer. Through over use on many new sites, this design has lost its appeal to surfers and is nearly always impossible to read. 7.List of links: this only becomes a problem when every line is a link. If you do want to list URL links, add a paragraph to each to explain why they are worth viewing. 8.Too many images: this relates to the overuse of icons at the bottom of your webpage. If you have more than 2 icons, there are too many on your site 9.Sound: everyone has different music tastes, so if a reader hears a song that annoys them, they may leave especially if your website does not have the resources to let them switch it off.

By following these simple rules, you can achieve your ultimate goal of winning the attention of your customer. The right use of graphic design, imagery and layout, can make a real difference to the success of your site, simply by tying in all your themes into a coherent structure.

The web design of your web site may seem unimportant compared to functionality or marketing, but the web design of your web site is debatable the most important part of your online business. The web design you choose to use, will not only attract a certain type of people, but also repel another. When making your web design there are three main things to keep in mind, the navigability of your web design, the look of your web design, and the overall cleanliness of your web design.

The navigability of your web design is a very important factor as to weather your web design will turn your potential customer into a customer, or a potential customer into somebody else’s customer. If your web design is confusing and your navigation links are hard to find, or misplaced, your web design will leave your viewers frustrated and lost. The most basic structure for web design layouts is using one column usually on the left hand side of the web design, with a main section to the right and a header navigation at the top. The side column of your web design should have the links to your main page usually with the links to the most important pages of your web design at the top. The header navigation of your web design should contain your main logo followed underneath by the main links of your web design underneath; links should be sorted of importance, from left to right. Then the main section of your web design can contain all of the content for your web site.

The look of your web design is very important to your customers as ugly or unprofessional colors can make people think your company is amateurish, as your web design look is seen as a direct reflection of your company. Using using bright friendly soft colors in your web design among other things your potential customers will see your company as professional and friendly. The same goes for the overall cleanliness of your web design. When your web design is cluttered and messy your potential customers will feel confused and leave.