How To Choose The Right Web Site Builder For Your Web Design Needs

Web site builders are a relatively new addition to the web hosting company's mix of products and services. Website builders have been introduced mainly to service the majority who don't know how to program in HTML or any other programming knowledge but still want to control and flexibility that comes from creating and maintain your own website. Using a good web site builder can make your life much easier.

How can you find a web site builder that meets your needs? First, you have to know what you really need. What are you planning to do with your website? If it is just simple stuff like putting up a personal website and throwing a few pictures up for friends and family to see, you won't need too much. It is a safe bet that pretty much any web site builder will work for you. If on the other hand, you plan on making sales from your website and doing some serious business and traffic from it, you'll want to be sure that the site builder you choose will be up to the challenge.

Look for a free trial or a free demo you can use to test out the functionality of the site builder. Most companies will let you take their website builder for a spin before you buy. Having the chance to work with the web site builder before you commit to it can make a big difference as to your comfort level before you buy. You'll get a chance to put the site builder through its paces and decide whether it meets your needs.

Are you locked in to their templates or can you build your own from scratch? Many web site builders out there will force you to use their templates and not allow you to make any significant changes to the template. If you can't find a template from their selection that you like, you'll simply have to deal with it. Know though, that there are some site builders out there that will allow you to strip the template right down to bare bones and build your own custom graphics, headers and footers to create almost any kind of look you want while retaining the easy to use aspect of the site builder.

What else do you get with the web site builder besides a template and some easy to edit text? Do they offer a free domain name? Do they give you enough disk space to host lots of images and pages? How many pages do they let you create? How many sites can you create with their web site builder? If there is a limit, what does it cost to raise the limit on any of these options? Knowing the answers to these and other important questions will allow you to compare apples with apples and oranges with oranges. Two companies may seem to offer the same price point and the same features but you will often find major differences in pricing between the two of them to accomplish what you need.

Do your research and you will be well on your way to a web site builder that meets your needs and gives you quality, professional results at a reasonable price.

Web Design: Is your Website User Friendly?

It is important to pay attention to little details that make the site easier to use by visitors. Sometimes small details make the difference, and the user likes our site better than other sites, just because he feels comfortable navigating it, and finds what he wants easily. Of course, it depends on the audience you expect for your website. For instance, if you have a website for professional designers, then you do not need to keep it that simple. Users will find their way and probably enjoy that sophisticated and strange menu system that is a piece of art. But if you expect a general audience, it is better to keep things nice and simple. The site usage should be intuitive. This is a list of several aspects you should consider:

· Let the user adjust the font size, avoid using fixed font sizes in your stylesheet. If you use fixed fonts, at least make them big enough so they can be read by people with sight problems.

· Make the forms clear and avoid crowded pages. Insert text hints when necessary so users always know what they have to input in each field. You may also use a small help icon next to the form field that users can press to get a pop-up with more information about the field usage.

· If you use menus, make sure they are easy to use. It is better if they are not too sophisticated if the site is for a general audience.

· Use the ALT and TITLE attributes in images. This will also help you with positioning your site in search engines.

· Make sure the site content is easy to access. This means that you placed the pages in the logical menus or submenus. Try to think as the user would think. You may ask someone else to use the site and give you feedback, since it is hard to realize if content is easy to access for others.

· Minimize the number of clicks to get to destination pages. Try not to nest pages inside menus, then submenu, then submenu… .Two or three levels should be enough for most cases.