There are many different types of web design, from those built using web themes and 'build your own' site building applications to complex content managed and e-commerce web designs such as those searched by big brand names like Amazon, ebay and Tesco. Some companies, even some big name companies, have unprofessional looking and badly designed websites. Some have amazing looking websites but because of their high graphic content and minimal text content can take an age to load, are not easy to , nor provide what the customer wants.

Good Web page design

Though many issues with web page design change from site to site, many things remain the same throughout the majority of websites on the internet. Such as is the navigation or menu. The way a site's menu works and looks is critical, as ultimately, visitors to a website are looking for certain criteria that will make them either stay and interact or leave. This ability for a website to keep visitors interested is sometimes referred to as stickiness. Visitors want an attractive visually exciting experience, but perhaps more importantly, they want 'ease of use'. Website usability is a key factor for websites looking their visitors to stay, make an enquiry and ultimately complete a transaction and order a services or products.

Easy to use Web design

Online searchers tend to prefer easy to use websites, because they just don't want to have to learn how to use a website every time they find a new one. They should be able to use a website after only a few seconds of looking around a homepage, any more and they will leave and browse elsewhere. The importance for fast user interaction is significant and therefore having a fast reloading website is also important for a website to succeed. Even with faster internet connections such as broadband, online searchers don't want to wait around.

Just think about, if you go to a shop on the high street and are totally ignored by shop assistants at the counter for 5 minutes, even after you have made it clear you want help. There is a correlation here to how an internet user may feel, when they arrive at a website that has been improperly designed, is difficult to use, relentless and slow to load website designer Newcastle. Making sure that a website has been well thought out and pre-loaded with the user in mind, displays a company's unique selling points within easily well-known eye catching calls for action and has a clear, easy to use menu is key to its success.

Flash Web design

With recent web design advancements, such as the introduction of Flash animation and high definition video content, impressive websites have been produced to take advantage of much higher numbers of visual effects and interaction. However with this 'high end' web design, comes an amount, more often than not, web designs which rely heavily upon Flash content are often incredibly slow to load. They will have a progress bar, which slowly goes across the web browser to signify when the website will finish reloading.

This is much like the progress bars that you can be familiar with if you use video editing or 3d manifestation software, or if you use video game consoles where they are displayed whilst you wait for games to load. Online searchers on the whole do not want to wait 3 - 5 minutes for a web page to load even if it does feature hd images, animation or video. They want fast informative content rich websites. If they wanted to watch an animation or video they would watch TV.

Good Flash Web design

This is not to say that Flash animation is all bad news and mustn't be used in web design. If used subtly and in small amounts it can make a website more visually appealing without going slower the strain time down too much. Suitable uses for Flash animation in web design are things such as; Flash banner advertisements, Flash video and interactive Flash forms for online questionnaires or business presentations.

Using Flash for a whole web page design however, is not such a good idea. It slows the customer's experience down because they have to wait for aspects it to load. Also, sites totally developed in Flash tend to use unfamiliar menu structures and features. This can confuse visitors who just want to quickly interact with the website and not be amazed by the way the menu animates. Even though you can do these things in Flash, it doesn't mean they have any real working value in the real world. They may look pretty, but if they are not functional and only upset the customer they likely have no real value.