How to design a web page

One: Determine the theme of the website

To be a website, the first thing to be solved is the content of the website, that is, to determine the theme of the website. American PC magazine rated 100, the top famous websites in the United States in 1999, as the top ten themes: category 1: online job hunting; The second category: online chat/instant messaging/ICQ; The third category: online community/discussion/mailing list; The fourth category: computer technology; Category 5: Web page/website development; The sixth category: entertainment websites; The seventh category: tourism; Category 8: reference/information; Category 9: family/education; Category 10: Life/Fashion. You can refer to the above classification and continue to subdivide. If you are interested in some aspects or have a lot of information, you can also do something that interests you. On the one hand, you can have your own opinions and make your own characteristics. Neither of them will feel bored or overwhelmed when making websites. Interest is the motivation to make a website. Without creative enthusiasm, it is difficult to design excellent works.

For the choice of content theme, it should be small and precise, and the theme positioning should be small and precise. Don't try to make an all-encompassing website, which will often lose the characteristics of the website, bring high-intensity labor and make it difficult to update the website in time. Remember: there is only the first online, not the second!

Point 2: Choose a good domain name.

A domain name is the name of a website on the Internet. A pure information service website without product promotion, all the value of its construction is condensed in its website domain name. Without this domain name, all previous work will be lost.

Nowadays, many personal websites rely on free personal space, and their domain names also depend on free domain names, such as Netease's virtual domain name service. In fact, this is very unfavorable for the promotion and development of personal websites, not only because the window it opens "in time" hinders the viewer's line of sight and goodwill, but also makes people know that it is a personal website at a glance, which also hinders the transmission speed of web pages. So, from my personal point of view, first of all, spend some money to register a domain name. Independent domain name is the first wealth of personal website. Make the domain name vivid, simple and easy to remember.

Essentials 3: Master networking tools.

The development of network technology has driven the development of software industry, so the tools and software used to make web pages are becoming more and more abundant. From the most basic HTML editor to the very popular Flash interactive web page making tools and various web page making tools, the following are several representative web page making tools:

(1)HTML editor. Although the HTML code is very complex, and it takes a lot of time to edit and debug, it is still favored by senior web page producers because of its stability, extensive support and the ability to create complex page effects. There are many editors to choose from at present. These editors widely support complex page creation and advanced HTML specifications, and professional HTML editors such as Hotdog are widely used.

(2) What you see is what you get, fckeditor. Microsoft Frontpage, as a representative, has the same operation interface as Word. Operators who are familiar with Word functions can easily compile web pages with a little training. Moreover, Frontpage can also parse the HTML source code of web pages and provide preview support. However, some special display functions of Frontpage cannot be realized in other non-IE browsers. Therefore, Frontpage is a tool software that is very suitable for beginners and intermediate web page makers.

Flash interactive web page making tools produced by Macromedia are very popular now. This is a very powerful interactive vector multimedia web page making tool. Can easily output all kinds of animated web pages, it does not require particularly complicated operations, but also smaller than JAVA! But its animation effect, interactive effect and multimedia effect are excellent. You can also pack Mp3 music, fill in forms and so on. In Flash animation. Moreover, because the webpage file compiled by Flash is much smaller than the ordinary webpage file, the browsing speed is greatly accelerated. This is a very suitable tool for making dynamic web pages.

In addition, personal website producers need to know the HTML4.0 specification of W3C, the basic knowledge of CSS cascading style sheets, javascript and VBScript. You should also have a proper understanding of some commonly used scripting programs such as ASP, CGI and PHP. You should also be proficient in using graphics processing tools, animation tools and vector drawing tools, and partially understand the basic usage of various graphics and image animation tools. You also need to be proficient in using FTP tools and have corresponding software, hardware and network knowledge.

Of course, the Internet is still a free database. Making a web page requires all kinds of buttons, backgrounds, graphics and pictures. If you want to do all this by yourself, it will be a waste of time and money, and you also need powerful graphics and picture making techniques. Therefore, in order to save these troubles, website producers can download all kinds of beautiful and practical pictures, buttons, backgrounds and other web materials from the Internet.

The fourth point: determine the website interface.

Interface is the first impression a website gives visitors, which often determines the popularity of the website. When determining the interface of the website, we should pay attention to the following three points:

(1) arrangement of columns and plates

Building a website is like writing a paper. First of all, you must list the topics so that the theme can be clear and the level can be clear. The most common mistake that novices make in website construction is: start making immediately after determining the theme, without reasonable planning. As a result, the website structure is unclear, the directory is complex and chaotic, and the layout of the plate is chaotic. Therefore, not only visitors are confused, but also producers themselves find it difficult to expand and maintain the website. Therefore, we must consider the arrangement of columns and plates before making web pages.

After the theme of the website is determined, it is necessary to sort out the collected information reasonably. For example, put some of the most attractive content in the most conspicuous position or dominate the layout. The essence of a column is the outline index of a website, and the index should clearly show the main body of the website. When you do a column, you should think carefully and arrange it reasonably. In the column layout, it should be noted that:

● Delete columns irrelevant to the theme as much as possible;

● List the most valuable content in the website on the column as much as possible;

● Arrange columns from the perspective of visitors as much as possible to facilitate visitors' browsing and inquiry; Auxiliary content, such as site introduction, copyright information, personal information, etc. , don't put it in the main column, so as not to dilute the theme.

In addition, the layout of the plate should also be arranged and divided reasonably. The concept of plates is bigger than columns, and each plate has its own columns. For example, the website of www.enet.com.cn ENET Silicon Valley Power is divided into news, products, games, colleges and other sections, and each section has its own main column. Generally speaking, the content of personal site is less, as long as it is divided into two columns, and there is no need to set up a section. If it is necessary to set up a board, you should pay attention to:

● Each plate should be relatively independent;

● Each plate should be interrelated;

● The content of each section should focus on the theme of the website;

② Directory structure and link structure

The directory of the website refers to the directory created when the website is established. For example, when building a website using Frontpage, the root directory and the Images subdirectory are created by default. The structure of the directory is an easily overlooked problem. Most webmasters create subdirectories at will, without planning. The quality of the directory structure does not have much feeling for visitors, but it has an important influence on the maintenance of the website itself and the expansion and transplantation of the content in the future. Therefore, when establishing the directory structure, we should also make careful arrangements, such as:

● Don't store all files in the root directory. Some website makers put all the files in the root directory for convenience. This will easily lead to: file management confusion, which files need to be edited and updated, which useless files can be deleted and which are related files, which will affect work efficiency; When the upload speed is slow, the server will generally establish a file index for the root directory. If all files are placed in the root directory, even if only one file is uploaded and updated, the server needs to search all files again and establish a new index file. Obviously, the larger the number of files, the longer the waiting time.

● Establish subdirectories according to column contents. The establishment of subdirectories, first according to the main column. There are many friendly links, and you can set up independent subdirectories if you need to update them frequently. And some highly relevant columns that do not need to be updated frequently, such as website introduction and webmaster information, can be merged into a unified directory. All programs are generally stored in a specific directory, such as CGI programs in cgi-bin directory. It is best to put all downloaded contents in one directory for easy maintenance and management.

● Establish an independent image directory under each main directory. Generally speaking, there is a default picture directory under the root directory of a site. It is not convenient to store all the pictures in this directory, for example, when deleting columns, the management of pictures is quite troublesome. Therefore, it is very convenient to establish an independent image directory for each main column. The reason is simple, that is, convenient maintenance and management.

Other things to note are: the level of the directory should not be too deep, and should not exceed level 3; Don't use Chinese directories, which may make it difficult to display the website correctly; Don't use a directory that is too long, because a directory name that is too long is not easy to remember. Try to use meaningful directories for easy memory and management.

The link structure of a website refers to the topological structure of links between pages. It is based on directory structure, but it can cross directories. Figuratively speaking, each page is a fixed point, and a link is a connection between two fixed points. A point can be connected with one point or with multiple points. More importantly, these points are not distributed on a plane, but exist in a three-dimensional space. Generally speaking, there are two basic ways to establish the link structure of a website:

● Tree link structure (one-to-one), similar to the directory structure of DOS. The home page link points to the main page, and the main page link points to the secondary page. When browsing this link structure, it is clear at a glance that one level enters and one level exits. Visitors clearly know where they are, and they won't "don't know where they are", but browsing efficiency is low. Subpages under a column must return to the home page.

● Star link structure (one-to-many), similar to the link of network server, with links between each page. Browsing is more convenient and you can reach your favorite page at any time. However, because there are too many links, it is easy for visitors to get lost and don't know where they are and how much they have read.

Therefore, in the actual website design, these two structures are always mixed. The website hopes that visitors can not only reach the page they need conveniently and quickly, but also know their position clearly. Therefore, the best way is to use a star link structure between the home page and the first-level page, and a tree link structure between the first-level and second-level pages. The design of link structure is a very important part in the actual web page production, and what kind of link structure is adopted directly affects the layout of the page.

③ Conduct image design.

The design of the website can start with the following points:

● Design the website LOGO. LOGO refers to the logo of the website, which can be Chinese and English letters, symbols, patterns and so on. Logo design creativity should come from the name and content of the website. For example, the representative figures, animals and plants in the website can be used as blueprints for design, which can be cartoonized or artistic; Professional websites can be marked with representative projects of this major. The most common and simplest way is to use the English name of your website as the logo. By using different fonts, letter variants and letter combinations, you can easily make your own logo.

● Design website colors. The first impression of the website comes from visual impact. Different TINT has different effects, which may affect the mood of tourists. "Standard color" refers to the color that can reflect the image and extended connotation of the website, and should be used in the logo, title, main menu and main color block of the website. Give people a sense of unity as a whole. As for other colors, they can also be used, but they can only be used as embellishment and foil, and they must never usurp the role of the master. Generally speaking, there are no more than three standard colors for a website, and too many will be dazzling. Colors suitable for standard colors of web pages are: blue, yellow/orange, black/gray/white.

● Design website fonts. Like standard colors, standard fonts refer to unique fonts used for logos, titles and main menus. The default font of general web pages is Song Ti. In order to reflect the uniqueness and unique style of the website, you can choose some special fonts according to your needs. Producers can choose more suitable fonts according to the connotation expressed in their websites. It should be noted that the use of non-default fonts can only be in the form of pictures, because it is very likely that there is no special font installed in the browser computer, so the hard design and production may be in vain.

● Design website slogans. It can also be said that it is the spirit, theme and center of the website, or the goal of the website, which can be highly summarized in one sentence or one sentence. Using powerful words and expressions to summarize the website and publicize it can get better results.

Fifth, determine the style of the website.

"Style" is abstract, which refers to the comprehensive feeling that the overall image of the website gives visitors. This "overall image" includes CI (logo, color, font, slogan), layout, browsing mode, interactivity, words, tone, content value and many other factors. The website can be approachable, lively and professional. Whether it is color, technology, text, layout, or interactive mode, as long as you can let visitors clearly distinguish that this is unique to your website, this forms the "style" of the website.

Style is human, and the personality of a website can be summarized by the color, technology, text, layout and interaction of the website: whether it is rough and unrestrained or fresh and beautiful; Is it gentle and elegant, or persistent enthusiasm; Is it lively and changeable, or is it a rut?

In short, the difference between a website with style and an ordinary website is that what you see on an ordinary website is only information piled up together, and you can only describe it with rational feelings, such as the amount of information and browsing speed. On a website with style, you can get more perceptual knowledge besides the content, such as the taste of the website and the attitude towards visitors.

After making clear what kind of impression you want to give people, you should find out the most distinctive things in the website, that is, the things that can best reflect the style of the website. And take it as the characteristics of the website to focus on strengthening and promoting. In short, the formation of style is not a fixed position, you can constantly strengthen, adjust and improve it in practice.

Point 6: Selection of creative content

Good content selection needs good creativity. As a web designer, the most distressing thing is that there is no good content creativity. The most creative ideas on the Internet all come from the combination of virtual and reality. The purpose of creativity is to better promote the website. If the idea is good and meaningless to the development of the website, then the website designer should also give up this idea. In addition, the content of the home page is the root of the website. If the content is empty, no matter how beautiful the page is, there will not be many users. Fundamentally speaking, website content still affects website traffic, and content is still the key to the success of personal websites.

Seventh: promote your own website.

The marketing promotion of websites also plays an important role in the operation of personal websites. Before personal website promotion, please ensure that the following contents have been completed: the website information is rich, accurate and timely; Website technology has a certain professional level, and website interaction has performed well. Generally speaking, there are several ways to promote websites:

(1) Search Engine Registration and Search Directory Login Skills

Registering a famous search engine website is the first step to promote the website technically. There are some techniques for registering search engines, such as AltaVista and searchers, to automatically include submitted websites. In addition, pay attention to the use of Meta, and don't submit column frame pages. Most search engines don't recognize frames, so you must submit a home page with content.

However, Yahoo, Sohu and other search directory websites collect URLs manually to ensure the quality of the included websites, and the information obtained by classified query is more relevant than that obtained by search engine websites (spider automatic search). Because there are relatively many human factors in searching directory websites, you should pay attention to following the rules when submitting websites. For example, Yahoo requires that the description of registered websites should not exceed 25 words. Attention should be paid here: submit the website to the most suitable directory, introduce the website carefully and in detail, and never have false or exaggerated elements.

(2) Advertising communication skills

Many personal websites put forward several conditions when exchanging advertisements with each other: first, the number of visits is equivalent; Second, home page exchange. Obviously, this practice is to make full use of advertising exchange. According to the experience of many personal websites, when visiting a personal website in link exchange, the other party puts the logo of the website on the friendship page instead of the home page, and few visitors come from there. Usually on the home page, advertising exchange will have a good effect.

(3) Target e-mail promotion

When using e-mail to promote websites, there are mainly the following skills: You can use free mailing lists. As long as you apply for the free mailing list service, you can use the mailing list to promote your website; You can send information to a specific network group through the collected specific email address to promote your website in a specific network group; Sending mail in HTML format, even if its content has little to do with the recipient, will not be deleted as spam immediately, and people will at least pay attention to the sender's address. However, we should pay attention to network ethics when promoting e-mail.

Eighth: support the daily operation of the website.

When a personal website reaches a certain level, it is necessary to put money on the agenda. Generally speaking, there are usually two channels for personal websites to obtain funds:

(1) Sales website advertising space

Generally speaking, websites with daily traffic below 10000 people will not attract advertisers at present. The professionalism and commercialization of the website, previous advertising experience, technology and design requirements will also affect the sales of advertisements.

Generally speaking, there are three ways to charge for online advertising:

①CPM (cost per million/thousand)

Put an advertisement and charge per 1 0,000 visits to the site. This method is most suitable for website operators. As long as someone browses the web, they can get money, regardless of how visitors react to advertisements-whether they will see or click on advertisements.

2 point in.

You click on the advertiser's website through the banner advertisement. Advertisers like this. He only "collects money" for those who are interested in his advertisement. The website operation is not suitable. According to survey data, only 3% visitors will "click" on advertisements.

(3) Commission

According to the sales revenue brought by visitors clicking on advertisements located on your website, it is more risky for website operators than the above two methods.

Usually, the advertising charging method of personal websites is often a combination of the first and second methods, so that both websites and advertisers can bear less risks.

(2) Cooperation with large websites

In addition, by cooperating with large websites and obtaining funds, the daily operation of personal websites can also be maintained. However, personal websites can easily become accessories of commercial websites.

With time and abundant physical strength, coupled with the study and application of new technologies and skills, you can build a home for yourself online.