Web design being the influential sector it is today is made up of several elements. It has evolved over time to get to the now popularly known shift called Web 2.0. Web 2.0 definitely has some features that were not seen in the previous web design ages. There are several tools that have defined the Web 2.0 era for example the Adobe Photoshop and the Illustrator. Even though the very first windows version of Adobe Photoshop was released in 1992, it was not utilized fully in web design until the recently where version 5.5 started being used. This article outlines some of the elements of a good website.

The first element of a website is standard. A designer knows only too well the importance of adhering to W3 Consortium standards in web designing in order for their site to be concurrent with those of other designers. Your HTML, CSS and XHTML codes need to validate in order to curb the increasing use of pirated web design software. The second element of web design would have to be cross browser compatibility. Nowadays, traffic is every webmaster’s dream and the ‘best viewed on’ recommendations on websites are being phased out. Today’s designer is required to optimize their site for search engine compatibility. Instead of doing the best viewed lines, you can offer the option of downloading another browser.

Since the birth of Google in 1998, the web design world has been under great pressure to design their sites for search engines. Today’s webmasters know how important it is to create light and search engine friendly pages in order to start getting the traffic you desire. This has become more important with the increasing number of webmasters and also the increasing stakes in search engine optimization.

A good website should also have a clean markup. When it comes to design it should not just be about what is seen on surface but also the content. Put time and effort to every aspect of your website design for those who may care to look at them. Also, make sure that your site creates a good first impression by providing all the information needed by your visitor at first glance and also using the right visual effects.

Accessibility is important for your web design. Try to ensure that your site can be accessed by not only the privileged people but also people who may have challenges such as slower internet. Keep your site simple and straight to the point. Internet users do not like to be kept guessing and everything should be laid out in black and white for them. The links and contact information should be easily noticed and you should not use unlikely symbols to indicate any links.

Make use of intuitive user interfaces that spell out everything for your visitors making it easy for them to navigate through your site. Sense and sensibility are also a vital component of web design and they ensure the information is laid well enough to captivate the prospects. Lastly, use of gradients, rounded corners, beta tags and reflections is also becoming popular and it serves to make the site visually appealing.