Most prospective website clients find it hard to understand how designing websites can be so difficult, just stick a few pages up 'there' and the job is done... right!
Sadly Wrong.
As web designers, we constantly battle with the issues associated with creating a page that looks good to the largest audience possible. Statistics published by www.w3schools.com for July 2012 showed that there are currently 5 desktop web browsers that represent 98.7% of the web user base, amazingly Internet Explorer has dropped to just 16.7% of all web users.
Based on 5 desktop web browsers (which may not even be the most up to date versions), mobile phone browsers, tablet browsers, iPhones and iPads the complexity of building a simple web page becomes a little more apparent.
So how do we build beautiful web pages with so many different target devices?
Technically the answer is using media queries, by using media queries we can define the styling based on the target device (detected by the browser as the user views the page). This gives us as web designers the flexibility to create desktop designs that use the full benefits of a desktop screen, but still, make a design viewable on a tiny mobile phone screen or tablet interface.
The real world answer is that you the client needs to change design focus. Allow flexibility when it comes to page design, allow a page to breathe, use media that is viewable on all devices such as photographs, video files optimised for the web and simple navigation bars. Opt for a cleaner simpler layout that will work just as well on large or small screens, remember that the design should represent your brand and image but not be so rigid as to alienate a large percentage of your potential customers.
So the next time you think about updating your website design or creating your new companies home on the web, spend some time thinking about the most important part of every webpage... its content. Design your page to present and explain your content, make the design helpful to users when searching or looking for related information.
If your fantastic new design isn't flexible enough to adapt to the many display devices used to browse the modern web today then maybe that design isn't as fantastic as you thought.
All websites created by Two Plus Two Marketing use the latest web standards to optimise pages for desktop, mobile and tablet devices. We can guide you through the design process allowing your new site design to be as modern and flexible as possible without any need for technical knowledge.
If you would like to visit our Beaconsfield offices for a free 1-hour website consultation please contact us today.
