Mobile broadband devices are simply everywhere today. Get on a train and there’s someone emailing away on their iPad, walk down through a shopping mall and you’ll see dozens of commuters multitasking as they update their Facebook and Twitter statuses. With the popularity of Apple’s iPad and iPhone, and now Google’s Android, it’s impossible not to imagine that mobile broadband devices will change the future of web design enormously. In fact, they already have.

In 2011, web design trends have displayed a huge amount of attention in ensuring compatibility across the full range of mobile broadband devices. Take a look across any recently designed website and you will be able to clearly observe the ways in which it has been modified to fit mobile devices.

For example, many recent websites favour an incredibly simplistic design with plainly coloured backgrounds, brief text and clear fonts that are easy on the eye on smaller screened devices. Web design has also become more focused on compatibility with multiple view ports which has resulted in an increase in single page website layouts. Single page websites feature a web design that is cut back to the basics, providing visitors with only the information that is absolutely necessary, which significantly reduces page load times (a factor of concern with mobile viewing devices).

Another recent trend in web design that is no doubt due to the incredible popularity of mobile broadband devices is the common decision to prepare two versions of a website – an original version and a mobile site which displays a linked option to visit the original web version of the site. As mobile devices come to be used in a more widespread way, the need for preparing various alternative versions of a web design is likely to increase – especially with the news that smart phones are predicted to outsell computers in 2011. Any web design that is not optimised for mobile devices will be invisible to a large percentage of the tech savvy population.

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A further way in which mobile devices have already affected web design is due to their tendency to be touch screen devices. Because smart phones and tablet computers operate only with touch screen navigational systems, web designers have had to adapt to become far more fingertip friendly.

Will mobile devices change the future of web design even further? Without doubt – but as far as what exactly might change in the future, well, things are changing so quickly right now in terms of devices and their internet functionality that it’s difficult to predict. In 2011, the tendency seems to be toward the development of increasingly smaller, lighter, and faster mobile broadband devices. If device design trends keep progressing in this direction, website designers will need to adapt the tried and true principles of web design in order to keep up.

Another thing’s for certain – cross-browser testing will continue to become more important than ever, especially in the future where web designers may be challenged with the task of preparing a website that displays equally as well on a standard computer screen as on a screen the size of a wristwatch.

Luckily, web developers are also working overtime to produce applications that will make the process of producing mobile websites a little easier,  so the process of ensuring your website design is compatible with all the popular mobile devices should soon be simplified. However, at the rate that mobile broadband devices are changing and developing, this is a constant challenge for IT professionals, and it is certain mobile devices will continue to defy and define the limits of website design.

Author Bio

John has been working as a freelance writer for a Melbourne web design company popularly known as Infinite IT Solutions that has been providing web designing, development, online marketing, graphic designing and seo services to their clients in Melbourne and Sydney.

First, let’s be clear about what is meant by an operating system. In simple terms, an operating system is the first piece of software opened when a computer is turned on. It is the software that manages all of the functions available on the computer and shares these functions with whichever other applications, such as those used for web design, the user wishes to install and operate on the computer.

Now, let’s take a look at some of the reasons why Windows is a more suitable operating system for web design than Linux:

Linux has a limited following: Like any operating system Linux enables computer users to operate and access all of the devices and applications on the computer to achieve the desired results in any computer-based activity, from word processing to web design. However, although Linux is similar in most ways to the other operating systems, it has only developed a dedicated following among select groups of people, such as those who are willing to experiment with the generally accepted rules of operating systems, and those who do not wish to support Microsoft.

Windows is a standard OS worldwide: In general, Linux is considered more difficult to manage than windows, but offers a greater number of configuration options and more flexibility which has some advantages in web design. However, Windows operating systems are still a far better choice for ensuring compatibility in web design because Windows is used and understood much more widely. Like Linux, Windows is a computer operating system, but one operated by Microsoft, which has unofficially been accepted as the standard operating system for individuals and businesses all over the world due to its user-friendly nature which is a great advantage in the often complex business of web design.

Linux is difficult to configure: While there are various arguments for the benefits of Linux and Windows, Windows is far easier to configure. Linux is generally considered to be an operating system for IT experts because a familiarity with configuration files and servers is required to configure Linux properly. This may be unnecessary knowledge for someone who is only interested in an operating system that will support basic web design techniques.

Windows supports more hardware and software: A further difficulty that Linux presents is that there is no single, simple way in which to install additional software to a Linux operating system. In contrast, Windows offers a quick and easy installer function which makes it more suitable for computers used in web design that will most likely need to run a lot of programs and undergo regular updates. A further disadvantage that Linux has for web design is that it does not support as wide a variety of hardware options (such as WiFi cards, printers and scanners) as does Windows.

If you are interested in choosing a computer operating system that will provide you with the fastest, easiest method of installing, accessing and running a variety of popular web design programs, Windows is almost certainly the way to go. The problems associated with Linux systems far outweighs the increased flexibility and control they can provide. By using a Windows operating system, you will guarantee that the web sites you create are compatible with far more of the computers used by individuals and offices on an international scale.

John is working as a freelance writer for Infinite IT Solutions a Melbourne website design company that has been serving web designing and development services to its clients for 10 years now.

Also, most web designer rates are anything from $100-$5,000+. Not really for those who are on shoestring budgets.

If you want to outsource the building of your website,  what are the things to consider, and how can you get  the best value for your money?Have a clear picture of what you want first. Go browse around sites you like, to get some ideas – if you don’t have any. Check out web design galleries, if you’re really clueless. There are many online galleries that showcase many designer portfolios. One might be Digitalthread.

• You got to know what you want first, before you begin. Is it a business website or just a personal blog? What kind of visitors are you expecting? How large do you want it to be? Will it use a complex or simple script, or no script (100% html)? Your outline needs to be clear from the start.

Web design firms can be expensive. But, they confer one distinct advantage – they can get the job done relatively fast, especially for large, ambitious projects. Make sure they offer you installment payments and specific guarantees.

• Avoid web design firms if your budget is below $300. Most web design companies won’t even agree to anything below $500, unless you are lucky enough to find a good Third World based company who’ll take it.
• That said, you can try looking for small (mainly Third World based) firms advertising on Scriptlance, ELance, or RentCoder.
• A word of caution, sometimes these small firms abuse the rating system found there, and spike up their ratings with bogus projects and feedback. If it’s too good to be true, it usually is.
• Ask for their websites, and evaluate their portfolios which they post up. Are the sites fast loading? How is their navigation system like? Navigation is important for SEO.

After looking at web design firms, the better value for money option, is to find freelance web designers. With freelance web designers, you may get good work done for under $100. But, no two freelancers are equal. So…

• Look for freelancers who understand the whole works, how a website functions, SEO, links, etc; and willing to help you install scripts for free if you really have no idea how to do it. At least, only consider freelancers who know coding, and are upfront from the start.
• Work-from-home freelancers are good candidates. It’s no harm asking them upfront if they work from home. So far in my experience, I have found most home based freelancers to be honest and fairly competent, even if they don’t really know everything. Best places to look for home based freelancers are forums – marketplace. Post your project, and watch the bids come in.
• If your freelancer is good, look for ways to work long term with him. It’s not easy to find a good freelancer.

Finally, you have yourself of course. There is nothing better than DIY. If you do take the trouble to learn some coding, now that’s the best deal of all

In fact, I’ve always wondered which would make the better choice. That Problogger post was a spot on.

I used to configure almost all outgoing links to open in a new window, because I personally don’t use tabs very often, in fact rarely; and I always felt it would make browsing easier for my visitors when they want to come back to my blog as well as add stickiness.

The comments received showed that probably 70% of the commentators didn’t favor links opening in a new window. Would that mean the majority of Web users don’t favor new windows? I think it depends on the topic.

Darren’s post got me thinking on a rule of thumb to use – if the audience are Web savvy folks, open links in the same window. If they’re not expected to be Web savvy, then open links in a new window.

Since my blog is for my readers, I’ve decided to open links in the same window from now on. However, I still surf the web by opening new windows and not tabs, and close irrelevant windows when not in use. I just make sure I don’t open too many windows, and that has always been my practice. But I guess majority wins, so moving forward, this blog will open most links in the same window.

Website design and usability are important factors in determining if more of your visitors hang around after landing on your site, or disappear in an instant, never to return. I also think that the malady of poor web design must be some universal syndrome that affects government websites in particular; ever notice how shoddy government websites look, all over the world?

Without further ado, here are 4 points about web design that I filtered from the noise after a day of jumping from one site to another.

1) Splash pages are not really a good idea.

Splash pages are the first pages you see when you arrive at a website. There is usually an image with the word “Click here to enter” or something along these lines. I think a better way is just to give your visitors what they want up front; rather than have them wondering whether they should proceed or not by clicking on “Enter”.

What do you think of the splash pages here and here? Thanks to Web Pages that Suck, I got more laughs than I have had in recent times.

2) Excessive banner advertisements – Avoid

Now I know of more than one blog or site that is having just too many advertisements, and I will leave it to you to gauge when too much advertising is really exceeding the limits, but generally it means a site where every move of your mouse could lead to tripping on an ad (in a sea of ads), and you have trouble differentiating an ad from the real content. There is a clear distinction between blended and blatant.

3) Simplicity and good navigation are important.

The general rule of thumb is to always make sure your visitors can reach anywhere in your website within 3 clicks – The 3 Click Rule. Now there has to be reason for this – it avoids deep nested pages that even the SE spiders overlook. Also, avoid excessive use of Flash, as this can confuse your visitors or lead to slower load time of your site. Your visitors should always be able to know where they are on your site at any given time. So now, it should be clear why it’s so important to have search engine friendly URLs instead of dynamic page URLs with digits and questions marks at the end.

4) Try to avoid audio until you can afford a dedicated server..

Avoid sound effects that only serve to annoy your visitors, or at least give them a choice between choosing to listen or ignoring completely, as well as allowing them a chance to adjust the volume, if need be. Some websites still have these circa 2000 A.D audio sound effects that cannot be shut off. Instead of audio, lets have some video (fully controllable).

So there you have it, 4 essential rules for any webmaster that pertain to site design and usability. Of course, there being a lot more then these, it really boils down to placing yourself in your visitor’s shoes whenever you visit your site, and asking yourself this question, “What would a visitor think of my website?”