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What makes a website truly interesting and unique? Good planning, use of web elements and a bit of creativity. Anyone can create a website, but actual web design takes planning and knowing what your site will be about. Creatively implementing web elements throughout your site and not suffocating it will also make your site stand out from the rest.

What makes a website truly interesting and unique? Good planning, use of web elements and a bit of creativity. Anyone can create a website, but actual web design takes planning and knowing what your site will be about. Creatively implementing web elements throughout your site and not suffocating it will also make your site stand out from the rest.

Designing your layout is the best way to start. You want to get a feel for your website, know what you are building it for. Find elements that you want to include in your site and make sure they fit your theme. Many people dive in before planning, but this is usually a recipe for disaster. It can be frustrating without having your plan drawn up first and sometimes can lead to giving up. Have your plan first before building your site.

Just what is your site about? Is it a professional business site that offers products and services? Or, is it a leisure site describing your gardening or fishing hobbies? Hundreds of sites are littered about the internet and they are just about everything you'd like to know about. Decide what your website will be about and stick with your main idea. It's alright to go off topic a bit, but never venture too broad on your subject; you may find yourself overwhelmed!

Making your site stand out from others will come with good planning, and browsing other sites for more inspiration. It's not wise to copy another site completely; doing this not only ruins your site, but lacks uniqueness and individuality. But, get ideas from other sites that you find attractive and build upon that. Some designs are best for specific websites, like personal sites, while designs are more tailored for business sites. Browse websites that fit your needs and study them.

Watch out for websites that are heavily loaded with graphics, videos and animations. Web elements such as these are best used sparingly and throughout your website. Most often, videos and pictures are best suited for personal sites. But, they can also be used for tutorial sites or sites that require demonstrations of their works, like artists. Currently, videos and video hosting sites are widely used online and on different websites. Videos can be used for comical, instructional or for demo purposes. Know which you need to use on your website before implementing them.

Always keep these web elements to a minimum. Over using them not only turns people away or mislead them from the original main idea, but it can be very tiring on the server. Some people don't even have high speed internet or updated computers. So, if your site is heavily loaded with web elements, expect these web surfers to click off your site to another that isn't.

Confusing websites with poor navigation can also lower web hits. Remain on your main idea or topic, this goes back to broadening your subject too much. You can overwhelm the viewer and confuse them away from your site. Also, poor website navigation can make the viewer frustrated and ultimately click off your site to one with the same subject, but easier to navigate.

The fundamentals of web design are important lessons every aspiring or practicing website designer should know. Classes are available all over the place online, and can teach you the basics in further detail.