Blog Design: What Should Be Above the Fold?

When designing any type of website, you need to keep in mind what visitors will see immediately upon arriving at the site. Whatever is visible without scrolling down is said to be “above the fold.” The content and design elements that are above the fold will of course draw the first attention from visitors, and hopefully they will be encouraged to check out the entire page’s contents and navigate through the site. For this reason, pay layout and design should be done in a way that creates a positive first experience by making an impact above the fold.

How to Effectively Use a Unique Website Layout

Last week I published a gallery of 20 Websites With Unique Layouts, which got a mixed response. The post did very well with social media and most of the comments were positive, but some readers didn’t like a few of the sites that were featured or they simply pointed out that particular sites were not user-friendly. I wasn’t at all surprised by this response, primarily because it is true. Several of the sites in that were included feature a unique layout, but some of the qualities that make the layout unique also make the site difficult to use.

20 Websites With Unique Layouts

When you are creating a new website you may be inspired by seeing other sites that feature unique layouts. The 20 sites listed here don’t simply use a typical two or three column layout. Many of them use background images to interact with and control the layout in some unique way. Some of them I really like, and some I’m not sold on, but all are unique in one way or another.

Popmatik – Freelance web designer Rob Leach uses a unique layout for his portfolio site. The site uses a background image of a bottle and the content of the site appears to be on the label of the bottle.

9 Ways to Gauge Your Visitors’ Experience

One of the most important factors in the success of a website is the visitors’ opinions and experiences. A site that is liked by visitors will typically be successful, while those that aren’t liked by visitors will struggle. A challenge that all website owners face is determining how visitors feel about their experience on the site. In most cases you won’t have the option to speak directly with visitors to get their opinions.

22 Resources to Easily Create CSS Layouts

Web designers are always looking for ways to save time and simplify the design process. Well, creating a basic layout doesn’t have to take any time at all. All of the resources listed here will help you to create the structure for CSS-based designs. None of these resources are templates that attempt to replace the need for a design; rather, they all aim to simplify the process by creating a skeleton that you will build upon.

Layout Gala – 40 different CSS-based layouts including fixed and fluid widths.

40+ Resources for Photo Sharing

Photo sharing and image hosting services are extremely popular, with thousands of pictures being uploaded each minute at Flickr. While the top few competitors get most of the attention, there are plenty of options available. These services have become very valuable for website owners and bloggers as they can be integrated into your website to save some of your disk space and bandwidth. Here are over 40 options:

Flickr

Photobucket

21 Factors that Influence the First Impression of Your Website’s Visitors

When a new visitor comes to your website for the first time an initial impression will be formed pretty quickly. A good first impression will drastically increase the chances of that visitor returning again, and a bad first impression will be difficult to overcome.

This list looks at 21 factors that will influence your visitor’s impression within moments of arriving at your site. These are just some of the factors, not a comprehensive list. Feel free to list some others in the comments that you think should be included. Here they are, in no particular order.

99 Resources for Web 2.0 Design

[Update: This post was originally published a while ago, however, almost all of the resources mentioned are still relevant. Since this post was published we've added tons of new resources that you may also find useful (see our Popular Posts page). To get all of the new content, subscribe to our RSS feed or by [...]

Who is the Focal Point of Your Design?

Many times during the web design process the focus gets lost. Sometimes we try very hard to create an impressive visual appearance. Other times too much priority is given to designing for search engines. While an attractive design and search engine optimization are both important, ultimately the design should be [...]

10 Examples of Simple, Effective Logos

If you are looking for a new logo, remember that a logo doesn’t need to be fancy to be effective. The purpose of a logo is branding and recognition, which the 10 examples below achieve with simplicity.