Designing a Good Website Design

[webmaster98]

What rules I need to follow before designing a good site. And shall I go for professional web design company.

[Steve]

There are some threads here that may help you.
Here are two.

15 Important Website Design Tips
Web Design - 7 Tips to Design Your Website

[chrisatlemon]

a good website can be a complex beast or simple but efficient. It really depends on what you're trying to create.

Some basic rules should never be bent:

1) valid and standards compliant HTML and CSS (w3.org)
2) accessible content and navigation (w3.org/WAI/)
3) complete separation of content and format/style ( Separation of presentation and content - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia )
4) Other keywords: Usability, Cross-platform compatibility, semantic markup

Don't ever look at what the big boys do (IBM, Amazon, Microsoft, EBay,etc) The big boys do not need great websites. They can afford to force you to use their mess of the website. Do what great web designers do, with the absolute emphasis on "web".

Then make it look great - but that's just me ;)

Do you need a professional? Again it really depends on what you need. Is it your business site? Then I would always ask for professional help if you feel unsure you doing the right thing. Is it little personal portfolio or blog? Go ahead and play away as long as you're having fun ;)

Hope this helps, if you need any assistance, give me a shout.

Cheers

Chris

[web3mantra]

I think this link is must help you...:-)

Web Design, Web Development, Graphic Design Resources, Tips and Tutorials

[noelagnote]

Hello got a link here for you. I hope it will help you.

Website Design Tutorial | How to Design a Website

I also suggest that you seek for professional help

[Mlio]

A very important thing is the target group. Do not design anything how you prefer, what you find easy to use, or the colours you like. Investigate and make a good profile of the target group and design with that in mind.

[f5designstudio]

the best and most simple rule is to think like a user ! and to know what is the audience of the web
the next important thing is to create the layout and it must be easy to navigate. everything must be visible
then you can add some accents and design the main idea using illustrator or photoshop in 72 dpi (1000x700)

best regards

[Rumiko]

Well since it seems like you want to go into web design, i've provided a helpful link below. And even if you don't really want to go into freelance, this link could still be helpful.

Check it out: The Roadmap To Becoming A Professional Freelance Web Desinger

NOTE: The web page is super long ^^

EDIT: Hmmm. There seems to be an error. Apparently, I can't post website links just yet since I'm a new member...Oh well, if you search that in google, the topic should pop up under "Smashing Magazine". You should totally read it.

[peter444]

I am agree with chrisatlemon and the links provided by others are also helpful for designing a good website design.

[annarobert]

Here is 10 Principles Of Effective Web Design if you remember it than you can make good web site.
1. Don’t make users think
2. Don’t squander users’ patience
3. Manage to focus users’ attention
4. Strive for feature exposure
5. Make use of effective writing
6. Strive for simplicity
7. Don’t be afraid of the white space
8. Communicate effectively with a “visible language”
9. Conventions are our friends
10. Test early, test often