A lot of people are getting into web design yet they aren't aware of all the techniques involved. Do you want to make a career of it, or just do a nice job on your own site? Then use the tips in this article to learn what it takes to make great websites.

You want to ensure that your site is capable of being viewed on all types of operating systems and programs, ranging from browsers such as internet explorer to firefox. You also want to be sure that your site works on both windows and mac operating systems so as many users as possible can view your content.

Do not let your career become stifled by focusing solely on one particular sector of web design. Unless you are certain that single area is the one you want to stay with forever, try becoming versed in other areas like front-end development or UI for example. This diversity will increase your options down the road.

Web designers who are trying to choose a web hosting service should be wary of any service that claims you have unlimited bandwidth. There is not such thing as unlimited bandwidth and they could just be trying to scam you into signing with them. Make sure you read all the fine print!

Always check into exactly what your web host is proclaiming to provide before signing up with them and giving them your money. Many will claim unlimited bandwidth and other services, but this is really not the case. When reading the fine print you may discover that there are other limits on your account where you will never have the possibility of using your entire bandwidth allocation.

Learn about shortcuts, and use them often. Almost everything has a shortcut in web design, and if you take the time to look them over, you'll find quick ways to do almost everything. There are even HTML codes that allow you to make fast changes to each of your pages without having to re-upload them.

White space is an important part of web design, so don't be afraid to use it. Cluttering up your web pages with too many images or too much text, or using a distracting background, will only irritate your visitors. White space can make the important elements of your page more visible.

If you want your site visitors to spend as much time as possible on your site, make text easy to read. One of the most common design mistakes is using graphic backgrounds with patterns or dark colors; combine this with equally dark text and you have a recipe for disaster. Unless the text is clear and easy to read, your site will not be a success.

Don't use OnExit popups on your website. This tactic is mainly used by internet marketers who are trying a last-ditch attempt to get a sale. Word about these kinds of popups get around, and they will kill your reputation as a marketer. Mozilla has even taken steps to suppress the text on these popups, citing security risks.

Optimize every image you use for the web. If you look through the internet, you can find a lot of examples of images that are too large and they slow down the webpage's load time. Make sure you have optimized each image you use. Save the image as a JPEG or GIF and aim for the file size to be somewhere between 5k and 20k.

So you should now have a better grasp of how you can design websites and make a good profit off of them. Be sure you apply all that you learned today and always seek out new information so that you can be successful with your web design goals in the future.