Been on the internet? How long? If you started in the early to mid’90s, then you’ve see it change plenty of times. The concept of a website at first fascinated the users that it didn’t really matter what it looked like. With so many websites emerging it really takes a lot to stand out from the crowd.

But hey you can! There are some basic things to consider in these modern days of the Internet. I believe its somewhere in the 90% of the people have high speed Internet which is the first thing to consider. In case you don’t know, there are a lot of companies would ‘optimize’ any images on their sites by making them very poor quality because they would load faster. This is unnecessary with faster Internet speeds. Just don’t use big file types if you can keep from it.

Also important, people’s computer screens are getting much bigger. Almost all computers see resolutions of 1024-768, and 1280-1024 is becoming more and more popular. The point here is, the standard size for websites used to be 800 or 780 pixels wide. You have a captive audience that came to YOUR website. Fill up the page! Use the new standard of 980 pixels wide to fill your screen with content. This is NOT to say you need to add more content to the bigger area, try a clean look. By putting the same amount of buttons, words and images in the bigger website size, you’re bound to have a less cluttered and clean website look.

You can get a really professional look and feel to your website (if you’re on a budget and can’t afford a web designer) by using images from iStockPhoto.com, Corbis.com or for FREE stock images go to my favorite, www.sxc.hu site. For you to make a beautiful web presence using free website templates could be the perfect starting point.

There are lots of things to consider when it comes to internet marketing such as your market, your product or service, how you want to advertise for it, and the main purpose of the website (an opt-in or sale). Check out all our articles on website design to get off to the right start.

Sharonda Lewis, Freelance Writer. We are committed to providing free helpful information about dynamic internet marketing and web design. To know more about internet marketing and web design visit http://www.activeproxy.org/website-design-principles-learning-the-basics-of-web-design/