Think Web 2.0 for Contemporary Website Design

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The recent developments in website design have led to the ushering of Web 2.0. This phrase often comes up during discussions and deliberations about the Internet and website design. However, not many people actually understand what Web 2.0 actually means. The fact is that Web 2.0 fundamentals are being increasingly used in blogs, web applications, social networks, online data storage, video sharing, and other places on the Internet. This article takes a look at Web 2.0 web design.

What is Web 2.0?

Web 2.0 is a notion – an extension of various possibilities that the Internet can offer. It has to be accepted that the Internet, like the human mind, is never static. It is continuously evolving with newer ideas seeing the light of the day in the form of tangible solutions that can benefit the user community worldwide. The inception of Web 2.0 has brought to life a new era with the previous era of web designing being labeled as web 1.0. The tangible side of Web 2.0 can be seen in how websites and other internet based applications are being designed for the benefit of the ultimate user. Web 2.0 makes its presence felt in the development of user interactive solutions. The earlier mode of the Internet was in just presenting the information and not relying on user interaction or user feedback. Web 2.0 makes user interaction possible. Web 2.0 is based on a loosely held bunch of internet applications called RIA (Rich Internet Applications). One of the commonest tools of RIA is Flash as well as Ajax. Yet another technological element of Web 2.0 is SOA or service oriented architectures.

What is Web 2.0 Web Design?

Some people misunderstand Web 2.0 as being a technology. However Web 2.0 web design is an accumulative approach and involves the use of several technologies together to make current web trends a reality. With Web 2.0 web design, it is now possible to incorporate multimedia and other user communication facilities such as chat, video, computer interconnectivity, online money transaction, and other such features that make it easy and straightforward for users to have 2-way intercommunication between them. Web 2.0 web design has indeed proved to be a boon for new business. For example, the introduction of the concept of Social Media Marketing paved the way for many successful businesses.

The basics of Web 2.0 Design :-

Simple Layout

If you were to visit a web 2.0 website, you might be able to identify certain features which you could attribute to Web 2.0. The extent of the features would really depend how far the web designer would like web 2.0 to be implemented in the website design. To begin with, Web 2.0 websites are simple, easy to follow, and focused. The designer takes up the responsibility of delivering only the core content of the web page. The ability to understand the goal of the company is paramount. Therefore to convey a stronger message, an uncluttered layout and a simple design is preferred.

Uncluttered navigation

Navigation is a fundamental aspect of web design. In the case of web 2.0 web design, navigation helps users get around the site much faster and without and confusion. A web 2.0 page generally has clear and bold navigation. The design is unambiguous and the hyperlinks are easily identifiable. For example, navigation links can be of a different color and font size. Furthermore, the navigation links are uniformly constant throughout the pages of the website as the user gets used to the location of the navigation links throughout the website.

Larger sized text

Web 2.0 web design emphasizes the use of larger sized text to highlight the most important content. Smaller fonts can then go on and describe the remaining matter. Web 2.0 web design is also beneficial for those with visual disabilities and for all those who would like to read the entire content of the website. These viewers are benefited due to the preference of larger text in web2.0 design wherever necessary.

Use of gradient and color

Web 2.0 web designs emphasizes on softening colors and images and adding more depth to design. It also emphasizes on the use of drop shadows and other visual effects on navigation buttons to provide a 3D feel. Therefore, a whole range of color and gradient tools are applied to make pages look a lot richer.

Website Layout

With the advent of web 2.web design, web designers are now positioning their web designs in the center of the browser. This makes the arrangement bolder and makes the presentation simpler. The use of white space also contributes to the enhanced neatness and the overall look and feel of the site. Yet another important contribution of web2.0 web design is the use of lesser columns of text. Therefore, instead of 3 or four columns in the pre web 2.0 era, the focus is on typically 2 column websites.

Additionally, the top portion of the website consists of just the company information, logo, and the navigation menus. The bottom part contains the necessary information and other links. The emphasis is on making the website bolder and more presentable.

Conclusion

To conclude, web 2.0 web design is all about presenting the website in such a manner that their interest in what is being offered is prolonged over a longer period. The entire exercise of revamping a website and incorporating a whole set of web 2.0 web design elements is in making users stay longer on the site and bringing the most tangible results to the business or company.

Guest Author

Brian is web designer at offshore Web design company providing clean, professional and good looking Web Design Services which deal with the latest web standards.

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