Using stylesheets is not difficult. In fact it makes task of designing a website that much easier. However many new designers don't use them.

But before dispelling some of confusion, let us look at advantages of using CSS - cascading style sheets.

ADVANTAGES

1) You can use an external stylesheet to control look and appearance of your whole website, such as font size, style, and color, background image, background color, etc... by changing a single file. You don't need to edit every page.

2) Linking to a stylesheet reduces size of your web pages and gives you much cleaner HTML code because you don't need to specify font, color, or "style" of every element on your page.

3) Web pages are displayed differently on different browsers and platforms. For example a 10pt font looks fine on a PC but becomes too small on a Mac. You can use a browser-detection script in header of your pages which will link to a different stylesheet depending on which browser is being used.

The rest of this article assumes you have a basic understanding of HTML tags, code behind your web pages. If not you can get our simple HTML tutorial at - http://www.thewebseye.com/HTML.htm.

Now using stylesheets is actually easier than HTML. The main cause of confusion is that you can either link your web pages to an external stylesheet, or you can include style sheet in header of individual web pages inside STYLE tags. Web design software does not always make this clear unless you read HELP pages in detail. Forget your web design software for a moment, because it is easier to understand stylesheets if you take a look under surface.

An external style sheet can be as simple and powerful as this:

BODY { background-image: url(images/mybackground.gif); background-color: #FFFFFF; }

P { FONT-FAMILY: Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; COLOR: navy }

Unfortunately, this doesn't completely transfer over into world of web. In world of web, there is a huge difference between creating an aesthetically pleasing site, and creating a site that is going to be functional and have best possibility for success.

All too often, when people first begin on web, they design their site as if to be a work of art. Making sure it has lots of beautiful graphics, fancy javascript, flash, etc. While all of these things can definitely create a beautiful site, they are also some of biggest hindrances to a business's success.

On net, there are two key things a webmaster must always keep in mind when designing a site; visitor and search engines. If a visitor has to wait to long for a page to download or a search engine can't properly index a site, it doesn't matter how beautiful and informative site is, it will not generate business needed to survive, much less excel.

Let's look at a few of most common things you should be aware of.

*Page Size*

While broadband access is gaining ground, at least half of all internet users still use dial up connections. This means that majority of a sites visitors will be downloading pages at about 3-4 kilobytes per second.

It is estimated that if a page doesn't load within 8-10 seconds you will lose 1/3 of your visitors. That means that a page should not be any more than 30 kilobytes total including text, graphics, html, javascript, etc.

Logo's, backgrounds, and other images, are great, but if they are causing your pages to load too slowly, they are doing you more harm than good. Quite honestly, your visitors do not care about your logo, graphics, backgrounds etc. They are there for one reason and one reason only....to see what you can offer them.

If you must use graphics keep their file size as small as possible by optimizing graphics to utmost extent possible and keeping image size small.

*Splash Pages/Flash Intros*

These are bane of internet. If you have a splash page whether its made up of a large graphic or a pretty flash intro, you are crippling your chances. Design firms often love to talk their clients into these pages because they get to be creative (oh..and charge more).

The truth is, creating one of these pages as entrance way to your site is one of single worst things you can do. Visitors hate splash pages, because they often take too long to download and they don't provide with visitor with anything. Remember, visitor is there for one reason, to see what you have to offer them and get information they are seeking. A huge graphic doesn't answer any of their questions, it only delays their search.

A Flash into is much same, while it will generally download very quickly, it still delays visitor in finding what he or she is looking for.