How to design a professional website
Great website design is something not everybody can handle usually due to a lack of creative understanding rather than technical ability.
There are some important rules for any web designer starting off or in need of some ideas.
The first point I would raise is the use of space and layout. Most quality web designers will create a site that is not too cluttered with images or text. By doing so will make the site look professional, but more importantly it won't overload the visitor with too much information at once.
In the same way editors write in short sentences to make their articles easier to read, the same must be applied to web design.
A more spaced out site with clear sections will make it easier for visitors to identify which area applies to them (interests them the most) and also navigate from page to page.
A good use of colours and contrast can really capture the interest of the viewer. Dull and dark sites usually will not work unless there is an important contrasting image. In contrast a white and stark site can look under developed. It is important to get a good balance. I would advise using no more than two colour, but use them in different tones and shades. Instead let the colour in your images do the speaking.
Each part of the site is as important as the next. Try and apply a style to each section that uses the same theme. One suggestion would be to use a texture of pattern as a background in part of the site next to a complimentary colour. There is nothing worse than to just use block colours alone.
Fonts and text size is another important issue that a lot of designers struggle with. Verdana is a popular web font as it is clean and easy to read. However I would suggest using the occasional one or two other fonts within an image that should be really creative and reflect the style your site is aiming for.
Prioritise font sizes, with the most important text the largest. For instance, the heading should be the largest font, followed by sub heading and finally body text.
The body text should be no larger than 12 maximum. Anything body text larger than this will not look professional, and over crowd the website.
Some do's and don'ts of web design is to not to overuse Photoshop filters, such as lens flare and bevel effects, instead try using it in a much more subtle way. It shouldn't be the main focus of your site, the images should be, as that is where you want to attract viewers eyes.
Try to consider all the little details of the site and keep the same sense of style throughout!