Reference to screen resolution in this article is in regards to your computer monitor's display settings. Your display settings, as well as the settings of your potential clients, directly affect how your site shows up.
When starting a new website, I generally start with an 800 pixel page width. Since my personal screen resolution is set to 1280 X 800, my 800 pixel width website shows quite a bit of the background image on either side. If I view my site with the monitor's screen resolution set to 800 X 600, there is nothing on the left and right of the periwinkle colored areas.
Why is this information important?
If your site is designed at a high resolution, the average person visiting the site is going to see a horrible page! Not only will the site’s image not come across as intended, but the visitor will have to scroll from left to right in order to view all of the page’s content.
When a visitor happens across your site, the first five to ten seconds that they’re there is your only window of opportunity to grab their attention. If your site display is not appealing (such as having to scroll from left to right just to get the basic intent of what you’re offering/saying), they will close the window and your opportunity is gone.
What can you do to be sure that your page’s size works with lower resolution?
Be sure that your web designer is aware of the issues with making a site compatible with all resolutions. Whether you choose to have your site designed by Sites by Michelle, or anyone else, make it clear from the start that you want your site’s width set to no more than 800 pixels.
When possible, use a background image that can take up any empty space that may be left on either side of the page’s content for visitors with higher screen resolutions. If the design/layout doesn’t flow with a background image, empty space is always more acceptable than that lovely scrolling left and right experience (yes, sarcasm!).
If you’re not sure what your computer’s screen resolution is, there are websites that can determine it for you. For example: http://www.whatismyscreenresolution.com
