Where do you start ? Well as with most things in life first impressions count! As we know, people are all too “finger clicking happy” so if the site you are working on wont do it for the viewer within 5 – 15 seconds of them landing on it, then I’m afraid they will just click away, mouse in hand……….
So how do you get the perfect marketing reaction behind the design ?
Well firstly the design has to be market appropriate……Too many designers have a tendency to get carried away in their own creation, I’ve done it myself, all that happens is you waste time and the ego that was having so much fun gets a swift yank back down to earth when the client says – “ Mmmm, yes, but I don’t think this will impress the housewife’s am trying to sell to……” and that’s you back to the drawing board ! - Market Appropriate Design !!!!!
Navigation, where do we put the navigation bar ?
Well this may sound really boring but the very best place for the navigation is where people expect it to be ! That is in a horizontal bar under the top banner, now you may be wanting to flex your creative muscles and have an exciting looking navigation area else where on the page, unfortunately however that will only hinder the average viewers ability to quickly suss out how navigate through the site, leaving them thinking “Ooo, a wee bit to complicated for me”, and –click- that’s them gone!
Your client’s logo should also be presented where the viewer will expect to see it, which is on the top left of the page……..
You see many people when browsing the net have other things on their mind, so designing a site that is easy to absorb and navigate is vital.
Now let’s get to the fact that you have a really limited amount of space here. Trying to get as much as possible into that 1000 x 600 or so pixels is not the best idea, it just confuses people or leaves them straining to find what it is they are looking for. Space things out properly, in fact white space itself is a big selling tool. White space subconsciously says to the mind of the viewer – “ok, this isn’t complicated” which lets the viewer then absorb details. So leave enough space between things, white where possible.
Make sure you let the viewer know what it is you want them to do, if the site is ecommerce then having products featured on the home page is important.
You can use your colours to lead the eye to the “call to action”. If the colour scheme of the site is blue & green, then a red or orange button will certainly attract the eye very quickly. Red by the way (for those who don’t know) also has a subconscious trigger – It says, among other things, “urgent” ! So if you have red anywhere on the page, the viewer’s eye will clock it within the first few second. A very good colour for logos! Red demands attention.
I know this is an obvious one but – Please check spelling & grammar, believe it or not too many people don’t. Encourage your client’s personality to come through in their text, if they are American use American English, if they are British use the correct British spelling. The internet is a cold place so text should be engaging; making the reader feel like the site is talking to them, which can encourage confidence. When possible it’s always best to have a professional website copywriter to at very least proof text before it goes live.
Another cool thing to do with text is use a couple of colours, it helps people to view it as something interesting to read and breaks up a text heavy page once the viewer starts scrolling down.
This is really just a brief intro, which I hope has been helpful, I will be posting more on this blog frequently, if you have any comments or there are topics you want to discuss just let me know…….
All in all if you enjoy what you are doing and aim to do it to the best of your ability you cant really go wrong……have fun with it, learn from your mistakes and keep an eye on the professionals at the top of the tree……….and if any of you “Top of the Tree” experts want to add to this please feel free……..
Have fun
Leona
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