Monday, September 29, 2008

Aesthetics of Website Designs

When you decide to take on the world-wide-web and elevate your business to the next level, the first thing you are going to need is a website.

Many website design firms simply turn out the same style of design over and over again. A website should not be just another cookie-cutter styled template. A website is the face of your business and your global presence available 24/7. Both the content and aesthetics of the website design should be something well thought out that reflects your business in a professional and positive light.

The most important consideration when planning aesthetics of website design is to keep the end-user in mind. If your designer doesn't discuss your audience, it is a big red flag. He should ask good questions and conduct relevant research. Who are your customers? What do they need? How will you solve their problem? How will the graphics, images and colors make them feel? Where will their eyes travel through your website design? How will the flow of the design make for an easy and intuitive experience? These are all key considerations a website designer should discuss in order to develop a website design that converts traffic to on and offline business.

Consider the color scheme for your website design. If you sell baby accessories, obviously you don't want the overlaying color scheme of your website to be red and black. Certain colors inspire certain feelings in people. Wouldn't white, light blues and pinks be a much better choice for this website design? These colors appeal to women and put people in a relaxed mood. They are associated with babies. Red and black represent action, speed, adventure, and technology - probably better suited for a website design for motorcycles, sound systems, speed boats or entertainment.

Your choice of images plays an important role in the aesthetics of website design. If you are a floral designer, you certainly need a lot of images that represent your work. If you are an accountant, your image choices will only serve to break up your text and make the copy less monotonous. Be careful with your image choices. First of all, images can slow down the speed at which visitors can access your site. Secondly, your images can hold or send away visitors quickly. A doctor client recently wanted to show videotaped surgeries on the home page for a women's health website. These details are better placed deep within a website if at all. Instead, we chose images which represented support, health and well being. The idea here was for women to see themselves healthy and to feel that there was a caring advocate behind the website with knowledge and expertise.

Understand your audience. Research your choices. Communicate with your website designer. Choose a professional internet marketing firm. These are all things that will help you develop a website that is both aesthetically pleasing and financially rewarding.

Randi K. Brawley
SYNERGe-Marketing
http://www.synergemarketing.com

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