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Making Your Website More Compelling
By Andrea J. Lee
Thursday, January 06, 2005
The Internet is a remarkable publishing medium. With just a
little effort, you can make your web pages visually
irresistible by playing with color, shapes and text.
Whether your websites are already launched or you're ready
to create your first few, use the 3 simple steps below to
kick things up a notch and make your sites professional and
appealing.
Step 1: Grab People's Attention with a Photo or Graphic.
Without a logo or visual image to represent the central
offering on your web
page, you are asking potential clients to immediately take a
big leap and dive into your text. Why risk the possibility
of them not reading your important message? People browsing
the web are notoriously impatient. Capture their attention
with a photo/graphic before they click off your site.
Choose the perfect image from Photodisc, ClipArt or Corbis
for as little as $9 to $90 per image. Human beings are
visual creatures. Consider your favorite magazine for a
moment. Would it still be your favorite if it used only text
on its cover this month?
Step 2: Boost the credibility of your service or product by
using a professional color scheme.
Using the image you selected in step one, it's easy to go
the next step and pull together a professional looking color
scheme. ColorSchemer is a small, inexpensive software
(US$25) that helps you choose a color scheme that's
eye-catching and unexpected, even if you're
color-challenged. When picking colors, don't be afraid to
let your personality show through. Check out
http://www.colorschemer.com/.
Step 3: Use graphical "signposts" throughout your material
to help readers absorb your message.
As you browse the web, start making mental notes about sites
you enjoy visiting. I'm willing to bet it's the ones that
break up text with colored bullets, numbers and other
signposts that mentally engage you the most. I'll even go so
far as to say that a website that does not use graphical
signposts shows a disregard for the needs of the reader,
intentionally or not.
Think of these mini-graphics as a way of showing
consideration to your reader. They want to read your
material and you help them make it easy by providing mental
white space and places to rest their eyes.
Just a few No-No's:
Don't overdo.
The power of visual communication can be diluted if too many
images are used on each page. There is both art and science
to finding the right balance since too many images on a
website can be just as ineffective as too few. The key is to
work at finding this balance by studying other websites.
Don't use Flash or other animation.
More often than not, flash/animation comes across as cheap
rather than professional and has only been shown to be
effective in very specific circumstances. Moreover, web
pages created with Flash don't rank well with search
engines. If you must use it, do so very sparingly and be
sure to have it professionally designed.
Whatever you do, don't be bland.
With millions of websites published every day, you must
stand out in order to be noticed. Graphics that reflect you,
your offering and your personality will help you become more
attractive to clients -- quickly, affordably and with
style.
One of the challenges of working online is to alleviate your
client's natural reservations in a new and unfamiliar
environment - the virtual world. Making things more
comfortable for them is your number one priority and
graphics will help you achieve that. By going the extra mile
to make your websites look 100% professional, you become
more credible in your own eyes as well.
Andrea J. Lee coaches entrepreneurs and online business
owners. As Thomas J. Leonard's General Manager, she helped
build and manage the largest network and trainer of personal
and business coaches in the world. Now the CEO of Andrea J.
Lee Group of Companies, she writes, speaks and consults on
Marketing, Internet and Business systems. For information
on her new book, visit
http://www.multiplestreamsofco achingincome.com
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