Four Season Gear

Tips For Creating A Killer Website

In this article we’ll focus on four elements that will help you create a killer website and improve your visitor’s experience. We’ll explore how graphics, fonts, pictures and videos can create an atmosphere that is enjoyable to your viewers. Lastly, we’ll touch on the importance of consistency and how consistency can influence your personal brand.

Graphics

When considering website graphics, determine what you want your site to represent. If you’re representing you, in your business, you may want to focus on graphics that reflect your personality, where as if your site is geared towards a product you sell or a service you provide, you’ll want to choose graphics that are non-distracting to the viewer, so the emphasis is placed on the products sold or services offered.

When choosing your color pallets, try limiting the color choices to no more than three and keep them congruent with each other. For example, if you’re the outdoors type or your products serve those who enjoy the outdoors, you’ll want to use more subtle tones such as variations of beige, brown and green.

If you’re the professional type or your product or service is geared towards business, you’ll want to use shades of blue and white. If you’re the bold type or have a product that needs to make a statement or stand out, use brilliant or vibrant colors. A word of caution here…don’t over use these colors and limit your scheme to just one brilliant or vibrant color…you don’t want people to jump off your site because it looks like something out of Barnum & Baileys.

Did you know?: Research has proven that shades of blue and white convert…look at Ford, Intuit, and Microsoft. However, the warmer shades, such as yellow, red and orange have been splashing on the scene more frequently and in some circles are considered buying colors, using Home Depot and Target to site just a few examples.

Fonts

Although it may seem trivial, fonts are more important than you think. After all, people don’t read your graphics they read your content. Recommended fonts include Helvetica, Verdana and Arial. Why? Because these fonts are easy to read, are available on most computers, and don’t appear outdated.

When creating a killer website keep your font types consistent, bolding only words and/or sentences where necessary. Pay attention to font sizes. For example, the body of your site would typically be a font size of 10 to 12 pt, whereas your titles and sub titles would be larger.

Pictures and videos

Ok, so you have great graphics and good content, the next step would be to incorporate pictures or and/or videos. In some cases “too much” of something can be more detrimental than “too little.” Don’t place pictures and videos all over your website like it was a scrap book. Use pictures sparingly, in support of your content, products and/or services. The phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” is relevant here. If your website is filled with a random assortment of pictures, it can become distracting to the viewer, thus pulling their focus.

When incorporating videos, relevancy is the key. Ensure the video is relevant, in size, to the overall page layout as well as relevant to the content of your site. For example, if you’re selling auto parts, your video shouldn’t be about dog training. (ok…that example was a little extreme, but I’m sure you get the point) Additionally, where possible, keep your videos under 3 minutes…be concise and to the point. Videos should support the written content not replace it.

Consistency

Consistency, Consistency, Consistency. Remember to create a consistent and cohesive look and feel across all of your pages; this will help to keep your viewers oriented and comfortable. For example, keep your font type the same across all pages. Consistency is the key to building a successful brand. If you keep your message and the look and feel of your site the same, people will begin to associate with you and your brand. For example, when you look a can of soda, whose primary color is red, do you instinctively associate that can with Coke?

Lastly, you should consider split testing, commonly known as a/b split test, to test variations of your pages. This will help you to determine which backgrounds, graphics, fonts, etc. convert better.

In closing, always keep your visitor’s experience in mind when creating your killer website, doing so will turn shoppers in to buyers and buyers in to lifetime customers.

About the Author

Lucas Cantoni is a mentor and business coach specializing in delivering value and education while creating success and wealth in others. For more great tips visit http://www.lucasandcarricantoni.com/articles/

Update from Salt Lake City by Gear Websites