This site’s purpose: Sell Electronic Devices

Example 2

The visitor enters site and sees that we are a manufacturer of aftermarket automotive parts. We do not sell direct to public, and our target audience is retail auto parts stores and other resellers such as auto mechanics. Therefore, we begin our site copy with an overview of why our parts are more attractive to retail customers and how we can help retailers become more profitable by carrying our product lines. The visitor is given opportunity to do one of two things:

1. View a catalog of our products
2. Obtain more information on how to qualify for our “preferred retailer’s program”

If visitor decides to get more information, then he or she is taken to a form that collects contact information and sends that information to our business development staff. If visitor elects to view product catalog, then he or she is given access to our product catalog in PDF format. The product catalog has telephone number of our business development staff on every page.

This site’s purpose: Give retailers a reason to call business development staff

Example 3

The visitor enters site and sees that I provide freelance graphic design and copywriting services to companies in St. Louis area. The visitor is given option to view my online portfolio or view a partial client list. Each page of site gives visitor opportunity to fill out an online form to receive a free 1-hour marketing consultation. If client fills out form, it will send their contact information to me via email.

This site’s purpose: Obtain leads via online form

Clearly, businesses in three examples above are in completely different industries and have totally different objectives. The one thing they have in common is that each of them views their website through their customer’s eyes, and each has a clear objective in mind.

• Site number 1 wants to sell electronics
• Site number 2 wants to attract resellers
• Site number 3 wants to obtain contact information

In conclusion, you should identify one action that you want your site visitors to take, and make entire site focused on channeling visitors to take that desired action. If you ever feel inclined to put something on your homepage or in your navigation system that isn’t directly related to your site’s primary purpose, then you are about to redirect visitors away from a revenue-generating activity and into something that doesn’t help your business. Remember to Focus, Focus, and Focus.

You can easily select colors you want by visiting one of following links. Some of these sites will help you pick a main color while others will show you what will work well with that central theme.

• Visibone - http://www.visibone.com/colorlab/big.html
• MoreCrayons - http://www.morecrayons.com/
• Color Scheme Generator 2 - http://wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html
• Color Schemer - http://www.colorschemer.com/online.html
• Defence Mechanism - http://www.defencemechanism.com/color/
• Slayeroffice - http://slayeroffice.com/tools/color_palette/
• YCOLN Design Services - http://www.ycoln- design.com/WebColorCharts/WebColors.asp
• Color Blender - http://www.meyerweb.com/eric/tools/color-blend/

After you have chosen colors you want to use, I'd suggest trying them out on a sample page. See how they work together. If they look good to you, then add some text to see how easy it is to read. You can change text color if need be. I've seen various sites use white, red or beige text, and it worked very well. If you are going to have pictures or artwork on site, you should also put several pieces on your sample page. Make sure that pictures show up well and don't blend into background, or that colors in artwork don't clash with your site.

I've found that it's a delicate balancing act between my vision of a site and what it looks like in reality. Always keep usability as one of your key measures when designing a site. If people find your site hard to use, look at or read, then they will leave quickly, never come back and won't tell anyone about your site. Or they may submit your site to one of those website that lists terrible sites. There's just some publicity that you don't want.

So think about what you want and use sites I've listed. You'll find that choosing colors for your site is fast and easy and you'll get a site that's more in tune with feeling you want to convey.