EmailI confess to liking things that are loud. When I watch a movie at home, I crank up the volume. My wife calls my Bose sound system "The Loud Thing."
I believe that website design also needs to sometimes raise the volume in order to be effective.
Some might be thinking, "That's not true for every website. Some designs need to be subtle with their approach."
When I talk about "volume," I'm referring to personality, charm, and anything that makes the experience interesting. Just like people, our company brands can have widely unique types of "personalities."
If you think about it, your own personality can attract or turn off different types of people. That's okay— not everybody is going to accept you, or your brand for that matter. The problem is, we are so afraid of turning off anybody that we fail to do the kinds of things that will attract more customers. This sort of "brand paralysis" leads to stale, uncreative website design.
As always, we need to appropriately match the look of our site to our products. Whether you sell t-shirts or tea sets, the look has to fit what you're selling. What kind of soundtrack is playing in your mind when you look at your website? Rock 'n Roll? Country? Classical? Whatever it is, it's time to turn up the volume. Here are a few areas to focus on:
Your Logo
Your logo is the primary branding tool you have at your disposal, so it absolutely has to be first on this list. Despite its importance, many business-owners treat it as just another item on a graphical to-do list. If you go cheap on your logo, prepare for cheap results. Every single aspect of your web design, including color scheme, should stem out of the core elements of your logo design.
Your Header
The header of your website of course contains the logo, and it counts as the single-most important layout addition of your website. This is because it appears on every single page of the site. If you get this one wrong, it's going to mess up the entire balance of the site design.
Your header should also contain core navigational elements and brand differentiators, including slogans, shipping info, utility links (about us, view cart, etc.) and contact information.
Your Homepage
This one should be a no-brainer for all of us, and yet far too many homepages look like they were put through a paper shredder and pieced back together. Having a proper hierarchy of scale (larger objects are seen before smaller objects) is key to a proper homepage layout. Utilizing tools such as rotators and tabs to maximize the amount of real estate used should be critical in the design decisions.
Your Landing Pages
Not everyone is going to enter your site through your homepage. Therefore, pumping up the volume on your landing pages makes for good branding and usability. If all you're doing is listing thumbnails and text on your most popular landing pages, there's a lot more you can do to get your customers' attention.
Your Newsletters
"Text-only" newsletters are the classic definition of a "missed opportunity." The opportunity you miss is the chance to extend your brand off the core website. Of course, a creative newsletter is only going to drive traffic right back to your website, whereas a dull and monotonous e-mail is only going to bore customers. I've seen some text-only newsletters with well-written content that is able to get the job done without graphics, but you're fighting against the current with that philosophy. There's a reason I listed this one last— if you ignore the four previous elements, you can scratch this one right off your list! Keep these thoughts in mind as you examine other forms of social media you may be involved in.
Q: Okay, now that I know what elements of my site need more "volume," how exactly do I do that?
A. Glad you asked! Here are four tips I always keep in mind:
1.) Be consistent – Every aspect of your website should have consistency, but especially the elements listed here. Key areas of consistency to watch for are fonts and colors.
2.) Make it Pop! - All of these areas need to have a good amount of contrast in order to be effective. Even if there are only small areas of color that pop out, contrast is needed to attract your customer's eye.
3.) Make it Meaningful – The only reason to turn up the volume is if you're playing something that matters to the customer. Avoid fluff and address what the customer is wondering or cares about.
4.) Merchandise! - This applies to the last three on the list. Make sure you take full advantage of how you can recommend specific products to your customers through dynamic graphics.
Q: How come you didn't list product page and checkout page in your list above?
A: That's because the volume needs to be taken down more on those two page types. They are the "make or break" layouts that should never distract the customer from adding something to the cart or completing the checkout process. We upped the volume to get the customer to this point, but now we need to turn it back down in order to let them concentrate on buying something.
Keep in mind that the key goal of branding is differentiation. You not only have to differ from your competitors, there are also a myriad of other websites and images your customer is seeing every day. I want your brand to be memorable and not relegated to the useless internet "static" that we tend to easily tune out. Turn up the volume and create a brand that your customers won't soon forget!
Remember, you're not in this alone. We'll help you every step of the way. If you need help amping up your website's potential, give us a call at 888.429.4803 or drop us a line today!
See ya next week!
-Eric
