Design’s That Make a Difference
 by: Janeth Duque


It seems that I can’t get through a day without having to spend a couple hours trying to talk a client out of doing something crazy.

I’m only the designer and should give the client what he/she wants, but I have a hard time not adding in my two cents and sometimes even refusing to do a design because I disagree with the direction the site is taking.

For some reason people really have a hard time understanding that a visitor to their site could careless what the site looks like.

They have come to your website to find information, buy a product or be entertained not for a flash intro page, a cute little guy typing away at his computer or the little stat counter that shows how little visitors your site has really had.

They don’t care about the colors of your site, the pictures in the header, your logo, colors, fonts or anything else you might think is important.

They are there for a purpose and have a goal in mind and could careless about all the other stuff.

So does the design even matter?

You can bet it does, but not in the way a lot of people seem to think.

While the visitor to your site could careless about the color of your site the colors do effect him/her. In most cases the site visitor is not even aware of the effect the colors have on them.

Some colors have more influence then others but all colors do influence our emotions.

For example blue is a calming, peaceful, and trusting color while red is anger, impulsive and an action color.

I’m not going to write about all the effects each color has on a person but knowing what colors to add into a site can effect the response a person takes while on your site.

Another aspect of the design is in font and size of the font.

Large easy to read fonts are an important part of your site. The easer it is to read what you have to say the better the chances are that a visitor will take the time to read it.

Adding scrolling text and moving pictures will only distract the eye of the reader and make the text more difficult to read as will using crazy font colors or constantly changing the colors of the font.

Something else I see a lot of people wanting to do is add pictures into the header that has nothing to do with the site.

You have 3 seconds to let your visitor know what your site is about. If you add pictures of pretty flowing rivers while trying to sell pigs online this will only cause confusion and cause the visitor to leave in hopes of finding his/her perfect pig some where else.

So if your selling pigs, then put pictures of pigs in the header.

The header is the first thing people see when entering your site, by using appropriate pictures in the header it helps give an understanding of what your site is about.

It’s also a good idea to put a nicely designed logo in your header that tells something about your business. I know most people could careless rather or not you have a logo but a logo does help to build trust and credibility.

Something else I find funny is the all about me text everyone wants to place on their home page.

No one cares about you or your business; they only want to know what’s in it for them.

So the first line of text should tell the site visitor why they should even consider spending more then 3 seconds on your site.

What can you do for me?

I could go on with my rant all day but the more I type the better I feel.

But before I end my rant I would like to say one last thing.

The navigation on your site is an important part of your site, trying to come up with something original is just crazy. As a site visitor I don’t want to spend an hour trying to figure out how to go to the next page on your site.

Just make the navigation the same as everyone else’s and be happy your site visitor decided to stay long enough to look through your site.

Ok, I’m through with my rant now and I can go back to work.

About The Author
Janeth Duque is the owner of Geeks On Steroids and is well-known in the world of web design and search engine optimization.

Web Site: Geeks on Steroids

View her website at: http://www.geeksonsteroids.com