Focusing your website design

The first and most important thing that most people overlook when deciding they want a website is what they actually want on their website. It seems like such a basic idea that, generally, everyone skips right over it and starts working out colours and logo ideas. In their excitement they rarely consider the main objective of their site.

When it comes to building and designing websites we're being forced to consider what the most important content on the site actually is. 

This is not a bad thing. Taking a step back and re-evaluating what you're trying to achieve helps refocus your ideas and energy. 

How to write web content that sells

Every page on your website should have an objective. It could be to inform or engage your audience, or get them to buy something from you.

When it comes to selling products or services online, you need to tread a fine line between being too ‘salesy’, which may put people off, and not ‘salesy’ enough, which might not convey your important sales messages effectively.

Here are ten tips to writing effective promotional copy for the web, aka copywriting:

The web has changed a lot over it's relatively short lifespan - it started off as a way of sharing ideas and opinions (along the lines of Geocities style personal pages), then it became about sharing media (think Flickr, Youtube and myspace) and now (in our humble opinion) it's about consuming content wherever you are and wherever you go. We expect to be able devour new information on our phones within seconds of unlocking it. Due to the ever increasing ways that users are accessing websites we need to realise something very important: the definition of "design" is changing.

Previously design, in the context of the web, referred to the layout and general style of a site, now though it seems to be more along the lines of "how can we present this information in the best way possible". These two ideas may seem very similar, and they are, but there is a subtle difference. 

Time for a Refresh?

January, traditionally a time where we take stock of who we are and resolve to make these changes to reinvigorate us for the year ahead. The gym beckons, the cork goes back in the bottle for a few weeks and we sign up for that obscure evening class that we'd talked about. Easy.

What about our business though, are we happy with the bottom line, is the competition getting tougher could we reach a new audience, is our brand up to it or does it need revitalised? Like people, the company can start to look tired, worn out and not feeling particularly energised.

Putting the zing back in

Completely rebranding is not always a good option, it's expensive, time consuming and risky. Instead we can put a fresh face on the business with a brand refresh strategy. What's this?

Manifesto: that public proclamation of principles and intent can be a powerful tool but often ends up an inflexible straightjacket that hinders and restricts creativity and ability to adapt. Instead I wanted to illustrate a few guiding principles that help shape both my design and influence my life.