2. FEATURE: Chose a Website Design That’s Perfect For You

Taken from my book ‘Get Paid For Who You Are‘

Your website is your face to others on the internet. It’s important to choose a design that’s right for you.

Think about the “look and feel” of your website. Do you want your website to be packed with information or spacious and elegant? What is the mood that you want people to feel: hopeful and motivated to take action, or peaceful – knowing everything will be okay?

For instance, Leanne Ely’s menu planning solution site (http://savingdinner.com) has a breezy cheerful style with a superhero-dressed shopper flying along behind a loaded grocery cart.

That wouldn’t work as well for Anette Meier, who makes baskets by hand and markets them on her site (www.ahmbaskets.com). For her, an artsy look and font function better.

Take a moment right now to write down what you’d like your customer to feel when he or she comes to your site.

Now it’s time to surf the web to find other sites that mesh with what you’re looking for. Which sites appeal to you? Or do any of their elements appeal to you? You might find one website that makes you say, “I want those colors!” and another that makes you feel, “I like the simplicity—it’s very elegant.” You might find yet another and think to yourself, “I like how there’s a border around the whole site.” Make notes that you’ll be able to give to the designer who will design your site if you don’t intend to do the mechanics of design yourself.

Also, take a look at the images on the sites and if you like any of them, right-click the image, select “Save Target As,” and save the image to your hard drive. This doesn’t mean you’ll use that exact image — especially if it’s copyrighted — but you can show it to your designer so they know what you’re looking for. For example, you might realize that you want to use a silhouette of a woman leaping for joy on the beach to give customers a sense of what it feels like to work with you. When you’re ready to buy an image, go to www.istockphoto.com, where you can buy the rights to use an image for as little as one dollar.

During your browsing, you’ll also want to save logos you like. Obviously you won’t use other businesses’ logos, but you may find a logo that you could use as a template for your own — one that has a typeface you like or a symbol you’d like to incorporate. Keep it in your file and when the time is right, share it with your designer to give them an idea of what you want your own logo to look and feel like.

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Take Action

1) Write down what you want in your site design-wise.

2) If you do have a web site, see if your current design matches the image you want to portray.

3) If you don’t have a web site, use this information when you get your site up.

2) Share one word that you’d like your site to embody at the blog.

Love and gratitude,

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