An Ounce of Image is Worth a Pound of Performance | Top 4 Tips for Website Design

They say an ounce of image is worth a pound of performance.  While certainly the quality of one's performance is what ultimately grasps and maintains the customer, the fact is, that initial impression to even grasp the customer's attention up front will make or break a business or brand.  Below are top 4 tips for helping to make sure that first "image" is grabbing your future customer's attention and by doing so, giving the impression that they will be receiving the quality of that "pound of performance" that your image suggests they will:

1.  Identify and Express Your Brand
What are the distinct attributes of your brand?  What makes you and your product unique?  The visual elements of your Website should convey a look and feel that is consistent with your brand.

2.  Fonts for Maximizing Marketing
Fonts have a distinct personality and feel and you will want to make sure the font matches the personality of your brand and Website feel.    If your business is a hotel that is very traditional and well-established, you may use a traditional type face with serifs to convey a traditional and relaxed impression.  The other item to consider is legibility.  How easy will it be for your visitors to read the font? In most cases, super fancy fonts are better in very large sizes to display a link but are not ideal for the content of a site.

3.  Use Pictures & Video
Photographic images on a Website used to be a considered a novelty many years ago. Now they are a necessity.  Often a client will book a service based on the quality of images on the site.  And triply so with the bridal market.  As one bride said, "If the images on a Website of a wedding vendor are non-existent or dated or limited, I will not inquire on their service, no matter how highly they are recommended.  Their Website is their chance to put their best foot forward."

Images should be plentiful, current and show a wide variety of styles of events and colors.  Certainly larger images take longer to download, so consider this when building your Website and Gallery.

Now almost all leading event businesses have a short "commercial" or video clip on their homepage for viewers to see, either touring the wedding site or showcasing various events or providing a personal interview with the wedding vendor.  It's a great way to add life to showcasing your services and personality and brand.

4.  Colors
Background colors of Websites range from pure white to pure black and every color in between.  There is no "one" color that is automatically better than another.  It is the overall "feel", including the font, color, style  and type of images used that determine the best Websites.  Always remember your product and image.  For example, a corporate hotel chain or transportation company (train or airline) may use a pure white background while a destination wedding location in the Caribbean may use a more relaxed font, lots of explosive colors, etc. 

By really honing in on what your brand is and what you want to convey first, this will help as you tie together the most effective Website design to match your product.