Design Revolution

Marty Note
I am looking at a lot of sites right now to help refine my ScentTrail Marketing blog. Color is tough online. A little color can go a LONG way. Websites start cold. Our job as Internet marketers is to warm them up. Here is how I like to warm up a website's design:

* Color.

* Images (with people).

* Copy (especially teaser headlines).

* Clear navigation.

* Tagging the brand (helps create a sense of being in right place).

* Clear and omnipresent contact information.

* Testimonials (quotes from others that aren't ME or US lol).

* Heroes that match the seasons (can be tough if you are a global brand).

The last one is worth discussing. Time doesn't really exist online. Lack of a sense of time is what makes websites feel like Vegas where there are no clocks; weather and you rarely go out (lol). One way you connect to emotions and feeling is to feel like Christmas when it is Christmas.

If you are a global brand a picture of snow and trees turning may not work. Instead use images that address the IDEA of fall such as people in sweaters or displace your heroes (largest images on the page) to a location that suggest fall (mountains). You can also create interesting juxtapositions - winter in the desert.

The last example uses language to connect to time. Words with time IN THEM such as Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer are POWERFUL warming words when used in connection with the calendar.