Homestead Blog

Some of you know that Homestead has a Design Services group that builds websites and online stores for members who want help with their designs. They’ve also analyzed a lot of other sites to suggest changes that business owners can make to maximize their results from the SearchLight marketing program. Because of what they do, they know what works well for websites and what doesn’t. The principles they follow can be useful to anyone building or maintaining a website, so I’ve invited Pamela to share some of their ideas with you – Rochelle.

Design concepts can change, but no matter how many sites we build for our members some principles remain the same. I’ve put together a list of some of them here that you can use as a guide for turning your own site into an efficient, professional online presence for your business.

Let’s start out with a couple of common website problems that can hurt your chances of converting a visitor to a customer:

• Site is difficult to navigate — If visitors to your site can’t find their way to the information they need quickly, they’ll likely give up and look elsewhere.
• Site looks unprofessional — If your site is cluttered or visually unappealing, it can be a turnoff to visitors and affect the way they perceive your company, no matter how successful your business actually is.

These problems are common but easy to fix:

• Consider your site goals— What do you want your customer to do on your site? Whatever it is, make sure your home page highlights information that will help them do what you want, like your phone number if you want them to call you.
• Optimize your layout — Recent studies show that visitors scan websites from the top left corner to the lower right. So the best place for your navigation menu is near the top of the page or vertically on the left, and make sure you keep key points about your business near the top so your visitors won’t have to scroll down to find it.
• Keep your site design simple —Try using a standard design with a simple color scheme of 2-3 colors for all your pages, so that your logo, text, and background images have a consistent look no matter what page your customer is viewing. Visitors shouldn’t feel like they’re going to a completely different site when they navigate to another page; a site with an inconsistent look from page to page can undermine your company’s credibility.
• Organize your site navigation — It’s easy to overload your navigation menu with too many buttons or links.  You don’t need to list every one of your pages in your navigation menu; think of it as a Table of Contents, rather than an Index. For example, if you have separate pages for different services you offer, try linking those individual service pages from one main Services page. A good basic navigation we use frequently is: Home, About Us, Services, Testimonials, and Contact Us.
• Make your text work for you — Be concise, using just enough words for people to clearly understand what you offer without overwhelming them. Consider using bullet points to break up large amounts of text so your page will be easier to read, and use bold text sparingly; if your entire paragraph is bold, how will your visitors know what’s important?
• Make your images look their best — Re-size your images with a photo editing tool before adding them to your site. There are many tools out there for free that can easily crop excess background so the focus of your image is clear.
• Test your online store — If you sell things online, test your site by placing an order yourself and see what you’re asking your customers to do. Verify that the shipping and sales tax you’ve set up is correct, and that your return policies are clearly stated on your site.
• Give visitors a reason to come back — Update your content often so that people see your site as a useful resource. One of the worst things you can do is leave outdated information on your site, like listing an event as upcoming when it has already passed. Offer your visitors fresh content and you’ll keep your site on their radar.

Remember, your website speaks for you so make sure it’s saying the right thing as efficiently as possible. If there’s one thing my team has learned, it’s that less is sometimes much, much more.

And be sure to check your Site Statistics regularly. It’s typical to see the number of visitors to your home page taper off as they navigate to other pages of your site. But if you see a severe drop-off, that’s a good sign that there’s something about your home page you need to fix so it stops turning visitors away before they can move further into your site.

I hope you find these tips helpful. Good luck with your site, and if you have any questions about design please let us know!

Ron, from our Creative Services group, is back to give you some more insight into how to use imagery more effectively in your website design – Rochelle.

In part 1 of my discussion on using images when building your website, I talked about how to choose good existing images from free resources like the Homestead Image Library. Part 2 was about dealing with copyright issues when using image services.

Today, in part 3, I’d like to talk about using your own images in your website. Taking your own photographs is probably the best way to make sure you’re getting the exact image you need for your purpose, particularly if you have an online store.

Photos of your products are arguably the single most important part of your online store. A great image gets your customers excited about your products, and gives them the confidence to complete their purchase from your store.

The great news is that it isn’t hard to take impressive photos of your products if you keep a few simple tips in mind:

• Make your product stand out – Try using a white background to make your images jump off of the screen. Whatever background you choose, make sure that the object you’re photographing stands out against it. It’s often a good idea to use the same background consistently for all your products, so they’ll look great on the catalog page (where all the thumbnails are displayed side by side).

• Avoid camera shake – Use a tripod to avoid moving the camera and to get the sharpest possible picture. This is especially important when using natural light.

• Lighting is everything – Avoid using the built-in flash on your camera, especially in close-up situations; it can look harsh and flatten out the object. Turn the flash off and experiment with other methods of lighting, either using natural light or external lighting.

• Experiment with DIY lighting – There are inexpensive lighting boxes available at photography stores, but finding other ways to diffuse light can be fun, and they don’t have to cost a lot of money. Try using two sunlight-adjusted fluorescent bulbs in clamp lights with a reflector, and aim them at a wall near the object to bounce the light onto your product.

• Put your products on ice – My own favorite trick is to use a simple plastic ice chest or cooler as an impromptu product stage. The cooler provides a lovely even light that’s often perfect for illuminating what you put inside. Find yourself a white-lined plastic cooler large enough to fit your products, then bring it outside to a nice shady spot. Put your product inside and shoot away!

• Get closer – Most digital cameras have a macro focus setting; use it to bring your camera within inches of your product to make sure the details are in perfect focus. This key setting is often accessed by a button that has an image of a flower on it.

• Get creative – Finding creative ways to photograph your products can add excitement to your store. For example, instead of photographing your nature-themed jewelry on a table, imagine hanging it on branches. If you need inspiration, you can look on the Web; find ways to emulate the most inspiring product photos you can find.

• Let software polish your images – There are many free or inexpensive software solutions out there that can help you optimize your photos to look great on the web, and they don’t have to be difficult to use. Look for programs that have simple tools to adjust brightness, contrast and size, and those that can save images to your computer in .jpg format.

• Make your images the right size – When resizing your images for use in your online store, look at your product detail pages and choose a size that works well with the layout you have chosen. A good rule of thumb is to keep them around 300 pixels wide.

• Do it yourself – Consider making your own thumbnail images instead of allowing the Store software to create them for you. You’ll have more control and make the smaller versions of your product photos look more sharp and crisp.

I hope these tips encourage you to try your own photographs. With very little practice you’ll find yourself taking professional-quality photos in no time!