Build effective websites without using gimmicks.

Whatever the primary function of a website is, be it sales, gaining clients or recruiting new members, we all want a site that works for us. Unfortunately, sometimes developers resort to loud, gimmicky tricks to try to get people’s attention. These are some tactics that are best avoided.

No copycatting.

Too often, a client will call and say something like… “We saw this great thing on so-and-so’s site, can we put that into ours…” To this we must answer “no.”

Copycatting is bad for many reasons. First, it’s unethical. People tell our graphic design company all the time that everyone does it, but that doesn’t make it any more of a good practice.Second, you are not the company you are trying to “emulate.” You are your own brand with your own message, and trying to incorporate someone else’s design into your site will most likely make the whole thing look thrown together and unprofessional. Third, doing the same thing as everyone else will do nothing to make your brand memorable. You want to give people a reason to spend time on your site and come back and visit it more than once. If your content and presentation is not unique then your user has no motivation to do so.

Don’t insult your audience.

Giving obvious calls to action does not mean you have to yell at your users. While people need to be guided to take action online, they don’t need to be treated like complete idiots who couldn’t find a login box if their lives depended on it. You don’t have to put a bright red box with 40-point text right in the middle of your page to get people’s attention. There is a logic to website use – people read from top to bottom, right to left. They expect to see navigation and logins in certain places. Respect their logic and design accordingly.

Distraction is counter-productive.

The average web user does not like to see multiple fonts, all caps, a lot of moving text, blinking or otherwise distracting content. They also do not like to spend a lot of time looking at a page that has too much jarring color or inharmonious contrast. They do not like to have to search for things like navigation or important company information.

There is a good way to get people’s attention and a bad way. The good way is to use a limited color scheme, imagery that is consistent with your brand and one well-chosen font. Emphasize the most important parts of your website content and, of course, your navigation. This can be done through placement, color, or slight variation in font size, but it does not have to be done using features that do not go with your overall brand visual vocabulary. If people are comfortable on your page rather than distracted then your site is more likely to work for you.