Menu

• Dictionary
• Hot Shots

Directory

• Sponsors
• Billing Options
• Content Providers
• Web Hosting
• Traffic Counters
• Website Designers
• Resource Sites

Ok so it's Thursday and how it got to be this late in the week I will never know. It only seems like yesterday that I was waking up to Monday morning and wishing it was still Saturday ... and now it almost is Saturday once more.

For us this week has all been about e-commerce websites ... adding value to a couple that we built a while back as well as building out two new ones. It's been interesting to look back at those early designs we did for clients and compare them with what we're producing now.

You might think that there's not a whole lot of change you can make to a basic e-commerce site built on a popular shopping cart script but that's not we've found. There are a lot of design elements that you can incorporate into that basic shopping cart script that can make something quite plain look very different.

And that's what I want to challenge you to think about today? If you've been turning out free sites and galleries for some time now you've probably slipped into something of a groove where just about every site you produce looks very similar to most of the sites that you have produced in the past.

And if that's the case then can you do better? Can you build that basic free site or gallery but add something to it that will make it stand out from the crowd? Are there some design elements that you can incorporate into the site that will make it more appealing to the average guy or girl looking for some hot port and get them excited enough to buy what you're selling?

I think there is but I'm not sure that all that many adult webmasters are interested in looking for that extra something. Perhaps some are so set in their ways that they think that there's no need to change while others may see that the same old same old just isn't selling so well anymore but they don't know what they can do to improve things.

If you are interested in looking ways to increase the appeal of your websites and make them more likely to sell your product than put the surfer to sleep then perhaps you need to head over to the mainstream side of the Web and start looking at websites that work over there.

Over there many website designers have already looked at ways of adding excitement to their sites. They've not only looked at what might be visually appealing but they've also looked at visual elements that might trigger a person's desire to make a purchase.

To start your little wander into mainstream design elements have a look at the top two or three travel booking sites that are out there. Spend some time on the front page of each of those sites and look at what catches your eye ...what does the designer use to catch your attention?

What do those design elements then suggest to you ... what emotions do they trigger in you and where do those first visual hooks then lead you to once they have your attention?

Is it the colors that are used in the site that catch your attention? Is it the images and graphics that grab you and instantly tell a story that resonates with you? Is it the headlines ... the text ... that grabs your attention?

How do all those elements work together to ensure that you don't leave the site without at least thinking of making a purchase?

Look at them carefully and maybe even jot down a few notes so that you have something to work with when it's time to go back to your own websites.

Once you've finished looking at those booking sites wander over to some of the top airlines' sites and see how they do it. Look at the visual cues and see how they impact on you as well as looking at the other elements that I mentioned a little earlier.

Check out some of the top retail sites as well and look to see how well those design elements work together to pull you in and encourage you to part with your money.

Now head back to your latest free site or gallery ... does it do as good a job of turning a surfer into a buyer as those mainstream sites you looked obviously do?

If your sites aren't as good then what can you do to improve them? You've obviously seen how the big guys in mainstream do it so what have you just learned and what can you apply to your websites?