This is one of the most common questions I hear – and one of the most basic when planning a site. With all the choices out there today, it can be intimidating. It can feel like staring at a blank canvas and not knowing where to start.

The short answer is that what’s right for you is what you like.

Of course there are some practical guidelines, but above all else, a website is a marketing tool – and it should represent you (or your company).

Here are some tips and guidelines to help you make the decisions that will make your website do its job effectively.

Starting Design

Places to start looking for ideas and elements:

A website, as one of your marketing materials, should coordinate with the others. (Not match, necessarily, but they should have the same look and feel so that viewers recognize them as your “brand.”)

So, start with your logo, brochure or business card. Colors and design elements can be pulled from your printed materials and used as elements in your site design.

Of course, if you no longer like what you have and want to start over, skip that step.

One of your best resources is other websites. As you surf, make note of the sites that you like – and what you like about them. You don’t want to copy other sites, but they are a good resource for colors, shapes, layouts and elements that you can incorporate into your design.

Look at the sites of people who do essentially the same thing you do. And branch out from there. You want to stand out from the crowd. If everyone in your arena has a square blue layout, you might want to consider green curves.

For even more ideas, search for sites that offer “website templates.” There are many, many such sites that you can browse for ideas.

The operative idea is that YOU have to like your website! In order to attract the people who are looking for you – your site should reflect who YOU are, and what YOU do.

Considerations

With all of that said, there are a few guidelines to keep in mind that apply to all websites.

The Web has taken our TV-conditioned short attention span to new heights. When searching for something on the Web, we have so many choices, that if we don’t find it easily in one place, we look somewhere else.

Make your menu easy to find, easy to read, and easy to understand. Refrain from the temptation to use labels for sections that make visitors have to think. If they’ve come to your site to learn about your company, “About Us” or “About” is what they most easily understand. Menu labels is one place where I discourage creativity.

Ad adjunct to the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Sweetheart) principle: A visitor to your site should be able to quickly scan the top of your front page and know they are in the right place. Headlines, bullets, graphics – things that are easy to scan and tell the “big picture” story, should be short and sweet, and right out front. Details are best left to other pages.

Make the assumption that every visitor comes to your site with one question to which they want an answer, and they want to find that answer as easily as possible. The job of your site is to facilitate that. Links that are easy to find, limited in choices, and carefully labeled will do that most effectively.