Your website should serve as a means to an end rather than as an end in itself. Lack of clarity of purpose, poor spelling, or sloppy layout will mar its effectiveness. On the other hand a website full of gaudy graphics, animations and rambling text may attract too much attention to itself, thereby interfering with the message that you are attempting to communicate.

The primary purpose of any website is communicating ideas and emotions that lead the visitor toward a specific goal or action. Your website will be appraised, by your visitor, on its ability to present your ideas concisely, clearly and effectively.

Communication Techniques

Your ideas may be conveyed not only by the context in which they are presented but by the type of graphics employed, (i.e. or not) colors used, and the layout of the web page through which you are expressing them. All of these things will have an emotional interpretation by your visitor and ultimately decide whether or not you reach them with your ideas. Emotional response depends heavily on presentation.

Effective presentation on the web depends upon three things.

1)Graphics

Keep your graphics under control! Unless you are presenting your graphics for sale use them only for emphasis. Use your graphics to clarify or to give visual clues for the message you are trying to convey. Never allow them to overpower your page but, let them help to tell a story, present an idea, or support a theme.

2) Colors

Color is very important if you wish to evoke an emotional response from your visitor. Pick colors that you respond to emotionally and then test them on your audience to see their response. Never use more than three(3) basic colors in your color scheme. This provides a continuity in the appearance of your website.

3) Webpage Layout

Above all else strive for simplicity in your webpage layout. The cleaner your layout the more likely it is that your message will be understood by your visitors. A simple and well organized webpage makes it easy for your audience to grasp your content and act on it. Its better to add extra pages to your website than to try and cram too much information onto one page.

Gene DeFazzio is the author and webmaster of the RocketfaceŽ Workshop http://www.rocketface.com

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