This is a guest post by Nerissa M., a content writer from Los Angeles, California.

What are the tricks that make a website favored, or shown around the office? What does a company need to do to help a website have its own tone? What should people ask of their website designer when they need their website to be of the highest quality? Here are several key points to discuss with your website designer when having your website – which is your online home for your business – designed.

1. Consider Your Colors

The palette you choose for your website can be one of the most important aspects as it gives the customer a clear idea of your business personality. Some companies spend tens of thousands of dollars getting the right branding, and color is a very important aspect of this. When it comes to color, there are many choices to be made.

A website for an industrial or trades company should stick to muted, basic colors that mimic the grey of steel, the green of recycling bins and the shade blue seen on industrial product containers.  Bold pinks and flashy neon hues will make an industrial company’s website look more like a site for a club or fashion house.  Similarly, however, a company that sells excitement and experiences (clubs, bars, entertainment centers, theatres, etc.) should shy away from somber, minimalistic shades and use bright, eye catching colors (in moderation).

If you are unsure of what colors to use, ask your website designer.  They know the importance of using color to set the tone of your website.

2. Find the Proper Font

Readability on the Internet is an art. Not only does the proper font add a sense of personality, it helps the customer read, guiding the eye with the smooth placement of lines and angles. As any website designer will tell you, there’s no need to get too creative with your choice. Scripts and playful fonts can be almost impossible to read online.

As anyone who has read comics—newspaper or graphic—will understand, font gives a tone of voice and at times can come off as loud and repugnant to smooth and sarcastic. Give proper thought to how your words appear, because it’s you that’s appearing in them.

3. Know Your Navigation

A site can look fantastic, can play soft classical music at different pages, it could even call your customers by name when they sign in, but if the navigation doesn’t make sense you’ll be left with few people standing at the doorway and none of them entering the labyrinth.

The easiest way to approach website navigation is just that: easy. Here a website should follow as many of the staid styles of leveling as the others, with the key word being “intuitive.” It makes sense that the link should lead to this page, and that to get back you just click the logo or home tab. While creativity in arrangement can make a website interesting, the customer will want to know at all times where they are, how to get to where they want to go, and how to go back to where they were. Your website designer should ensure your site has a smooth navigation system, no matter how many pages or links you require.

4. Get Imaginative with the Imagery

A typical website appears as such: title across the top, menu bar underneath with links to different pages, the center of the page filled with text describing the last update to the site, and advertisements running up and down the sides of the page. While it’s important that your customers know where to go, there’s no harm in getting creative and playing with how your page links are displayed. Allow your website designer to display their creativity.  Breaking apart from the usual placement will engage the customer, and most importantly, have them remember your page.

These are only a few of the general tips you can discuss with your website designer that will help you create a website that wakes your audience up from their usual virtual jaunts.

When searching for a website designer, look across a variety of websites and consider their color, font, navigation, and the imagery that makes the site pop to you.  Note what resonates with you and show your list to your website designer.
Image by Vancouver Film School, used under its Creative Commons license.