While a lot will actual depend upon the type of business you are looking to set-up, the simpler you can make your site, the more chance you have of being successful. Even though we all like to see the flashing graphics and the bells and whistles connected to some sites, do they really impress us after we have seen the first 20 such sites?. Selecting a cheap web hosting deal will also help move your business forward. Or do we just want to get down to business and see what they have to offer?

Over time your view of these sites with great graphics will change, and before too long you will be looking for sites which do what you want, and as quickly as possible. It is common knowledge that the more options which you give a potential customer the more chance of them getting bored and leaving your site without spending. You need to ensure that there is navigation to any page on your site in no more than 3 key presses. You need to ensure that the menu down the left hand side is informative and to the point. That is the way forward…….

If you ask a customer to look for an option, or you don’t let them know what it will do, then there is every chance that you will lose them. Any more than 3 key presses to get to where they want to be will probably result in you losing them. Keep it simple, keep it clean and above all keep it bang on subject – don’t wander off into another area of business because there is no better way to lose a customer, boring them senseless!

Here are a selection of colours and some of the thoughts and actions which they provoke :-

Red

This colour signifies danger, aggression and drama. While it can be very striking, it is probably best used to alert your readers to something which may affect them in a negative way.

Pink

Pink is a very romantic and non-threatening colour which can often signify peace and calm. Often associated with romance and love, it is very soft on the eye and tends to calm peoples minds.

Orange

Orange is a very strange colour which can sometimes instil alarm, but also exudes a vibrancy and energy that few colours can portray. Orange is a very warm colour which is often used for sites where there is great activity – e.g. chat rooms.

Gold

Gold is probably at the highest level of the colours available as it gives the impression of wealth, success and happiness. The colour is immediately connected with the metal gold and the value which society seems to put on this. A very strong and bold colour.

Blue

Blue is a very deep colour which can again often calm the viewer with thoughts of what may lie under the surface. This is a very bold strong colour which exudes trust and wisdom, and is very often used with information sites, where knowledge (or the look of knowledge) is very prominent.

This is just a small selection of how you can use colours to influence the look and feel of your site, and how very often the wrong choice of colour can make a difficult project even harder. Take you time to choose the right colours, do not rush in, and ensure that you take advice from an impartial third party. Very often you can be “too close” to the situation and maybe only see what you want to see.

Let’s not forget that even though a template may be free, there is nothing to stop you adding a few personalised elements to the design, whether you change one of the colours, add a little graphic or change the text. It is very easy to do, and if you are careful you can actually differentiate your site from the original free template.

Over the last couple of years we have seen many webmasters move back to some of the more basic free templates as they can often be a very good way to highlight your site content, rather than a “busy” template which may take away the emphasis from what you are looking to deliver.

Personally I like to see the information to hand, in my face and not hidden by dark images, flashing graphics and the like. If I go onto a site to buy an insurance policy, that is exactly what I want to do, I need the basic facts presented as simply as possible with relevant links. The “busier” the site is, i.e. the more that appears to be going on with graphics, colours etc, the more chance of me just walking away to find a site which gives me what I want.

Do not forget that there is a difference between attracting your customers and taking away the emphasis from what you are actually trying to do. You may never find the perfect balance, but it is vital that you at least get close to it!

The problem with following all of the latest trends, whether this is keyword clouds, talking assistants, etc is that you are changing the whole style and look of your site on a regular basis. Many web users like to see stability to sites they visit, they actually get used to a look and feel when they return. Change can often lead to confusion amongst you potential customers, your potential income earners – so what can you do?

As we have mentioned on this site on a number of occasions, if you are looking to change the look and feel of your site, it is probably best to give your customers a little warning, and do it step by step. Maybe even give them a selection of new designs which you are considering and let them choose the one they think would best suits your site. The more involved you get your customers in the decision making process the more they feel part of the site, and the more they are likely to return.

Think of your site as a small community, with the need to talk and communicate with each other to ensure you are on the same wave length. Even ask them for ideas on occasions – you might be surprised at some of their suggestions!

As with any market on the internet, the first whiff of a little more income and the vultures swoop, cutting margins and increasing the size of markets. While the sponsorship of Word Press designs in particular has increased substantially over the last few months, we have also seen a marked down turn in the prices which are being charged in the market place. So what next?

While initially designers were selling only one link on their unique designs, this has now widened to three (or more) in many cases. Prices of up to $35 per link are well below what the best designers were able to charge when the market initially opened up. While there are other design areas which are also active, including standard templates and directory designs, there is talk that Google are watching the situation carefully.

Quite how Google would be able to tell if a link was paid or free is not clear, but they are looking to really hammer down on paid links, and footer links are high up the list. It seems that a new market which had opened up for designers may be about to close fairly sharpish, but no doubt something else will come along fairly soon. It is just a shame that new and inspirational markets are flooded by ever cheaper pricing, which ruins it for the quality players.

Over the last few months we have seen a massive increase in free sites which allow you to upload the code for your site design onto a third party site, either charging for a copy or giving away for free. The trend these days seems to be towards giving your design away for free, but leaving a number of links in the footer of the design. If your design is taken on by a high profile and high Page Ranking site then you have the potential to benefit.

While it would not be advisable to give away your latest designs, it may be sensible to try and charge a small amount for your newer designs in the short term, and then when interest starts to fade, give it away for free. The more designs which you circulate with links, the more chance you have of receiving new business enquiries to your business site (assuming that you have one).

While it can take a while to benefit from the links left in your free design give away, it can have a massive impact if it proves popular and people use the design. Everything comes to those who wait, and these things can take a while to filter through!

While it has to be said that a creative instinct and general feel for the look and style of site is something the best designers are born with, you can actually teach yourself some aspects of web design simply by checking out the array of design tutorials on the internet. These tutorials are very often free, and give an intriguing insight into the design industry, what they do and how they produce some of the more exotic designs. Whether you could actually replicate the designs to the same level as a design consultancy is another matter!

Teach yourself web design may well be an option for those smaller webmasters just setting out on their internet voyage, where maybe money is a little tight at the start and they are looking to keep costs as low as possible. It is possible to put together a perfectly acceptable website yourself, if you have both the time and inclination to do so. It will not look like a $10,000 design, but there is every chance that it will still catch the eye of your readers.

However, there is a big gap between the top notch designs which are so visible today, and the do it yourself designs, but there is always the opportunity to upgrade your design as and when the money starts to roll in!

You will regularly receive quotes ranging from £2000 upwards, with 50% upfront and 50% on completion – but also the potential for even more expense if your require “something out of the ordinary”. So what can you really afford? What is you budget? What are the alternatives?

There is no doubt that to commission your own unique design can be very expensive, and while you may be able to find cheaper alternatives to those charging a few thousand pounds, you only really get what you pay for. Many of the companies which you see at the top of the search engine keyword searches have spent a fortune on Search Engine Optimisation, and continue to advertise heavily to keep themselves in the limelight.

These are the companies which may employ some of the best designers in the industry, something which will not come cheaply. In the real world there are various levels of website design firms, with some offering the best designs around from the best designers, down to those who do it on a part time basis and are only really starting up.

Which designers you choose will depend on a number of factors including, how much you want the site to work, your budget and the market in which you will be operating. Do not be scared off by some of the more way out quotes you will receive, as there are many levels to this industry, some you will only find after much investigation.

In a perfect world where money was no problem, it would probably be best to go with your own unique design, something memorable and something which will separate you from the crowd. While this would be the preferred route, cost, and actually finding a designer to do what you want is another issue. So what other options are there?

As with all areas of the internet and online business, there are now a number of excellent templates available free of charge, or for a nominal fee. Yet again we have seen the creation of a number of sites which depend upon other forms of income, using their quality templates as a way to entice you to their site. But what are the main downsides to having a freely available template?

There are a number of issues which include :-

Your look and layout may not be unique, in that there could be tens if not hundreds of sites with the same basic design.

While this can cheapen the look of your site a little, even a unique design would still have some kind of backlink on, to advertise the designers skills.

If you are just starting out then a free template would probably be the best way forward, at least in the short term, then as and when the site grows and income begins to flow you can then look at updating the look and feel of your site.

You will require patience with any online business, and it may take some time to get where you want to, but with any luck it will be worth it!

If you look back through the history of online business one thing will also shine bright, the fact that some of the most well respected companies of today were yesterdays cannon fodder. Sites such as eBay where ridiculed in the early days, with some even disputing the success of the business model now, despite the fact it is now a multi billion dollar business!

So is it possible to set a new trend?

While it is most definitely possible to set a new trend and shape for the future, it is not without risks and can either take you to the moon, or dump you in the deepest ocean. So what about taking web designs back to the very basics, what about a text only web page – how would that go down with the online masses?

One of the main elements of any success on the internet is the surprise factor – a factor which can often attract people out of curiosity. However which way you attract you customers, when you have them at your site the rest is up to you. So would a text only site design really work? Stripping back to basics.

It may just be strange enough to catch the eye of the public, although it would still need to be well laid out and look good. Perhaps stripping out all of the flash banners, the colour blinding text and the background images would help to highlight the main purpose of your site? It is a gamble, but it is a gamble which could just work.

The truth is that we are all becoming ever more colour blind and adsense blind, with our senses looking for something else to stimulate them. Many of us are crying out for a new trend, a new look and something which catches our eye. Text only sites?

While the trend may not catch on, and would be a risky venture, it may just breathe some fresh air into what has become a very predictable and often monotonous area of the market – website design, the beauty is in the eye of the beholder!