by Torrey Douglass
September 2019 Presentation at Coast Women in Business
From “Design Strategies to Maximize Your Business”
Consider the following tips when first designing or updating your website:
- Orient your website to your customers’ needs. It’s a store, not a cocktail party.
- On the About page, business goals and website goals should be identical.
- Clarify your brand before you decide on web design
- Make a list of all the things you want people to think of when they think of you.
- Images: preferably high-quality photography; otherwise, use stock photography
- Copy voice: style of writing (e.g., sassy); include 3-5 messages – what sets you apart from the competition
- When working on marketing and social media, 2 approaches are recommended:
- Grunt test – have an idea what you want viewers to do in 2 seconds; use big images, high-contrast text, and address where they’re at and how you can do it for them
- Riddle (e.g., helping county with the census: social media images)
Critiques of members’ websites:
- Anna Rathbun – foodtherapy.us
- Has Pinterest board-type layout
- Logo is too small
- Messaging is strong, but it’s getting mixed up with the rest – needs to be separated
- Good start – needs some tweaking
- Call to action (CTA) needs to be sharper – what do you want people to do
- Michelle Lucafo – mesurrender.com
- need to have design reinforce the messaging
- Page took long time to load – host videos on YouTube instead of on site
- Use Web fonts rather than system fonts – pick font that represents romance
- Show emotion
- Background image: use selective focus with blur in background (vague and soft) to provide contrast
- Homepage can act as traffic cop (e.g., go here, go there)
- CTA needs to be sharper (e.g., I provide lessons, not I’m available for lessons)
- Lisa McCormack – affogatohr.com
- Logo: make it larger
- Inconsistency between footer and main page
- Weebly site
- Adapt introductory text – talk to customers’ fears and concerns
About the Presenter
Torrey Douglass heads Lemon Fresh Design as well as serves as art director for Word of Mouth magazine. She works with small to midsized business owners who are usually spread thin so time is critical and every dollar spent needs to generate results. Torrey’s passionate about what she does; her goal as a designer is to provide a window through which people can appreciate the unique nature of her clients and what they offer.
About Coast Women in Business
Coast Women in Business supports the business community on the Mendocino coast. We meet monthly to foster entrepreneurship and professional development on the Mendocino Coast and beyond. Membership fees are $50 annually or $10 per drop-in meeting.
Note: We welcome all – all races, all genders, all countries of origin, all sexual orientations.
Your first meeting is always free, and we offer a limited number of need-based memberships—please inquire. We’re sponsored by the Women’s Business Center at the West Business Development Center. We look forward to seeing you at our next meeting!
Please contact us with any questions. We look forward to hearing from you!