You log onto your computer, smartphone, or other internet-ready device and start scrolling. What catches your attention? Articles and items that are in your areas of interest, of course, but what makes you stop and click open one over the twenty you scroll past? The answer is deceptively simple - a visual that pulls you in.
Most of 3dcart's clients are not professional photographers or graphic designers, but they create stunning photos and attention-grabbing visuals that entice their customers to choose them first. We'll share with you today a little of how they (and we) do it. For this lesson we'll focus on graphics and logo design.
eCommerce is first and foremost a visual medium. 3dcart understands that and has created software with a wide variety of webpage templates to suit the brand and mood you wish to create for your online store. Whomever your software partner may be, be sure they offer you a plethora of templates, and the ability to customize your chosen template to better suit your needs. Often, customizable templates offer dynamic visuals that will suit your brand. However, if you are not a graphic designer you may feel a bit out of your element creating an eye-catching webpage design, so if your software partner offers in-house designers, you may want to spend a little more to take advantage of their professional design expertise.
What's your brand and logo? Your brand is your unique store identity - how you want the world to see you. What's your focus as an etailer; what's the market to which you're selling? Make sure your logo reflects how you see your firm and how you want to world to perceive your online store. It should be classy, clean, easy to read, and unless absolutely necessary, should contain no "cutesy" spellings of common words. People remember conceptually and will see "cars" even if you've spelled it "carz." Your logo should hold its crispness when altered for scale, and should always look as though it is deliberately set in each area of your site; never should it appear you just copied, pasted, and slapped it up there. If there's a tag line for your firm, make sure it's used everywhere as well. Consistency is key where logos are concerned.
If you are creating an online presence for your brick and mortar business, your existing logo probably is already converted to a jpeg or the like for stationery, labels, etc. If not, you'll need to either do a high-quality photo of your logo (some firms photograph their sign or storefront), or you'll need to scan your logo and create a graphic based on that. Because your logo is essentially your online calling card, investing in a designer may be a sound decision.
There's a fine line between attention-grabbing and obnoxious, as anyone who has been annoyed by neon-colored, flashing, low-quality ads screaming the advantages of new mortgage products, cheapo car insurance, or wrinkle removers can attest. Don't be one of the advertisers that inspire winces; inspire confidence and a sense of stability while grabbing your customers' attention with graphics that invite them in.
