Marc Waldeck

Critical Components That Draw in Users By Gabrielle Mosquera Here's a ratio: Home page is to Web site as storefront is to retail and cover is to catalog. In short, it's the first impression prospects have of your company, and a critical one at that. In fact, a home page has to work even harder than a retail storefront or print cover because it must facilitate transactions further on in the site, says Bridget Fahrland, executive creative director at e-business consultancy Fry Multimedia. "It can't just be about catching the eye. Something there has to get [customers] to go deeper," she explains.

Here’s an analogy: Home page is to Web site as storefront is to retail and cover is to catalog. In short, it’s the first impression prospects have of your company, and a critical one at that. In fact, a home page has to work even harder than a retail storefront or print cover because it must facilitate transactions further on in the site, says Bridget Fahrland, executive creative director at e-business consultancy Fry Multimedia. “It can’t just be about catching the eye. Something there has to get [customers] to go deeper,” she explains. Though much of home page design depends on each cataloger’s

Not long after adding color to its Web site, carollgardens.com (gardening cataloger) was overwhelmed with orders and had to buy a new shopping cart application for its site. "If you compare two offers, and one has a description and one has color, the one with color always sells more," says Marc Waldeck, managing director of marketing strategy firm Brave new Markets, the site's designer.

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