flashy, attention grabbing webpage help?

Question

k i need help...heres the thing i need to know: when you go to a website that you like, what grabs your attention when you first enter it? what keeps you at that site? what makes you want to check it out more? im building a website and a really good way to build a site people will like with music i make and to make it something people like, i need opinions from them hehe, any opnion, suggestion, or comment is more than welcome, so please speak up :)

Answer 1

Ultimately, content is king. If you can think of something people want, they will forgive any other error, no matter how egregious. Take the example of MySpace, which sometimes suffers a "Sorry, an unexpected error occurred" page rate of 20% or more. The site is cluttered and hard to use, and not exactly easy on the eyes, either. And yet it is consistently in the top 10 as far as unique visitors and overall net traffic.

That is not to say that certain features don't help, because they do. Every little bit helps. But content makes or breaks the site - if you have interesting content, people will come and stay. If you don't, they won't, regardless of how flashy or pretty the site is. Sometimes, as designers, we tend to forget this because we actually look at a site's design when we are visiting it. Sometimes we even browse the web just to look at designs! But just like any other art form, no one outside of the industry is going to look at it for its own sake.

You should do research on your target demographics. If your audience is primarily tween girls, there is a mountain of research on how to appeal to them on both conscious and subconscious levels. If your primary audience is males 32-45, there is another mountain of research for them.

There is also plenty of research dedicated to your specific question of what hooks a visitors attention when s/he first hits the site. To get a good idea of this, try studying magazine covers. Break down the design elements and the content and see how they use certain techniques to pull your eye in certain directions, and to make the contents very enticing.

Also, think about what kind of visitors you want to attract. BMW's website doesn't try to hook people on the first page because BMW knows that people visiting their site have a specific purpose and don't need to be convinced. BMW gets you to their website through other forms of persuasion. Some sites depend on grabbing visits of happenstance, like some stores depend on people walking in on impulse while on a stroll, but most sites get visitors by having something visitors already want - content.

Answer 2

Study this site:

http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/

and learn from the mistakes of others. It's hard to say what will appeal to everyone or most people. I know I've got a pet peave against any site that uses a dark background with light text. People have studied this and it is well known that readers are more comfortable with dark text on a light background.

Answer 3

Usability is a big topic in web design. Check out http://www.coolhomepages.com

Just remember that most internet users will not be as tech savvy as you....so the interface should be clean, free of clutter. Navigation should be very easy to use...Be careful with multimedia....because not everyone's system is the same as yours...you may make something beautiful on your development machine that people with old browsers or slow internet connections...or lack certain plug-ins can't view.....they will never come back.
Color theory is also important.....So I'm saying one thing....make your site as easy to use as possible...that is half the battle...now you can think of cool content to add.

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Answer 4

First thing which strikes is the site should have a flash presentation... preferably dark colors and contrast should be maintained between background n presentation.. music should be some sort of revealin... more over it should not take too much time to take..

then after that web page should contain catchy images and contrast is one thing which u cant miss anytime... they words u use for menu also matters... any more info needed feel free to contact me.. i took web designin as hobby...

Answer 5

I like a clever question that requires a play on words answer. I also like the kind of free association Buk does.

Answer 6

Half naked chicks.