As stated on our home page, knowing the goals of your website is the best tip there is. Beyond that, our SEO page and Advice page both present a considerable amount of information. In addition, there are many, many books on web site design, and we cannot convey everything learned from several years of design education. However, we can state a few items that may not be obvious to everyone, and hopefully can benefit the novice web designer.

If you want to know "How to build a trucking website", we suggest you take pen to paper, and begin outlining your site. Then, if you've never built a site, start searching for WISIWIG (what you see is what you get) web design software, with "drag and drop" features. Usually, these types of services are online services, and will have templates that you can modify to suit your needs. You'll then need to make sure your site is optimized as much as possible.

Ok - first, please do not begin your transportation website with the words similar to: BBB Transportation has been in business since 1986. Why? Well, besides the fact that it is trite and verbose, it also makes your company appear "small minded". Unfortunately, we have one site in our portfolio that does this, but we could not convince the owners to do otherwise. It would be much better to simply state "since 1986" just below the logo... In any case, you should remember that the first few sentences are very important. They matter not only because you need to immediately capture your visitor's attention and expand on the benefits of doing business with your trucking company, but perhaps more importantly because the search engines (especially Yahoo), pick up on these first few sentences. As you know, when you do a search, they display the title in a bold color, and just below that is usually the first sentence of your site. If it is not the first sentence, it will be part of the meta "description".

Content Division and Organization:

 Obviously you will want to have multiple pages, and you will optimize each page. Then take each page, and divide it into categories, either by color, grouping, or with graphics. The first reason is that website visitors do not retain information like they do if they were reading the newspaper. In fact, they retain roughly 30% less information. Secondly, by dividing your content into sections, you will be able to come back later and add addtional information. Content is king when it comes to getting high page rank and high search engine rank. Lastly, categorizing your information allows your visitors to more easily find what they are searching for. If you are building a truck driver recruiting website, and a visitor is searching for an OTR position based out of Atlanta, it will be much easier for them to find these jobs if you have your jobs divided into states - either graphically, or by listing. 

Graphics: We consider graphics to be secondary to search engine optimization because you can build a beautiful website, but if no one sees it, what good was all the work that went into it? But you still want to know about graphics, so, here goes: Do not let your graphics compete with each other, nor with your content. Instead make your graphics work in harmony. If the most important thing on your home page is to let people know that you specialize in Refrigerated LTL, then make your most prominent graphic close to this, or behind it, or pointing to it. Many small trucking companies, or should I say "small minded" companies, want their logo to be absolutely the largest thing on their page, as if their logo alone is their website. Surely more information and graphics can go into your website. Ours is fairly large, and it is meant to fill space as well, but it is large also because we know that our target audience likes it that way. They expect it. We try, however, to blend it in with the rest of the site, and we offer as much content as possible. If your boss wants the logo large, just try to add as much content on the site as possible, and add addtional graphics which highlight the most important things on your trucking website.

Website color choices can have a profound impact on your prospective buyers. The wrong colors can negatively impact your sales, while the right colors can trigger positive emotions motivating your visitors to buy from you.

Color can affect how we feel and influence what we think. In general, bright bold colors tend to stir us up, while the softer pastel colors calm and relax us. Responses to colors can vary by age, gender and cultural background.

Colors will affect how a potential buyer reacts to your web site. Carefully select your website color scheme, web header, and ebook cover. Here are some guidelines to help you make good color choices. Bear in mind that these are guidelines, and that there are no hard and fast rules. Just use common sense. * Consider your audience. For example, if your web site primarily targets men, then you will want to use strong, bold colors. If your target audience is women, then choose soft, pastel colors. If your focus is on children, choose bright, vibrant colors.

* Choose colors that are appropriate for your web site's topic. For example, green may work well for web sites about starting a home business, making money, and reducing debt.

Keep the number of colors down to two or three, and no more. This does not include photographs which can have whole range of colors.Communicate your message with easy-to-read text. Use colors for your trext that contrast with the background color so that your text is readable. For example, a dark font on a light background is easy to read. If your target audience if for those 50+, you would not want a dark backround with light text, as it can cause a strain on the eyes.

* Make sure that all of the colors you use work well together and do not clash.

* Consider the mood you want to create. Remember that emotions trigger sales. People buy what they want - not what they need. The list below will show you how colors can affect us in different ways.

Red - Action, energy, strength, passion, fire, heat, power, attention-getting. Can also mean love and romance. A strong masculine color. Red is a good color for a call-to-action. Red is cheerfulness, excitement, and warmth. Pink is a soft version of red. It is most associated with romance, calming affect; a feminine color.

Blue - Confidence, travel, freedom, truth, professionalism, wealth and power. Also tranquility, dependable, acceptance, patience, understanding, cooperation, comfort, loyalty and security. It is one of the most calming colors and is associated with the sky and the sea, intelligence, reassurance, and trust. Blue has also been known to be an appetite suppressant, so it would not be good for cookbooks or recipes but you can consider it for diet books.

Green - Money, wealth, prosperity, calm, health, food, nature, hope, growth, freshness, soothing, sharing, and responsiveness. Green symbolizes spring, renewal, and fertility.

Orange - Health and vitality, autumn, youthfulness, fire, steadfastness, courage, confidence, friendliness, cheerfulness, warmth, excitement and energy. Has been known to stimulate the appetite. Vibrant and warm, orange is associated with autumn and the earth.

Yellow - Light, purity, understanding, caution, brightness, intelligence, joy, organization, Spring. Yellow often represents sunshine, warmth, light, energy and happiness.

Purple - Dignity, sophistication, creativity, spirituality and mystery. Deep purple is associated with royalty and richness, while lavender is associated with romance and nostalgia.

Brown - Credibility, stability, the hearth, home, the earth, wood, comfort and strength. Brown can be used as a neutral or a warm color.