Online Research

Find your competitors

Search for businesses similar to yours on the web, and look up the sites of your competitors.

Note the URLs of your competitors' sites, and record what you think of the site overall.

Assess the site content. What sort of information is there? How is it presented?

Find websites which appeal to you

Record the websites which are you think are visually successful. Choose 3-5 which have something visual which you like, and which you think your viewers will like. Take a screengrab or print the page. Write down what you like about it. ie: colour, layout, images, navigation. Make sure to record the URL.

Include URLs that you hate, as well

Try to explain what it is you hate about them!

Other visual content is good too –

magazine ads, brochures, photos anything that visually communicates the look and feel you want.

For some light relief, an entertaining overview of the web design process by Ping Mag.