Website Feng Shui
by Amy Lasley
10 Tips for applying ancient Chinese wisdom to your 21st century technology
Is your website failing to generate the results you desire? Is there something "off" with your site but you can't quite put your finger on it? It's possible that your website's Feng Shui (pronounced Fung Schway) may be incorrect. What is Feng Shui, and what the heck does it have to do with my website you ask?
Feng Shui literally means wind and water. It is the ancient Chinese art of managing chi (energy) within spaces to stimulate feelings of harmony and well-being. According to its practice, energy enters a space or a room and circulates with symbolic force, bringing with it an array of positive and negative aspects. This energy can be utilized and arranged to bring about happiness and well being for those in the surroundings.
Feng shui in web design terms involves aligning web pages, and the user's experience of navigating the whole website, in ways which will maximize the flow of positive ch'i. Now bear in mind here that I am by no means a Feng Shui master of any kind. True masters devote their lives to the study of this most honorable, ancient art form; so if you are one of these people, please try not to take offense at my lay-person's interpretation of feng shui (...for the web of all things!).
1. Light & Color: Bright, clean pages will bring good ch'i. Darkly colored pages, or dingy color combinations are generally bad, except under very specific circumstances. Bold use of color is good, and stimulates the flow of ch'i. For example, white and blue, representing air and water, are a good color combination. Many tones of the same color (monochrome), will not be effective.
2. Life & Movement: Making a connection from cyberspace back to the real world is essential to good website feng shui. You will see that many well-designed web pages use images of something real on them, like a headshot or photo of the business location. This adds a comforting reflection of the natural world, and draws attention away from the inevitably angular nature of a browser screen.
3. Stillness: Ch'i can flow too fast, and you need areas of stillness, or a focal point, which can lift the area. On the web, this can be in the form of a logo or navigational element, which appears on every page. Whatever you choose, there should be something stable and unwavering from page to page.
4. Simplicity: Cramming your website with lots of gimmicks or flashy content can cause a ch'i tornado, which is no good at all. Simple, calming features are generally better. I have seen some sites where the flashiness and intense energy have actually culminated in something that works, but this is really the exception and not the rule.
5. Straight Lines: The Web contains far too many straight lines. Ch'i doesn't flow smoothly around these pages, and the users respond to this negatively. It is essential to have an irregular or rounded shape of some kind on each page, even if it happens to be your logo or simply the rounded shape of bullets in a list.
6. Navigation: The user must find it easy and intuitive to get around your website. If they feel that they have reached a dead end, you've got a terminal stagnation of ch'i. If users can surf effortlessly through your pages to get to where they would like to be, that's great ch'i.
7. Balance: Very simply, don't line everything up on one side or the other of the screen. Try to pretend that each element on your page weighs 5 pounds, now stack them up so the scale doesn't tip to one side or the other. Also be sure not to box yourself in, as ch'i needs a place from which to escape.
8. Harmony: Ch'i thrives in harmonious and pleasant environments. Designing websites that merely look businesslike will not give pleasure and a healthy circulation of ch'i. Try to incorporate some of your personal flair and zest into your site.
9. Killed by Content: The number one culprit of bad feng shui I encounter on websites is too much content. The boxy nature and stagnant feel of pages and pages and pages of copy would leave anyone feeling grossed out. Try to keep your content brief and too the point.
10. Web site karma? Some clients of ours have even suggested that using a hosting company which has a bad history - for example, one which has been known to stiff their customers, could create enough bad feng shui to deter purchasers. This might seem a little far fetched, but hey…you never know :)
Rubber Meets the Road-Client Spotlight
So you want to know if all this Feng Shui stuff is just hocus pocus or not? Let's take a look at a recent website redesign we did for Skyemedia, Inc.
Lyn Chamberlin is the principal of Skyemedia, she is a person that seems to have endless energy and flair. Unfortunately, her website didn't have any. While Lyn's old website offered all the basic company information required to serve its purpose, and there was nothing really wrong with it, something just didn't feel right. Without changing any of her existing branding, and with a few creative additions in content, the Skyemedia website was transformed from "eh…" to "yeah!".
Click here to see the old Skyemedia website.
Click here to see the new Skyemedia website.
Maybe its good Feng Shui, maybe its just common sense, but either way you can't argue with what works.
Kiss News
We're proud to announce that Ross was recently appointed to the Governor's Regional Competitiveness Council for the Cape and islands. We're not quite sure what that council is supposed to do, but we sure are proud. Congrats Ross!
Ross and Amy are also very pleased to be new residents of Eastham. Their new abode is a whopping 2.2 miles from the KISS offices - sounds like a rough commute!
We specialize in taking the fear out of technology by providing incredible service. KISS is Cape Cod's #1 Local Website Design and Development firm - we sell everything you need to put your business on the web.
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