Most businesses in Orlando operate on a local level.  We cater to the local Orlando market.  Whether you are a local roofing contractor, a liquor store owner, or a family law firm, your core market resides within just a few miles from your establishment.  It is a known fact, that people prefer working with local vendors in their community, even if a purchase occurred online.  As such, isn’t it time you took a closer look at your header to see what you can do to make it more appealing to your local clientele?  Here are a few thoughts about your header we’d like to share with you:

• Your header must have a purpose. For your local Orlando business, it has to  reflect the theme and content of your website.  Think of a good book or a magazine cover.  Without quality design and style, you wouldn’t give it a second look.
• If you are truly a local business, add something local into your header.  You could have an image of Orlando for example.
• Have a call to action.  Don’t expect people to simply contact you.  Ask them.  Invite them.
• Place your phone number in the header.  Despite all the buzz about social media, many people still like the good old telephone.
• Your logo should be in the top left-hand corner.  You want to brand yourself and it’s the first thing a viewer sees.  Now, having said this, make sure the logo is crisp and clean.  Also, make sure your logo is not overpowering the header.
• The logo has to be clickable, meaning it has to link back to your home page. This is becoming standard practice for header design.
• Not all headers need images, sometimes less is more.
• A good header will showcase something relating to your product.  If you practice family law, put a photo of a family in the header.  If you are an Orlando AC contractor, perhaps place an image of an ac unit in the header.
• If you use white text, make sure there is a background color in the header to showcase the white text again.  This is important if for some reason the image doesn't appear on the screen or the user has "show images" turned off.   Doing this, will allow your white text to still be visible.
• If the image in the header has a main feature, position the text so it doesn't cover the main subject of the image.
• If the text is hard to read against a busy area of the graphic, perhaps of downtown Orlando, position the text to a less busy area of the header image.
• Make sure the color of the text is easily seen by your viewers and doesn't clash with the header colors. Fluorescent orange text on a lime green background is extremely painful. Downright angry!
• Finally, this one is often overlooked. They mentioned that the header is part of the site's identity and how a good header invites people to remain on the page because it catches their attention and the content matches the header's look and "feel". Not every header has to have pictures in it, it can be text. And over and over they told me that a cluttered header may be packed with information, but clutter is still clutter and that mouse click away happens REALLY fast. Don’t Clutter!!!!!

Do you have any other tips to share?  Tell us what you think!  If you'd like us to research a specific topic about web design, please let us know.