Web design is easy to get wrong. If you want your website to capture the attention of visitors, it’s best to take a couple of steps back and gain some perspective on what it’s purpose actually is. It can be very easy to get caught up in the details. Here are some points to consider.
1. Looks are important
You may not like to judge a book by it’s cover, but online, appearance is the most important thing after search placement. If your site doesn’t look right on first impression, visitors won’t stick around long enough to find out if what you’re offering is relevant to their search term. The very fact that Google has recently introduced Instant Preview – a function to allow searchers to vet websites according to a thumbnail of their homepage – is proof of this.
2. Design is about more than just looks
Design doesn’t just refer to the way your homepage looks. It helps to think of your website as a structure, like a building: it’s design is like the architectural blueprints and floor plans of a house. In the same way you need to consider which way the door to each room opens, you need to make sure that each page on your site links to the others in a logical way. This is easier to stay on top of if you remember that less is more with web design. Start with the basics and work your way up.
3. Don’t be too flash
Flash may look great, but it’s not very practical. When people visit your site, they want to be able to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily; lavish animation just presents another barrier. Richard Graham from My Sydney Detour discovered this the hard way. He went through countless web designers, all of whom tried to make his business’s website look and feel as interactive as possible, at the cost of simple navigation. After taking some sound advice, Graham stripped the gimmick right down to a simple theme, and straightforward navigation. Have a look: it’s clean, simple and effective.
4. Avoid clutter
Don’t have too much on your homepage. Having a cluttered page is going to scare your buyer away. A busy page is like a messy room: uninviting. If there is space for your homepage to breathe, it’s more likely that your visitors will stay for the 3-5 seconds it takes for them to figure out if your business is relevant to them or not. More like this, less like this.
5. Above the fold
As with email newsletters, the most important part of your entire website isn’t just your homepage – it’s the part of it that visitors see as soon as they arrive. The ‘fold’ is the cut-off point for their very first look at your homepage, before they start scrolling down and exploring. It’s vital that the information that appears above the fold shows them that they’ve come to the right place. This site is a perfect example.
There’s no such thing as ‘good enough’ in web design. Want to know how to improve your site? Get a free website review from Netregistry.
In Luke Telford’s article “Five steps to better web design” he starts off with the hypothesis that design of your web site is the determining factor to make visitors ‘stick around’. He goes on to say “appearance is the most important thing after search placement. If your site doesn’t look right on first impression, visitors won’t stick around long enough to find out if what you’re offering.”
I would be interested to know what research there is that backs up Luke’s theory.
My site, veggiepatch.com.au is certainly not a design masterpiece, in fact it is mundane to dull and boring, but we still get new visitors and make sales so we must be doing something right.
As a visitor to those sites he highlights with approval in his article I doubt if it is the design that keeps the visitors. It is much more likely in my view that visitors to the sites are there because they have an interest in the goods or service offered and the design does not deter them. So my take on the good design theory is that it has very little influence but ugly and/or confusing design will definitely deter visitors.
However, if Luke has some convincing data that shows good design will improve visitor retention please tell us about it as I will be the first in line outside the web designer’s door.
Hi John – thanks for your comment. I’m glad to hear that your business is doing well.
Aesthetic design is one deciding factor in converting visitors to customers. I stand by the suggestion that search placement is the most important thing, but I’ll elaborate on why and how it’s important. I should’ve explained that where your business appears in search is contingent on how relevant it is to what the searcher is looking for. The success of Veggie Patch is probably due to the fact that Google et al. deem your site’s content relevant to people looking for ways of protecting their veggie patches from weather, insects and possums. And it is; I just typed ‘protecting vegetables’ into Google, and there you are: 2nd place, first page.
When people type something into a search engine, they’re not after a flashy website; they’re after relevant information. I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing by your success that your website fulfils this need, regardless of its design.
Hi Guys,
Good article and interesting debate. I think that you have both nailed it! As a consumer, when I search, I gauge a websites ability to provide me with what I want in about 5 seconds. If it’s not easy to read, well layed out etc etc then I out and onto the next site. Having said that – there is a delicate balance between having a good clear layout and design that potential customers are drawn too, but that Google can understand also and give you a good ranking.
John, I had a gander at your site and i was immeadiately interested. A great range of products listed down the LH side had me intrigued (similar to me walking into a hardware) so although you dont rate you design as all that your website actually communicates knowledge, expertise and passion with would hook me in everytime.
It’s like the old sales addage – no one buys the last packet of gum on the shelf.
So, to conclude I think the real answer is a variation on both your comments depending on Luke’s no 1 point – Whats the purpose of the site?
Thanks,
Greg
Thanks Greg for your feedback, very interesting. I look at my site and I tend to think it is very ordinary but it was interesting to get your reaction.
Perhaps, unconsciously, I actually hit on a design strategy that Luke would approve of!
Cheers
John