Website fundamental #5: Keeping your business website clutter-free
2nd November, 2009 by Jo
‘A clutter-free website is essential to the user experience’ is the fifth of Alick’s website fundamentals.
Just a few years ago, a Flash-based website containing all the bells and whistles a web designer could conceive of after four double lattes was seen as the web design zenith. It was an exercise in showing off, often accompanied by a distinct sense of panic in the user as they found themselves thrown into a pool of whirling effects with no navigational conventions. Designed to ‘engage’, the end result was often a slow moving, frustrating turn-off.
The current mantra in web design is ‘usability’. Most of your visitors will have a specific target in mind when they access your site initially – are you helping them get there quickly, or are they distracted by a slow loading splash page, pop-ups, ’sparkly’ banners and irritating videos or voiceover?
Although you may regard your website as a work of great beauty, every word and pixel honed to perfection, users just want to know where to click to get what they want. When designing for the web – less is most definitely more!
* Optimise your site structure so navigation is clear and logical
* Make pages easy to scan, using carefully chosen sub-headings and bullets to break up large areas of text
* Use white space to guide the viewer to important ‘clicks’ and create an organised presentation of information on the page
* Edit your copy ruthlessly so every word adds value
* Follow labelling conventions – whilst it may be cute to ‘drop us a line’, a busy user will be looking for ‘contact us’.
Based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, contact miggle.co.uk for website development, content management and online media services in the UK and worldwide.
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Tags: website design