≡ Secrets of Successful Web Design
Successful websites have a simple design, elegant and clear, content and are user-centric. Is it possible to achieve perfection with a minimalistic design? Yes it is.
Think that in one-two years we will all access the Web using handhold devices (PDAs, mobiles, iPods and so on). Of course we will want to get straight to the content of a site. Who wants to waste time waiting for heavy graphics to load? And who cares about fancy decorations on a site when all they need is to buy a book, or a tie, or an electronic device?
Each website has a purpose. The problems appear when the designers fail to understand this purpose.
You want to sell luxury villas, but your website has the cheapest-looking design imaginable. No matter how much SEO you will do on your pages, your website will never sell. Because it fails at sending out its message to the right target. All people looking to buy a luxury villa will rather trust such a site: http://www.thevillaagency.co.uk/ then something like this: http://www.poolsidevilla.com/
Luxury villas are all about comfort and aesthetics. If you fail delivering this message with your website, how do you expect people to buy?
The same goes for any industry: understand your market first, then design. And when you design, don’t flatter your own ego with needless elements of decor. Don’t use background colors that distract from the message.
Do you want to know the secret of successful web design? It’s called Web 2.0.
The Web 2.0 design style has some major characteristics – perfectly illustrated by Ben Hunt
- Simple layout
- Centered orientation
- Design the content, not the page
- 3D effects, used sparingly
- Soft, neutral background colours
- Strong colour, used sparingly
- Cute icons, used sparingly
- Plenty of whitespace
- Nice big text
Probably the most important lesson to learn from this article is “design the content, not the page.”
Because this is what Web 2.0 is all about: user-centric content.
Designing the content doesn’t mean ignoring artwork, but understanding that images and animation ARE content. Therefore they should be used to bring value for the visitor and not to decorate.
To demonstrate how Web 2.0 design works I’ve chosen a random site: http://www.cravattificio.com/ - belonging to an Italian manufacturer and distributor of ties.
All major characteristics identified by Ben Hunt (minus the 3D effects and the nice big text) are there.
Cravattificio has a centered design and keeps the use of colors and images to a minimum. As a matter of fact, as you can see from the screenshots, the images are not only related to the content of the pages, they are content. There are no other images to distract the visitors from the purpose of the site. Everything is clearly structured. On the main page, the already classical 3-column design, which almost became a standard of the Web 2.0, gives enough information to make the users want to spend more time on site.
The site is also designed with accessibility in mind. Users can control the size of the fonts, either by clicking on the font-size buttons displayed on the site, or by using any other browser options. Can’t use a mouse? No problem: you can browse faster with your keyboard anyway. I could go on praising the design of the site forever. What else can you do when you see a site that respects web design standards, validates, is user-centric and goal oriented?
But the most important aspect of designing for the Web 2.0 is that the sites are SEO ready.
This particular site doesn’t need major SEO work anymore. All pages are already optimized. Sure, there’s always room for more, and for fine-tuning, but right now, the site ranks high in the search engines for its major keywords (for example cravatte personalizzate) and I can safely say that it deserves its place.
This is how SEO and web design should work to achieve online success. Here the designers win our praise, but the company wins the needed traffic for what it sells. And the visitors win an unique experience on a site that truly meets all expectations.
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October 4th, 2007 at 6:26 am
I try to abide by all these criteria in my work. It just makes sense. Apart from the attractive fresh clean looks these create, readability and navigation around a site is enhanced and the content stands out. Graphics can then be used to their best effect within the content without restriction being imposed by the overall design.
One aspect that I find a lot of designers do not abide to so much is the ‘nice big text’ I think that trying to cram too much in, by using smaller text to avoid scrolling, can spoil a page. Other methods of highlighting content can be used instead.
You have written another great post and the trail that led on via Ben Hunt’s article gave me much enjoyment and helped fuel ideas.
October 4th, 2007 at 10:33 am
Oh, yes. You blog is a very good example of elegance and refinement in design. I think this will be one of the next threads at The Dog Yard.
October 9th, 2007 at 9:05 am
Hi Mig,
I’ve been trying to finish this article and also comment in a meaningful way for about 4 days
As it looks like my ideas run amok and I hate the “I agree with what you’ve said” approach, there’s not much left 
Great piece as always. I think what you said about luxury villas can be extended to all services. If you promote high quality and comfort, you site has to breathe high quality.
I like clear looks of sites. Stylish or minimalistic, I don’t care as long as I can find my way through. I am also quite sensitive to fonts they choose and their size. If reading the content is a big pain, I quit. I’ve seen “trendy&cool” sites written in way too many colors and I instantly feel tired when reading them.