We often hear about the benefits of clearing our homes of clutter, clearing our emotional clutter, and clearing the clutter of relationships around us. On mental, emotional, spiritual and physical levels we are encouraged to live simply with less 'stuff'. How often do we hear of applying this on our websites?
A website is a representation of who you are, not just as a business, but as an individual. Your choices for layout, colors, and content all tell a story of what you're about. This is important to know when putting a business website on display for the world to see. Much like a resume, you want to put your best foot forward because, especially on the Internet, first impressions in the first few seconds are everything.
My research has shown that the single most important factor when purchasing products or services from a website, whether directly or indirectly, is a sense of trust in the company. Your preferences in website design are responsible for building that sense of trust for your customers.
How do you build a sense of trust on your website? One of the most important factors is a clean, clear website that is free of clutter. This shows that you have a sense of order and style, or you have taken the time and expense to hire someone who does. It shows you have invested in your own company.
planning
The first thing to do is sit down with a pen and paper, away from your computer, and draw or write a site map. This is a simple list of the pages that will be on your website, and a short description of what will go on each page. It can be as comprehensive or as simple as you like; the goal here is that you create for yourself a sense of organization and clarity before you do any of the actual work. It will also help you in distributing your content evenly, instead of trying to cram everything into one small space. [ read our site map article here ]
design
The second step is to come up with a website design that is appealing, consistent and, most importantly, easy on the eye.
Your color scheme is the best place to start. Background color on a business website should be a light color. Other color backgrounds make the page difficult to read, and in some cases may give the website an amateur look which will not help build trust at all. Choose one or two main colors, then use shades of that color in complementary ways throughout the website. Unless you're a professional and can make it work flawlessly, do not use more than three colors on your website.
Pay attention to your layout, which should be orderly and neat. Do not center everything on your web pages. It is the mark of an amateur.
content
Do you have banners to other websites on your own website? One of the most common errors I see in website designs is the code for several banners added willy-nilly onto a web page. This is one of the worst kinds of clutter on a website. If you have several banners to display, create a border around them on the page, or find other ways to fit them into your design nicely.
Another component that adds to the clutter of your website is large amounts of text without 'white space' around them, mixed with different size and color images. This can be deadly if the text itself is multicolored, or on a dark or neon background.
backgrounds
If you want an uncluttered website, get rid of background images! As soon as I see a business website with a background that repeats across the page endlessly, I sense it has been created by an amateur and I move on.
All the qualities I've mentioned on a cluttered website show me that this company has not put their best foot forward. If they haven't taken the care to do so for their own business, why would I believe they would be the best product or service for my own business? Like I said, first impressions are everything.
If you don't have the expertise to make changes to your website in a professional way, hire a professional to create your website for you or you'll risk losing business when people pass by your website because you aren't showing them that you're trustworthy.
Knowing that your website is a reflection of who you are, clearing away the physical clutter on your website may also help you personally or as a company. It may create a ripple effect which will encourage you to clear your clutter in other areas or your life or your business as well. It's all related!
© 2004 Renée Deakin. All rights reserved. Copying of this article in any form by any means, mechanical or electric, is strictly prohibited without express permission from Earth Spirit Creations. You may link back to this webpage, as long as full credit is given to author. Contact us for more information.