Have you ever visited a website and on first glance you just want to close it and move on to other things? It’s a very common scenario. But there could be a reason for this. A new study that was done by a German-based web design firm called EyeQuant is offering new insights on some of the factors that may turn the visitors away.
The company used artificial intelligence to assign a clarity score on websites during the study. The score ranged between 0 and 100 and was based on the simplicity and cleanness of a website. Websites that had many ads, too much text, and many menus got a low clarity score. Minimalist sites, on the other hand, were rated higher.
The web design consultancy firm compared the clarity scores of 300 websites with the bounce rate provided by Alexa. Bounce rate refers to the percentage of visitors who leave a given site without clicking on anything. The results couldn’t be clearer. The study found that cluttered websites recorded higher bounce rates compared to clean and minimalist designs. The implications of this study on web design are simple. If you want to retain a bigger portion of visitors who come to your site every day, you need a simple, minimalist, and a less cluttered design.
But how do you achieve this?
Below are some tips that can help you:
Focus On the Three Ws
As you design your website, there are three things that need to be visible to visitors who want to do different things like for example CheckThem background checks. We call them the three Ws. The first one is what is your business selling? The second is why should customers care about it? And finally where should they go if they want to engage with you? These three things must be very clear on your site.
Know Which Elements to Include
Too much text is one of the things that could make a site look cluttered. In that case, try and limit your descriptions and texts. Try to also hide navigation in expandable menus. Limit ads and tables too.
Avoid Carousels
The idea of having slides on a website that automatically change every few seconds may appear great but they are actually a turn off to visitors. Make sure you avoid them at all costs.
Ensure Web Design Decisions Are Made By Someone Who Actually Understands the Concept
The common practice in many businesses is to have web design decisions made by the highest paid person in the company or the highest ranking executive. If these people don’t know a thing or two about web design, they could easily go for something that doesn’t really work with customers. If you are going to make decisions about the design of your website, at least make sure you consult with someone who has enough knowledge in this area.
Designing a quality website that attracts and retains customers is easy. All you need to do is to reduce clutter and encourage a simple and minimalist design. The tips above will help you in the long run.
