Is Your Web Site an Eyesore?
February 6th, 2009 by Jeb Foster
It’s time to ‘fess up.
Does your web site have any of the following?
- Distorted and/or low-quality images
- Lack of padding around text and graphical elements
- Dated animation or MS clip art
- Loud, off-putting colors
- Lack of white space
- Bad site navigation
- Comic Sans
- Visitor counters and/or guest books
- AdSense*
- Too many fonts
- Lack of contrast
(Here’s a complete list of web design sins. Here’s a particularly sinful web site.)
According to an survey we ran last March, 61 percent of the agents on our network have web sites. That’s the good news.
But my guess is that most of them don’t look as good as this one. In fact, I bet a lot of them [trying to find an accurate yet gentle way to put this … ] have a certain 1996 quality about them, if you know what I mean.
Design Blindness
Not everyone can see color the same way. This is not news, of course: color blindness is a well-known phenomenon. Less well-known, however, is the concept of design blindness.
Most of us are design blind (myself included), and that’s why we have designers. The problem is that everyone thinks he or she has 20/20 design vision. (This false sense of design clarity among the general populace explains why you see so many disgruntled designers out there.)
Why mind the design?
First impressions matter—particularly in the financial world. Professionalism is essential. A shoddy web site says shoddy service, shoddy product.
But design is about more than looking pretty—although I don’t intend to minimize that goal. Good design can do a number of things:
- Steer a visitor to take a certain action
- Reinforce your marketing message
- Show your expertise
- Entertain visitors
- Signal your trustworthiness
Ultimately, design isn’t a mere luxury. As another form of communication, it’s a necessity.
Related:
* Is the $3.75 you earned in AdSense revenue last year worth the visual stain on your web site?
Tags: web design
