Your website says a lot about your business. Before visitors read a single word, they’ve already formed an impression from your colours, fonts, layout and how easy your website is to use. That’s why web designers spend so much time getting these details right.
Of course, you want your website to say good things about you: that you’re professional, trustworthy and easy to deal with. But some design choices can send the wrong message, frustrating visitors and sending them straight to a competitor.
Here are four areas of web design that have a big effect on the impression people get when they visit your website for the first time.
1. Intrusive Pop-Ups and Ads
Few things frustrate visitors more than a pop-up or ad that jumps in front of the content they came to see. Pop-up windows that appear in the middle of the screen, often called modal windows, can be particularly annoying, because visitors have to stop and deal with them before they can carry on.
Used carelessly, they make your website feel pushy and cluttered. They can also harm your Google rankings. Google may rank pages lower if intrusive pop-ups block the main content as soon as someone arrives from a search, especially on mobile.
That doesn’t mean you can never use pop-ups. A well-timed, easy-to-close pop-up offering something useful, such as a discount for signing up to your newsletter, can work well. The key is to avoid showing them the moment someone arrives, make the close button obvious and never let them get in the way of what visitors came for.
2. The Use of White Space
White space, the empty space around text, images and other elements, is one of the most useful tools in web design. It makes your content easier to read, helps important information stand out and gives your website a clean, professional look.
Some websites treat empty space as something that must be filled, cramming every corner with text, images, ads and links. This doesn’t make a website look more professional or detailed. It just makes it harder to read and harder to use. It can even make visitors suspect the content is filler written for search engines rather than for them, and they’ll leave.
If you have a lot of content, break it up with clear headings, short paragraphs, bullet points and images. Better still, edit it first. Cutting unnecessary words often makes your message clearer and more persuasive. Your content deserves to be read, so make sure visitors can read it comfortably.
3. 404 Error Pages
However well your website is built, visitors will sometimes land on a page that doesn’t exist. Perhaps they followed an old link or mistyped an address. When that happens, they’ll see a “404 Page Not Found” error.
Even if you regularly check your website for broken links using a tool such as Screaming Frog, some 404 errors are unavoidable. What matters is what visitors see when they hit one. A plain error message is a dead end, and most people will simply leave.
Instead, create a helpful custom 404 page that:
- Explains, in a friendly way, that the page can’t be found
- Includes a search bar so visitors can look for what they need
- Links to your most popular pages, such as your homepage, services and contact page
- Matches the design of the rest of your website
This shows visitors that you want to help them, and gives them every reason to stay. If you’ve moved or deleted a page, set up a redirect to send visitors (and Google) to the most relevant page instead.
4. Background and Foreground Colours
You may have found a background design you love, only to discover that your text and other content don’t sit well on top of it. If text is hard to read against its background, something has to change, even if that means letting go of a design you like.
Poor contrast between your text and background makes your website difficult to read and navigate, especially for people with visual impairments and anyone viewing on a phone outdoors. It also suggests that you care more about how your website looks than about the experience of the people using it.
An attractive website is important, but your content and usability should always come first. Make sure your text contrasts clearly with its background. Free online contrast checkers can tell you if your colours meet accessibility standards. With a little care, you can have a website that looks great and is easy to read.
Make Sure Your Website Says the Right Things
Your website’s design sends a message about your business, so make sure it’s the right one. Avoid intrusive pop-ups, give your content room to breathe, turn your 404 page into a helpful signpost and make sure your content is always easy to read.
If you’re not sure what your website is saying about your business, get in touch with Whelan Web Design. We’re a Waterford-based web design agency helping businesses across Ireland, and we can help make sure your website makes the right first impression.
