Proven Website Design Tip – Keep It Simple, Stupid!

KISS = Keep It Simple Stupid = Keep your website simple, a proven design strategy that wins over visitors every single time.

People are constantly distracted by emails, texts, social media other digital stuff that causes us to have shorter attention spans.

Thanks to smart phone addiction humans have a shorter attention span than goldfish, according to the Daily Telegraph.

How many times have you forgotten what you were supposed to be doing because you were distracted by a funny video or you couldn’t stop scrolling on Instagram?

Don’t assume that just because people visit your website they are going to stick around. They want instant gratification and information. Do not make them think! Read this great article on KISS Metrics blog – they discovered if consumers felt that an option was simple or easy, it made them more likely to spend their money.

Simplicity Makes People Happy, Think Better and Spend Money!

• Your website should be written easily enough for a 5th grader to follow.
• When you are designing and writing on your website you should never assume that anyone knows anything. Keep it Simple!
• Write for humans in plain English, no fancy words, no jargon, no technical speak, or no made-up words.
• Copy should be be easily scanned by the reader, nobody is going to read all of your text.
• Have bolded text, short paragraphs, images, videos, and infographics to keep their attention.

ASK PEOPLE FOR FEEDBACK!

Always have a few people (who do not have any prior knowledge of your business) take a look at your site and have them give you feedback.

Having fresh-eyes look at the site will uncover user problems that the designer or company owner who created the problem often can’t see.

Were they able to figure out what your site was about immediately?

Were they confused and not sure what you wanted them to do?

You only have three seconds to get your message across, if your visitors to your site cannot figure what it is about in 3 seconds they will bounce.

Simplifying and clear messaging is definitely something you should look into if your bounce rate is high.

STATS:

Google’s research discovered that simple websites — those with low visual complexity and high prototypicality — were much more appealing than complicated websites. One of the most surprising findings of the study was that people can tell whether a website is simple or complicated in 50ms (just .05 of one second).

TIP #1: YOUR WEBSITE SHOULD TELL A USER RIGHT AWAY WHAT YOUR COMPANY DOES AND WHY THEY SHOULD CHOOSE YOU.
Probably the biggest offender of most websites, is that it is unclear what you are offering. Why? Because once your page loads, users form an opinion in .05 seconds. Leave YOUR EGO at the door and tell then what you can do for them and what problems you can solve for THEM!

TIP #2: DO NOT PUT YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ICONS AT THE TOP OF YOUR WEBSITE
This is a common problem for websites to have, and directs users to leave your site right away. Once they leave your site for social media, they fall into a scrolling rabbit hole and may never come back to your site. Do not encourage distraction. Put social icons in the middle or at the bottom of the page. Put them anywhere but the top!

Click link to learn more about Common Website Design Mistakes.