Information overload – it’s the nature of the beast when it comes to the internet. We are all bombarded with more information that our brains can process. Websites used to be much simpler to decipher back in a day. Today, with all the technologies and solutions at hand, designers go overboard often producing their next “masterpiece” for people to marvel over. In reality, such intense websites work for only a handful of situations (typically personal websites can get away with it). For businesses, however, simple is best.
You potential visitor gives you 5 seconds for you to sell them your product or service before they move on to your competition. In those 5 seconds they need to:
- figure out what your service / product is and
- whether you provide what they seek
There are many things that can drive your visitor crazy and yes… drive them away quicker then they came in. Flash introductions, mysterious/lack of usable navigation, icons/buttons all over the place making your head spin are just a few examples. What your web site needs instead is simplicity. Look at Google, craigslist. They are as simple as it gets but they offer value to the visitor. This is what you need to concentrate on.
Keep it simple and your visitors will be happy (again, concentrate on high quality content and they’ll stick around). Keep it clean and crisp. And of course, when you hear “you can never have too much white” you better believe it.