If someone gets in touch to ask about a new website to replace an existing one, one of the first things I’ll ask is why they think they need one.
Quite often the answer is, “Because the current one looks old.” Sometimes that’s true and fair enough. Technology moves on, businesses evolve and websites inevitably start to show their age. Sometimes business clarify their direction over time and the website needs to reflect that.
But after a bit of conversation and giving the site a look over, we usually realise that appearance alone isn’t really the problem.
The real issue is that the website isn’t helping the business in the way it should. People are visiting but not staying long, or getting in touch, not taking the next step in the buying process.
A fresh design might well be part of the answer, but it’s not the whole answer. There is more to a good successful website than mere looks.
Of course, nobody wants a website that feels dated or unprofessional, but looking good is really just the starting point. A website has a job to do, and that job is to help the right people quickly understand who you are, what you do and whether you’re the sort of business they want to work with, if you have the products and service that they want.
If that isn’t happening, changing the layout and colours and refreshing the photography isn’t going to fix it.
I think one of the reasons this happens is that we’re all far too close to our own businesses. We know our products and services inside out, we understand the terminology, and we’ve had the same conversations so many times that we forget what it’s feels like to arrive at our business knowing absolutely nothing, or at least, very little.
Your visitors don’t have that background knowledge. They’re making a decision in the first few seconds about whether they’re in the right place, and they’re looking for reassurance and some sense of connection rather than brilliance. They want to know they’ve found someone who understands what they need and seems capable of helping them, not be dazzled by design.
And for a lot of small businesses, that’s why clarity almost always wins over cleverness.
Over the years we’ve come across plenty of websites that are beautifully designed with really unique features, but surprisingly difficult to use. They have lovely photography, interesting layouts and all the latest design trends, but somehow they leave you wondering what the business actually does or where you’re supposed to go next.
That’s not a design problem so much as a communication problem.
In many cases, businesses simply try to say too much. It’s completely understandable because you’ve spent years building your expertise and naturally you want people to see everything you can do. The temptation is to squeeze every service, every project and every achievement onto the homepage, just in case someone misses something important.
Ironically, the opposite usually happens. Faced with too much information, people stop taking any of it in. And if you spend all your time talking about you, your products, your background, how your business works well, forget it, you’ve lost them.
One of the most valuable things we can do when we’re planning a website is work out what doesn’t need to be there. Not because it isn’t important, but because every page should have a clear purpose and every visitor should know what to do next without having to think too hard or find it difficult to do so.
That’s true of navigation as well. Good navigation rarely gets noticed because it’s doing exactly what it should. People find what they’re looking for without becoming frustrated, and they move naturally through the site without feeling lost. It sounds simple, but it’s amazing how often businesses underestimate how much difference that can make. People notice bad and confusing navigation though. They might not think that exact thought but they vote with their clicks, and they click off and find something less confusing.
Trust is built in much the same way. It isn’t usually one big thing that convinces somebody to get in touch. It’s lots of small details quietly working together. The writing feels human and connects well. The projects are up to date. The photography feels genuine. Contact details are easy to find and calls to action are clear. The website works properly on a phone. Nothing gets in the way of the visitor finding what they want.
That’s why, when someone asks us to redesign their website, we don’t start by thinking about colours or layouts. We start by trying to understand what the website is actually supposed to achieve. If we can make it easier for visitors to understand the business, find the information they’re looking for and feel confident enough to make contact, then the design has done its job.
A better-looking website is always nice to have, but a website that looks good and brings in more of the right enquiries is much more valuable.