Your Website's Looks Matter... More Than You Think

tl;dr

• First Impressions Matter: Website aesthetics influence user opinions within milliseconds, impacting brand perception and trust.
• Good Design Builds Trust: A visually appealing website enhances credibility, while poor design raises doubts about reliability.
• Focus on User Experience: Understand user needs and design pathways to guide them toward desired actions
• Cater to Multiple Audiences: Balance content for diverse user groups using unified websites or targeted sub-sites.
• Strategic Design Decisions: Align aesthetics with usability to positively impact user behavior and business outcomes.

In today’s competitive digital world, your website is a powerful tool for attracting, engaging, and converting visitors. Yet, many businesses overlook one of the most critical aspects of their website design: aesthetics. Beyond the layout and color scheme, the look and feel of your website has a profound impact on user experience, brand perception, and ultimately, your business’s success. Here's why your website's looks matter more than you think and how to get it right.

The power of first impressions

Your website’s design is often the first interaction users have with your business. As such, the impression it makes is critical. Research shows that it takes just 50 milliseconds for users to form an opinion about your website, and that judgment is often based on the overall aesthetic appeal (2). If your site is outdated, cluttered, or difficult to navigate, you are losing potential customers before they even have a chance to explore your offerings.

Good design builds trust

“Good design doesn’t just look nice,” Kevin Goldberg, CEO of iS2 Digital explains. “A good-looking website will actually enhance your brand's perception.” According to psychologist Daniel Kahneman in his book Thinking, Fast and Slow, the “halo effect” is a bias which occurs when users apply their perception of one attribute to other unrelated attributes (3). In other words, if users have a positive impression about the way your website looks, they will also have a positive impression about your business’ trustworthiness, competence, and reliability.

When a website is visually appealing and easy-to-use, visitors will perceive your brand as credible and trustworthy. On the flip side, a poorly designed website will cause users to question your business’s competence and reliability, even if the underlying service or product is top-notch. (5)

Designing for user experience

A critical part of designing a good-looking website is understanding who your users are and what they are coming to your website to accomplish. Goldberg explains, “Identifying your users and their reason they are visiting your site is essential in creating a positive user experience.” Understanding and designing for user experience plays a crucial role in this by guiding users effortlessly through the website, ensuring they don’t feel lost or overwhelmed by your website’s interface.

User stories and pathways

When designing for user experience, it’s essential to create user stories. These are fictional representations of your target users, illustrating their motivations and goals when visiting your site (1). Once you have this understanding, you can design your site to support these user pathways. This includes creating a visual language which helps guide users toward their desired actions, whether that’s making a purchase, contacting you, or learning more about your services. (6)

Balancing design for multiple audiences

Many businesses must cater to multiple user groups, and therefore a single website needs to serve a variety of purposes. However, balancing design and user experience for diverse audiences can be challenging. For example, healthcare websites may need to target both doctors and patients, while staffing websites often serve both clients and potential employees.

The challenge lies in presenting content that speaks to each of these groups without overwhelming the user or confusing the brand’s message. And you will find two distinct approaches: a unified website with different paths, or separate sub-sites targeting specific user groups. Each option has its pros and cons: a unified website allows you to keep the brand message consistent, but it may dilute the specificity of content for each audience, while creating sub-sites will be more targeted, it can be more costly and harder to maintain. “There is no right or wrong here,” says Goldberg. “You’ll find successful and unsuccessful examples of both options, so understanding the pros and cons will help you make the right decision for your company and brand.”

Final thoughts

Design choices go beyond just looking good. They impact user behavior, brand perception, and ultimately your bottom line. And combining design with user needs, adhering to design principles, and using data to inform your decisions, you can create a website that not only looks great but is great for both your users and your business.

Thinking about updating your website? At iS2 Digital, we specialize in crafting good-looking user-centric websites that drive results. Reach out to our team to discuss how we can bring your vision to life.

References

1. Peaktwo: Think "User Paths" to Improve Website Conversions
2. T and F online: Behavioral Technology
3. YouTube: Daniel Kahneman Thinking Fast and Slow
4. Design Rush: Brand Visual Identity
5. UX Magazine: Designing to Build Trust
6. LinkedIn: Designing for Trust: Strategies to Build Credibility Through Visual Elements