Minimalism – Owning the Web and Why Less is Always More
Digital Marketing • 15th Jul, 15
Though there are many trends which come and go when it comes to design, minimalism is one of the few trends which are eternal. Much of the technology behind websites, such as HTML5 and CSS3, has grown greatly over the last decade alone. This is what has made it possible for there to be more complex webpages today than in all of history.
There are so many different opportunities when it comes to web design, but just because the technology which is available today allows you to add all things fancy to your website, doesn’t mean that you should. First impressions last, which is why you don’t want to scare consumers away after they’ve had one look at your cluttered and messy homepage. It shouldn’t be difficult for them to find the core theme immediately, which is one of the reasons that a minimalist website could be great for your brand or business.
Your message should then be polished, giving away what the purpose of your website is and what you’re trying to convey to users. Making use of a minimalist design will see that every element on your page is deliberate and necessary. This way you will be forced to make the choice of what is required and what should be reinforced in your message.
With less clutter on your page, you’ll finally have a chance to make your unique sales proposition catch the attention of readers. You could try using a single clean background image which can subtly portray a certain message, with no more than 10 words above the fold. The best examples of good USP have one thing in common – a clean and minimalist design.
It should be obvious to you that less clutter will lead to more conversions. Look at two search engines for example: Google and Yahoo. The minimalist design of Google doesn’t allow for the user to get confused or distracted in any way, allowing them to complete exactly what it is they came there to do.
This agenda of minimalism can also be applied when it comes to navigation menus. Highlight the things which are most important and which you think your visitors will be looking for in relation to your brand and business. Don’t clutter it with too many elements, the longer it takes them to find what they’re looking for, the quicker they’ll leave and try something else. Consumers are probably looking for one of three things: product, prices, blog – keep this in mind!
Finding yourself with less resources is one of the side effects of having a minimal site, which will results in less storage space required on your server. There will be no overloading your server with unnecessary content and large videos or slowing down with hundreds of plugins, which will see you having overall faster page loads. Yes, that means that you’ll have even fewer resources to maintain too.