As you may know, I’m a fan of minimalism and I thought I’d share the secrets of a minimalistic website with you. The current online trend for websites is definitely the “less is more” approach to webdesign. More of my clients are asking for minimalistic sites that are informative, yet as minimalistic as possible, and I’d like to tell you exactly how I do it.
5 Tips for Creating Beautiful, Minimalistic Websites
Minimal Clutter, Maximum Focus
While it almost goes without saying that you should place the focus on essential elements, a surprising amount of sites are cluttered with a mix of important and unimportant information and elements
This issue is particularly common among first time designers who want to show off their newly acquired skills by displaying as many widgets, bells and whistles as they can.
Tip: Identify your products or services, and identify what’s most important to be used as the focus of your website, and zone in on that.
Stay in the Upper Fold
Most people don’t like to scroll down much for more information – they want to read as much as possible above the fold. Research has proven that web designers can improve the effectiveness of websites by keeping the main elements and the call-to-action content above the fold.
Tip: A simple change, such as reducing the “height” of your header in the style sheet, and by inserting sign-up forms and buttons above the fold.
Lower the Page Count
While you want your site to be informative, it is important to avoid confusion. Too many pages can lead visitors away from the main content which is meant to convert them from browsers into buyers.
Many people add many unnecessary pages deep inside the site, making it complicated for users to find what they are actually looking for.
Tip: Put yourself in your visitors’ shoes. Imagine the decisions that will steer you to a site like yours, and the questions that will enter your mind as you go through the pages. Ensure that your pages answers those questions in full, but no more, and no less.
Minimal Colors for Maximum Quality
Probably one of the most common mistakes new designers make, is to get carried away with colors on their websites. The key to quality design is to limit your use of colors. If you have to use texture or subtlety, you can always use different shades of the same colors.
No matter how constructively simple your site, using too many colors is not as easy on the eyes.
Tip: Don’t be caught up in the color spectrum. Choose one or two main color/s and add one more for accents and to complement the content. [Read this post about website color schemes]
The 80/20 Rule
The 80/20 rule is a good strategy for helping you constantly simplify your website design by pushing you to focus on the essential site elements. In doing so, you can also increase your online results by increasing conversions. It results from removing distractions that take your visitors away from the page.
Tip: Identify the 20% of content on each page that brings 80% of the value your visitors come for and get rid of the rest.
Having spent a lot of time creating your website and putting much thought into each page’s layout, design, and content creation, it can be tough to heartlessly axe a bunch of it. However, it’s important to bear in mind the potential results of a more effective website design.