11 Reasons Why Your Website Should Have a Clean and Simple Design

Everyone knows that less is more, but putting it into practice isn’t so easy, especially when it comes to your website design.

A big reason behind overcrowded business websites is the fear of missing out. Most businesses want to cater to everyone, please every audience and target the widest possible customer base. It seems logical from the surface: More customers = more sales = more revenue and a bigger brand, right?

Digging deeper, the equation is far more complex. Proven website design strategies are those that deliver a carefully targeted message to one specific audience. This creates incredibly strong audience attraction, engagement and trust, leading to loyal customers, word-of-mouth advertising and repeat sales. This is far more beneficial to both your conversion rates and your brand awareness to offer a simple, clean website design. 

The less is more equation is the winner for creating this impacting result. Getting it right requires insider knowledge and research, which is why business owners shouldn’t build their own website, hand it over to an SEO design expert who can get it done right in a fraction of the time. 

If you do want to understand the mechanics of minimal website design, this blog will take you through the steps you need to get a clean and simple look and feel for your website by avoiding the traps that are all too easy for businesses to fall into.

How to Create a Clean Website Design

You want to create a crisp, clean and attractive first impression. You only get one shot at winning your audience over so taking the time to get your website right is crucial. A big part of an attractive and clean website is determining the few key elements you want to showcase as well as understanding the many things to avoid.

Some quick tips for getting the equation right include:

Have one clean direction

Make sure your website look and feel, as well as the content, matches your product and business values, pricing, brand theme and colours. 

Say no to ads

Ads might be a way to gain some additional revenue, but they deter your customers from your main goals and cause confusion. The point above is all about having one, clean direction, nothing will split your messages and dilute what you want to say faster than someone selling something else at the same time.

You want to create a buyer journey where the user clicks through to your end goal. Unless your end goal is for them to leave your site and click on something else, avoid the mistake of putting ads on your homepage.

Only use a sidebar if necessary 

Some websites do need a sidebar to support their content and give users more, but this doesn’t apply to everyone. Don’t stick a sidebar in if all it does is fit with the template you’ve chosen.

Keep your services and products up to date

Remove any old images, information and products you no longer offer. Users travel to your site looking for information and help. If you have pages and pages of content related to services that they no longer perform. It sends a confusing message about what you do and what they can access. Make sure what’s on your current website is an accurate representation of your core services.

Know what your goal for every page

In order to deliver what customers want, you need to know what you want visitors to do (i.e. click on your products page, start a free trial, look at your team bio) and make that super appealing and easy to do with action steps and clear direction.

This is a really great example of how this can work well:

Single Grain is a great example of how powerful it is to have everything pointing in one direction. This homepage combines all the steps above with powerful, enticing results. There is only one message and it’s stated loud and clear.

We build stunning, user-focused websites that will wow your customers.

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11 Reasons Why Your Website Should Have a Clean and Simple Design

I find it staggering that so many businesses overlook the importance of a simple, clean website design, especially given how many ways it gives back to your organisation. Here are eleven of the biggest reasons to go with a minimal website design and see big paybacks:

It’s cheaper to build

Look at your business goals, business values and what your business stands for. Capturing that in your web design is enough. You don’t need anything else to make it engaging. This simple and straightforward concept is easy for you to research, will be absolutely unique to your business and will take less time for a web designer to build, saving you money and getting your new website launched fast.

It will also be easier for your key stakeholders to check over and you’ll have fewer requests for revisions and changes.

It Won’t Date Quickly

Website trends change fast. Keeping on top of them and maintaining a timeless look can be expensive if you need to revamp your website every year. A clean and simple website design will enable you to keep the same great look and feel for longer without looking dated.

Busy designs fade fast. A simple design looks visually appealing and stays current longer. As well as saving you in updates, it sends out a loud and clear signal that your brand is timeless, professional and current. 

Apple is a strong example of how minimalist website design works to create instant and long-lasting appeal. They can switch this up to be any product quickly and easily without having to completely redesign the entire homepage.

Even with their potentially bottomless marketing budget, Apple is smart enough to know there is no reason to waste time and energy redesigning the website every time a product is on offer, they can simply upload the next feature, keeping their brand image familiar and trustworthy.

A good first impression encourages users to stay and look around your site longer, increases their trust in your ability to back up your offering and provides more opportunities to receive a sign-up, conversion or see the customer return at a later date.

It’s Faster to Read

Less on the page means less for a visitor to do. They can scan quickly and move from A to B to C with no effort. They didn’t come to your page to do work, just the opposite, they are taking a break, quickly doing some research or trying to find an answer to something in their free time. Help them on their way quickly by keeping it simple.

By removing unnecessary elements, you can draw the reader’s attention to the things that matter most: Your content, product and solutions.

A great way to make a faster read is to include:

• White space 
• Simple colour scheme
• Clear headings and subheadings
• Basic and clear calls to action
• Bolded and enlarged quotes
• Numbered and bullet point list
• A clear Call To Action

For the ultimate website build, help make the most important/relevant/current article stand out and draw attention by making the icons larger than the rest. Any other content of interest you want listed on the same page can be listed in easy bullet points or thumbnails to make scanning and selecting fast and easy.

It’s Easier to Remember

As much as you’d love for your users to buy right then and there, you need to consider that many will research their options and come back to their shortlists later. Having a website that is memorable is a big factor in helping users find their way back when they are not quite ready to commit, as well as helping increase loyalty through repeat purchases.

Our brains look for familiarities and patterns and are attracted to what is already known and familiar. Psychologist George Miller found that the human brain is able to recall around seven pieces of information at a time. This is important science to keep in mind with your minimal website design: What are the main pieces you want people to remember about your website and brand?

When there is less to process, there is less to retrieve, making memories stronger and memory recall clearer.

A clear example of this in action is the Fork & Pencil recipe website. The bold images and simple structure make it easy for users to browse and find something, even if they don’t know what they want yet. They’ll also be enticed back to try another recipe for another meal, and recommend their friends simply because of how attractive the website design is. 

There is every reason to click back, sign up, comment and talk about this website.

Clean, modern website designs with low complexity require less work, less thought and there is less to remember, making these sites more memorable. Your key information will stand out, hours after the user has left your page.

You’ll See Faster Loading Times

Even when you optimise a busy website, it’s still going to have a slower loading time than a clean site. With fast loading times being so essential to users as well as Google Core Vitals, it really is a big benefit to have a clean website design that loads quickly without any additional effort or maintenance from you, or your developer.

Features that are heavy and will weigh down your website load and interaction times include:

• Complex images
• Features
• Multiple user options

Cutting down to a simple and clean website will cut out these issues and give you lightning-fast loading times. 

It’s Easy to Navigate

Your website needs to be easy to use to build a strong prospect experience and set up a smooth buyer journey.

By limiting the number of options on the site the user needs to think less, explore less and can save time quickly clicking to where they actually want to go.

• Simple and minimal navigation menu choices
• Well-placed, basic and necessary buttons
• A clear and decluttered header bar 
• Anticipate the user’s next steps and make that available front and centre

It Feels Genuine

Transparency creates trust because it looks like you have nothing to hide. Busy and over-complex websites are not just overwhelming, they seem like giant sales banners. No one likes to be sold to, especially if there is a constant feeling of a catch waiting around the corner. Instead, focus on delivering a quality product that does the job that the reader needs. Let them be the ones to decide if they want to buy it or not. They are intelligent enough to make a buying decision without you nudging them in a certain direction.

Grovemade creates desktop accessories. Their website isn’t afraid to get up close and personal, providing a feeling of total honesty and stripping back to just their product.

Better Conversion Rates

Once you have users clicking your website, you need them to stay. From there, you need them to convert. Without sticking to that landing and securing a purchase, your business isn’t going to see success.

If the issue is website design, it could be that your swirly, decorative backgrounds and lots of shop details are pulling attention away from your products and what you do.

Users will be more likely to convert when they: 

• Like their experience with your website
• Get a clear understanding of what you do
• Can clearly see your why (your overall mission)
• Can apply your solution to their situation

A neat and clean website builds trust and provides users with the information they need quickly. 

As long as what you offer matches what they are looking for, they’ll have no hesitation in making a purchase.

When it comes to choosing what to include in your new, clean modern website design, put your energy and focus on your business and product values to showcase:

• What you do 
• Why you do it
• How you can help

Once that’s covered, then you can cover how they can buy or contact you.

If any one of these three pillars fails; leads, browsing, conversions, you’ll need to go back to the Google Analytics drawing board and understand where the disconnect is.

It’s easy to keep things organised

Having a well-organised and clean structure to your website is an especially big one for E-commerce sites, but it’s good to keep in mind for all businesses.

When you have a clear and simple website everything will need to be categorised and organised. 

While it might take some time to organise your website offering, once completed, keeping your website neat and tidy will be easy. 

You can easily add new products to the correct sections, add updates, delete old offers and keep things clean with less effort, less time and fewer complications than on a busy, crowded site.

It also means you’ll be able to see errors quickly and there’ll be fewer things that can break and go wrong.

Castlery is a great example of how to offer simplicity in a situation that could be complex. There are so many choices and so many products to choose from. Instead, Castlery has focused on its range of internationally designed furniture, something which stands out from other Singaporean furniture stores. 

The gentle theme and strong call to action back up their soft and gentle claims and help give any uncertain visitor a clear and straightforward place to begin. For everyone else, the menus for other products are clear and well-defined.

Cheaper Hosting

While you can get away with cheap hosting for your business website, it really does pay to go with a better hosting package that gives you better security and more capacity. That’s said, you don’t have to pay big money just for the sake of it. 

A more complex website takes up more hosting space and needs more room on a server. 

A simple and clean website design makes higher-quality hosting packages more affordable.

It’s Easier for Google to Crawl

When you have simple web pages and a clear relationship between the page content and their relationships to following pages, it’s not just easier for users to follow, but it’s also quick and easy for Google and other search engines to crawl and map. The reward for this is better SEO and more opportunities for organic clicks from search engine returns.

Make sure you break up your content with headings and use the appropriate hierarchy to show content flow as well as internal links to show strong relationships between page content. 

A site map is a small and easy addition that will make this a simple and straightforward process. We go into this in more detail in our guide, with everything you need to know about our web design process.

Less really is more. These eleven reasons are just the tip of the iceberg, there are plenty of other benefits under these as well. If you already have a website out there that is cluttered, overcomplicated and busy, you’ll really benefit from going back to the start to build a website that truly reflects who you are and what your business does.

As you have seen from the included examples of clean, modern website designs there is no one-size-fits-all approach. You can still get creative and show some personality, which will come across even more powerfully because there are fewer distractions on the page.

A simple website is easier to use, looks great, feels great and speaks on your behalf as organised, professional and trustworthy.

Stripping back will also make your life easier too with fewer headaches and fewer costs.

To get started, just delete anything that isn’t your main focus and look for opportunities to make use of white space. 

If you need help designing a website with enhanced user flow, more leads and dominating SEO, get in contact with us to see how we can help. You’ll not only have a more functional and responsive website, but it will also look more beautiful too.