How important is aesthetic appeal???

selma · 10-27-2009, 07:25 PM

Today I got a comment that my website is soooo 80's. Kind of made me sad... I just launched it and I spent sooo much time on the wordpress customizing, since i never REALLY tried making a real site.

So anyway, do any of you have conversion differences when you changed your website design?? And seriously, what is an ugly site to you??

An ugly site to me is not so much colors or style is usability issues. Which I dont think I have. ( my site is www.pickbetterbets.com, just incase your curious about my 80's site.)

SusanneUK · 10-27-2009, 07:36 PM

It looks like you have put a lot of work and effort into your site, it's very good, the only thing I would say is that the colors are not good for the eye sight as in readability, I would find it hard reading that and so would not stay too long.

Cheers
Sue

selma · 10-27-2009, 07:48 PM

Thanks Sue thats the kind of constructive critique I was looking for, I appreciate it.

RichPirate · 10-27-2009, 08:07 PM

I agree, ascetics are important, but readability and telling the visitor where the next action should be is key

The blue text is hard to read and may actually be impossible to read on some screens.

Check out the book "Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug for some great in site in to effective web design.

Besides the blue text, though, I think you've got a great site.

selma · 10-27-2009, 08:11 PM

Okie, Im changing the blue text to white

Kevin AKA Hubcap · 10-27-2009, 09:36 PM

Hi Selma,

The black background and blue text makes me want to click away.

If you want to keep a black and blue theme, do it in the header, the border, and the footer.

IMO the body should be white (or close to it) and the text should be black (or close to it). This combination is proven to be best from a readability stand point.

The rest of the site is fine.

Kevin

EWGQDD · 10-27-2009, 11:49 PM

Selma,

Hello, you want your website to represent you the best it can, graphics and layout are crucial for a professional look and it also builds credibility and the illusion of quality. Point being a sense of quality is attached to a product if it has great packaging.

Its never gauranteed that graphics and layout will cause conversions but its gauranteed that great graphics and a great layout will not hurt conversions.

Readibility is crucial, words have impact and if the words you use are avoided then you cannot deliver your message properly.

I am going to be honest, despite possibly hurting your feelings.
There has been lots of research and black text on white is winner hands down.

If you cant change the background to white you could go with while lettering but I would not use just a bright white, I would go with a white that does not reflect so brightly back into your visitors eyes, and because your background is black there is a very high amount of contrast that will be going on. So stick with a less bright white.

I myself did a website like yours in the past because I thought the colors were cool and stood out. But it just simply isn't easy to read.

You need text that is easy to read, the best font for large chunks of text is a sarif font. Meaning a font with ornaments on it.

Headers are usually best looking being a sans serif font. No ornaments.
You should always make chunks of text easy to read and appealing, keeping them to a maximum of at the most 5 lines per chunk, I myself like 3 and four lines max.

Impact font is great for headlines or headers, there are a many others, if you just google best fonts for text or headlines, you will get some great suggestions.

As for your PICK BETTER BETS, Its almost never good to have all caps, because its hard to read.

The one thing you are trying to achieve is to sell your product, so you need to immediatly attract your visitors eyes to something and then move then through your layout with your text size, font and spacing and others visuals.

You want to lead the visitors eyes right where you want them to go.............

I enclosed a graphic that you can use free of charge that might work better for your site, if you need it bigger just let me know or if you need something else. Free of charge.

As long as its simple.

P.S. The graphic below should have a transparent background once its loaded, if not I will make you another.

jay-z · 10-28-2009, 05:21 AM

Aesthetic is important though I believe simplicity, usability and content are equally important. Look at craiglist.org, they are simple and ugly but people still flock over to the site. Same for delicious.com, but now they have enhanced their design a little bit.

Your site with the white text still look okay, I didn't get to see the blue text version though. Improve as you build your site, don't mind the feedback you're getting because it's better to have negative feedback than no feedback at all. Good luck!

Revolves · 10-29-2009, 01:33 AM

I like the no-nonsense structure of your site. Good work. You don't have excessive eye-candies all around.

But your color scheme is suffering right now. The blue heading "Pick Better Bets" is unreadable. The background and foreground color should have some contrast. I'd recommend having a simple design with white background and black text, which looks cool and calm. Because that's how we're used to reading.

But don't change it just because I said so! If you like the black background, then you can find better suiting text colors for it. Use an online color scheme generating tool to check which bright color looks good on a dark background.

Regards,
Revolves

10-27-2009, 07:25 PM	#1
selma needs to learn War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: New York City Posts: 59 Thanks: 11 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	How important is aesthetic appeal??? Today I got a comment that my website is soooo 80's. Kind of made me sad... I just launched it and I spent sooo much time on the wordpress customizing, since i never REALLY tried making a real site. So anyway, do any of you have conversion differences when you changed your website design?? And seriously, what is an ugly site to you?? An ugly site to me is not so much colors or style is usability issues. Which I dont think I have. ( my site is www.pickbetterbets.com, just incase your curious about my 80's site.)
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10-27-2009, 07:36 PM	#2
SusanneUK Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Swansea, South Wales, UK Posts: 797 Thanks: 389 Thanked 136 Times in 92 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: How important is aesthetic appeal??? It looks like you have put a lot of work and effort into your site, it's very good, the only thing I would say is that the colors are not good for the eye sight as in readability, I would find it hard reading that and so would not stay too long. Cheers Sue
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10-27-2009, 07:48 PM	#3
selma needs to learn War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: New York City Posts: 59 Thanks: 11 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: How important is aesthetic appeal??? Thanks Sue thats the kind of constructive critique I was looking for, I appreciate it.
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10-27-2009, 08:07 PM	#4
RichPirate Active Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 67 Thanks: 6 Thanked 9 Times in 7 Posts	Re: How important is aesthetic appeal??? I agree, ascetics are important, but readability and telling the visitor where the next action should be is key The blue text is hard to read and may actually be impossible to read on some screens. Check out the book "Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug for some great in site in to effective web design. Besides the blue text, though, I think you've got a great site.

10-27-2009, 08:11 PM	#5
selma needs to learn War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: New York City Posts: 59 Thanks: 11 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: How important is aesthetic appeal??? Okie, Im changing the blue text to white
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10-27-2009, 09:36 PM	#6
Kevin AKA Hubcap Angle of Attack Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 535 Thanks: 19 Thanked 46 Times in 36 Posts	Re: How important is aesthetic appeal??? Hi Selma, The black background and blue text makes me want to click away. If you want to keep a black and blue theme, do it in the header, the border, and the footer. IMO the body should be white (or close to it) and the text should be black (or close to it). This combination is proven to be best from a readability stand point. The rest of the site is fine. Kevin
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10-27-2009, 11:49 PM	#7
EWGQDD Active Warrior Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Kansas City Posts: 92 Thanks: 3 Thanked 10 Times in 9 Posts Contact Info	Re: How important is aesthetic appeal??? Selma, Hello, you want your website to represent you the best it can, graphics and layout are crucial for a professional look and it also builds credibility and the illusion of quality. Point being a sense of quality is attached to a product if it has great packaging. Its never gauranteed that graphics and layout will cause conversions but its gauranteed that great graphics and a great layout will not hurt conversions. Readibility is crucial, words have impact and if the words you use are avoided then you cannot deliver your message properly. I am going to be honest, despite possibly hurting your feelings. There has been lots of research and black text on white is winner hands down. If you cant change the background to white you could go with while lettering but I would not use just a bright white, I would go with a white that does not reflect so brightly back into your visitors eyes, and because your background is black there is a very high amount of contrast that will be going on. So stick with a less bright white. I myself did a website like yours in the past because I thought the colors were cool and stood out. But it just simply isn't easy to read. You need text that is easy to read, the best font for large chunks of text is a sarif font. Meaning a font with ornaments on it. Headers are usually best looking being a sans serif font. No ornaments. You should always make chunks of text easy to read and appealing, keeping them to a maximum of at the most 5 lines per chunk, I myself like 3 and four lines max. Impact font is great for headlines or headers, there are a many others, if you just google best fonts for text or headlines, you will get some great suggestions. As for your PICK BETTER BETS, Its almost never good to have all caps, because its hard to read. The one thing you are trying to achieve is to sell your product, so you need to immediatly attract your visitors eyes to something and then move then through your layout with your text size, font and spacing and others visuals. You want to lead the visitors eyes right where you want them to go............. I enclosed a graphic that you can use free of charge that might work better for your site, if you need it bigger just let me know or if you need something else. Free of charge. As long as its simple. P.S. The graphic below should have a transparent background once its loaded, if not I will make you another. Attached Thumbnails
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10-28-2009, 05:21 AM	#8
jay-z Sorcerer Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Posts: 8 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Social Networking	Re: How important is aesthetic appeal??? Aesthetic is important though I believe simplicity, usability and content are equally important. Look at craiglist.org, they are simple and ugly but people still flock over to the site. Same for delicious.com, but now they have enhanced their design a little bit. Your site with the white text still look okay, I didn't get to see the blue text version though. Improve as you build your site, don't mind the feedback you're getting because it's better to have negative feedback than no feedback at all. Good luck!
	Movie reviews & trailers \| My Coffee Blog \| SEO Malaysia Last edited by jay-z; 10-28-2009 at 05:22 AM. Reason: minor text edit

10-29-2009, 01:33 AM	#9
Revolves HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 163 Thanks: 11 Thanked 20 Times in 15 Posts	Re: How important is aesthetic appeal??? I like the no-nonsense structure of your site. Good work. You don't have excessive eye-candies all around. But your color scheme is suffering right now. The blue heading "Pick Better Bets" is unreadable. The background and foreground color should have some contrast. I'd recommend having a simple design with white background and black text, which looks cool and calm. Because that's how we're used to reading. But don't change it just because I said so! If you like the black background, then you can find better suiting text colors for it. Use an online color scheme generating tool to check which bright color looks good on a dark background. Regards, Revolves
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