Analysis – A Well Designed Website vs. A Pathetic One

Let’s say your business website looks awesome, but it doesn’t bring you any sales. Is it good for you? Let’s say you have another website that doesn’t look too good, but it makes you money. Isn’t it good for you? Which one is pathetic? You will say, “Of course, the one that is not helping me make any money is a pathetic website, who cares if it looks awesome.”

The point is that a very well designed website may not make you rich and a simple, not too good looking, website can help you earn bread and butter online. You can’t determine whether a website is good or pathetic until you evaluate the conversion rate.

So, what are the reasons that a good looking website may not make you money and turn out to be pathetic?

There are several elements that make a website successful. You need to of course make it look attractive, but there are other things too that you have to take care of in order to convert visitors into customers.

Let’s discuss some important elements now:

Make Sure Your Website Correctly Conveys Your Business Model:

You don’t want your visitors to guess what your website is about. Your target market should instantly figure out what your business model is. For example: If you specialize in window cleaning, then your website should clearly say that. Just having some pictures of clean windows on your site may convey the message that you actually sell windows.

So, your website should concisely guide the visitors. You only have seconds to grab the attention of visitors and get them interested. Make sure that you write a powerful and attention grabbing headline. Even if the graphics of your website are excellent, but if the website fails to convey the right message to your visitors, then it will turn out to be a pathetic website.

Make Sure Your Website Correctly Conveys the Mood of Your Business:

If you specialize in selling surgical instruments, then the color scheme and layout of your website should have some serious tone. It will be unsuitable to have radiant colors with happy faces all over the website. It’s good to have a happy face, but in relevant uniform, conveying satisfaction.

If you specialize in selling toys, then you can choose bright colors and have some pictures of clowns here and there. So, you need to correctly represent your business. A lot of people create really boring and simple sites. Avoid this practice and make your website professional and catchy whether it’s about charity or games.

Attractive design, but irrelevant theme will make your website pathetic, no matter how cool the graphics are.

Make Sure Your Website Clearly Guides Your Visitors:

After your visitors come to your website, you need to make their lives easier by providing them with user-friendly navigation. If they are looking for any specific information, your navigation should allow them to instantly figure out where it will be.

If they find it difficult to get their hands on the required products or information, they will not hesitate to leave your attractive website. So, don’t make your website pathetic with difficult navigation.

Make Sure Your Website Has Attractive Copy:

It’s your copy that gets buyers interested in buying your products. If your web copy is not compelling, your attractive design won’t be able to make any sales. So, ensure that you hire a professional copywriter to write copy for your website.

These are some of the most important things you need to take into consideration to ensure that your well designed website doesn’t turn out to be pathetic.

The is a guest post by Ben Johnson, who is the Alliance Manager at Logoinn, a custom logo design company. He writes about the effect of design on marketing and brand identity and helps small businesses find design solutions for effective marketing. Contact us if you want to guest post on this blog. Image Credit: N08

Related posts

72 Essential features for eCommerce website that you should know

112 Online Experts Share Their First Online Income

15 Best Practices to Supercharge Your Digital Marketing

14 comments

company logo design June 16, 2010 - 7:23 am
i think people need well design site where they can find easy its information . Thanks for nice share.
Karl Hadwen June 16, 2010 - 10:30 am
Great post ZK. I mean, many people think if they have a fantastic looking website it will convert. I see many websites on the net that have a great product and such a bad design but it works, alternatively I see crappy products running such a beautiful design. What I'm trying to say is: You don't have to have a great design to make money from your website, but.. It does help.
ZK June 16, 2010 - 11:29 am
Your right especially clients who want compromise usability and simplicity for a better looking design ....I can think of Craigslist as a great example of a website that converts well, make a lot of money but defines all elements of website design. It focuses on simplicity and usability more than design. I am sure there are many examples like this..let us share all of them here
Free Human edited directory June 16, 2010 - 11:55 am
In my view there should be a proper Model other wise it will be a complete failure also it should be easy to customize bcoz when we need to add any more functions it should support them Btw good post zk Sri
Colleen June 16, 2010 - 1:33 pm
We just redesigned our website and our traffic is up about 10%. I hoping it ends up in the "well designed" site category. :)
Uzi June 16, 2010 - 4:39 pm
I believe that good design can even change the sales of your websites
Machida June 16, 2010 - 5:38 pm
Thanks for sharing this!
money making ideas June 17, 2010 - 3:05 am
Website design is very important to ANY kind of business. It is like the appearance of your store, a magnifestation of your business.
Julius June 17, 2010 - 4:53 pm
I'd like to add that if you spend more time working on your design, you'd touch on the subject of navigability and structure. And these things can greatly improve your readers' browsing experience, convincing them to visit you often.
Chico Design June 19, 2010 - 12:54 am
A good web design is the base which can judge the success of our online business. The key is to hire a web designing company or professional web designers for the task of creating good functional websites. Nice Post!!
Tasarım June 20, 2010 - 6:54 am
Really lovely article ZK. It is definitely true that having a great design is not enough by itself. You have to optimize the conversion rate on your great design and it will be better than ever! :)
fajas July 29, 2010 - 9:37 am
web design is a really important factor in a website. It would attract potential customers. When some people browse, when they go onto a website and see that the website is somehow dull, they will only browse on it for about 5 seconds and leave, never to return to that website again. But adding designs or making a very unique interface will get them to stay and browse your website thus gaining another potential customer or a new follower of your website.
Green Web Directory September 30, 2010 - 12:18 pm
I believe that good design and well presentation always helping in sale. and a bad design site help you to increase by sending referal or advertisement like adsense ads. :P
Custom Logo Design March 18, 2011 - 2:54 am
A good web design is the base which can judge the success of our online business. The key is to hire a web designing company or professional web designers for the task of creating good functional websites. Nice Post!!
Add Comment