Many people have the misconception that with websites, the more complex and the more fancy graphics you have, the better. But in reality, it's the cleaner and simpler websites that are the most successful.
Take a look around you and see for your self. http://google.com is a good example. Their website couldn't be simpler or more clean! They have one graphic and a small amount of content on their home page. Yet they are one of the most popular companies on the internet.
Clean and simple website design is especially important when it comes to business websites. Your website makes a big impression on your viewers of what they think of your company. Is it an unordered mass of jumble and bumble? Or is this company clean, organized, and here to help me?
When a potential customer goes to a poorly designed website, they will most all of the time get confused and just leave within 5 seconds. You lose a sale. While a clean design with good copy will stand a much better chance of making a sale. A visitor will come to your site, get the information they want easily, and be able to navigate clearly. Making him much more inclined to perchace.
It's important to keep in mind that your website is not for you, but for your visitors. If your website is designed with that in mind from the base up, your visitors will be a lot happier. And happy visitors often lead to happy customers!
A clean website is one that does not get in the way of the visitor. Not overwhelming the viewer with content, providing a nice navigation, and keeping things simple are big steps in the right direction.
Another thing that helps is having a site map. Visitors often look for these. And are a great way to help people find what they want.
Clean and simple websites also greatly benefit from search engines. They allow the spiders to effectively crawl your website and get the information they need with the least hassle.
Your design is one of the most important parts of your website, so treat it that way and you're off to a great start!
Re: Clean & Simple website design
Amen!