Why simple usually wins

When I was thinking about what to write this week, I found myself looking back at some of the websites I've worked on recently. And do you know what they all had in common? None of them were trying to win awards. They were trying to welcome people, and I think that's an important difference. These days it's very easy to believe a website needs to have everything from moving videos, fancy animations, scrolling effects, buttons that bounce and sections that slide in from every direction, and don’t get me wrong, I like some of these aspects, but they aren’t right for everyone.

What we don’t’ want to do is start to confuse busy with better. When someone visits your website, they aren't usually admiring your colour palette or wondering how clever your animations are. They're asking themselves something much simpler.

"Am I in the right place?"
"Can this person help me?"
"Do I feel comfortable getting in touch?"

If your website answers those questions quickly and naturally, you've already achieved something really important. One of the things I enjoy most about building websites is stripping away the unnecessary bits, not because I want every website to look the same, quite the opposite, but because I want the business to shine. Sometimes that means adding something and sometimes it means taking something away. I think simplicity often gets mistaken for being plain, yet to me, it's the opposite.

A simple website is one that's been carefully thought through. It's easy to navigate. Easy to understand. Easy to trust. And perhaps most importantly - easy to use.

Building Soulstone Healing reminded me of that. People weren't visiting my website because they wanted to see how creative I could be, they were looking for reassurance, they wanted to know what a treatment involved, where I was based, whether they'd feel comfortable and whether I was the right person for them.

The website's job was to answer those questions as clearly as possible. Everything else was simply there to support that experience.

So, before you go...

If you've got fifteen different fonts on your website, it might be time to make yourself a cup of tea, then come back and see if you still need all fifteen.

My guess? You probably won't. Right...I'm off to put the kettle on.

See you next time.

Bev ☕