First impressions are extremely important in the business world, and your website is no exception. Think about your website as a digital extension of yourself.
Your website is your digital “first impression.” We’ve been hearing for years and are convinced that optimizing for mobile is the way to go, but what are other crucial elements to a modern website that may still be lacking?
The design of your site can make you look polished and professional or outdated and incompetent. Unfortunately, users may formulate this impression of your business without placing a single order or signing up for a single service!
What makes a good website? Our team asked a group of viewers about three websites to find out what influences users’ perceptions of the products and services they shop for online.
Identifying What Users Like in Web Design
We asked users two questions about three different legal websites to learn which of the three sites they liked the most and which seemed the most modern. The websites we reviewed included:
Question 1: Which of these three sites were most appealing to you?
Question 2: Which of these three websites looked most modern?
Results
Which website homepage is the most modern looking to you?
| Reeves | 8.06% |
| Javaheri | 77.82% |
| Ehline | 14.11% |
Which website homepage is the most appealing to you?
| Reeves | 10.61% |
| Javaheri | 71.84% |
| Ehline | 17.55% |
The data we collected demonstrated a strong correlation between these two factors. Of the three sites, Javaheri’s was voted as the most appealing. The site also received the most votes for the most modern look, scoring 71.84% and 77.82% in each respective category.
The other two websites followed the same pattern. Ehline was the second-most appealing and modern website, receiving 17.55% and 14.11% in these respective categories. The Reeves website was the least appealing and least modern, and received far fewer votes than the other two sites, scoring at just 10.61% for being appealing and 8.06% for looking modern.
Follow-Up Questions
We followed up with participants with additional questions to get more details about what they liked and didn’t like about these sites:
Question 1: On a scale of one to ten, how much more qualified do you perceive the law firm with the most modern website to be compared to the others?
The average answer was 7. We also asked about how participants’ perceptions of a busy website influenced their opinion of it.
Question 2: How turned off are you by a website that seems too flashy or busy?
Results
On a scale from 1-10, how much more professional and/or qualified do you perceive the law firm with the most modern website to be compared to the others?
| Average | 7.084337 |
| Median | 7 |
| Mode | 8 |
On a scale from 1-10, how turned off are you by a website that seems too flashy or busy?
| Average | 6.384 |
| Median | 7 |
| Mode | 8 |
The average answer to this question was 6.3.
As you can see, people who land on clean, modern websites interpret that business to be a more legitimate place to seek a needed service or product. Lawyers with sleek, easy-to-navigate websites are presumed to be more qualified to take on cases. If your website is too busy it will not only discredit your business but also turn the visitor away from your website completely.
Just One More Thing…
The final question we asked attempted to identify which website they thought was too busy. A grand majority of survey participants — 63% — identified the Reeves website as the busiest, which consequently, was the least modern and appealing.
It is clear that a website with a modern and smooth design, with plenty of white space and dynamic content, is much more approachable than one with too much information clustered together on one page and/or information that is difficult to find. A visually appealing and functional website also creates a trusted environment that keeps viewers’ attention on that site.
Were any of these websites too flashy or busy?
| Reeves | 63.05% |
| Javaheri | 21.67% |
| Ehline | 15.27% |
Ready to Amp Up Your Website?
If you haven’t worked on your website’s overall design and user experience for quite some time, it may be time to consider a makeover. Step into the 21st century with Market My Market’s top-rated web design services. Our goal is to ensure your website attracts and keeps the most visitors possible with a friendly, visually pleasing site that provides just what they need to give you a call.
Find out more about the benefits of strong website design with a free consultation.