Ahh ‘the ick’. If you’re active on social media, you’ve likely seen this trend where everyone is sharing their most irrational reasons for being ‘turned off’ by a romantic interest. Even imagining their crush doing something can trigger it.
Running for the bus? How embarrassing.
Untrendy shoes? Boy, bye.
Belting out the wrong song lyric? Step away from me, sir.
In the blink of an eye the hopes of a promising romance can be over. No going back.
And that’s the same with websites.
You see, ‘the ick’ is basically someone’s intuition signaling them to get away as fast as possible. Or in your site users’ case, click the ‘X’ button as fast as possible. Which is the last thing you want when trying to grow your business, right?
In an instant (or 0.05 seconds according to studies), your website gives your users their first impression of your business. And it only takes one bad experience for everything to go wrong.
Ugly design? Thank you, next.
Slow loading site? See you never.
A broken link? The trash took itself out.
Sounds harsh, right? But it’s very real and something you need to be aware of as an online business owner.
Could your site be causing your visitors to get #theick? Here are ten not-so-irrational reasons why it might be, and how to fix them!
1. No branding
Branding is what attracts your audience, and shows you’re serious about your business. Just like taking pride in our appearance can attract a partner, having a cohesive brand can attract your dream client. If you don’t have clear branding throughout your website, you’re missing a trick. Your site visitors should be able to visit your site and social media, and instantly identify your brand. Logos, sub marks, favicons, brand colours, patterns and other brand elements should all be included throughout your design to remind your audience who you are, and leave a lasting impression.
2. Inconsistent style
I’ve been on many websites where the design style is so all over the place that it makes me want to instantly leave. Consistency is key when designing a website and can take your site from looking amateur and messy to professional and intentional. Inconsistency can be overwhelming and confusing to your visitors, so be cautious of the styles used on your site and make sure everything looks aligned. For example, if you’ve used rounded buttons on one page, don’t use square buttons on the next. Or if you’ve got a minimal design on one page, don’t have a funky, over the top design on the next. And so on.
3. Not enough whitespace
We all need space sometimes to prevent overwhelm, and on your website it’s no different. Whitespace is the blank space between text, graphics, images and sections on your website. The purpose of whitespace is to draw attention to specific areas, give your design room to breathe, and make your design easy to read and digest. It can be tempting to clutter your site and try to fit in as much information as you possibly can to make an impact. However, with good design less really is more. Increase your line-spacing and padding, space out your design elements, and try not to overfill each section on your site. Your visitors will thank you!
4. Poor quality images + graphics
As shallow as it sounds, appearances do matter, and a website filled with bad or pixelated images is not only terrible to look at, but it gives your visitors the impression that you don’t care about quality. Though that probably isn’t true, what impression does that give about your services? I compare this to the way you’d feel if your date turned up in dirty torn clothes. You’d think they didn’t make an effort and would question their intentions. I understand sourcing good quality images and graphics can be a challenge in itself (not to mention expensive) but it can really pay off and helps your site look more professional.
5. Bad or cheesy stock photos
I love a good stock photo as much as the next online business owner. But there’s a huge difference between great stock photography and cheesy, obvious looking stock photos. You know the ones- attractive people with million dollar smiles wearing a headset in a pristine film-worthy office space.
Yes, they may look the part but do those kind of photos really represent your brand?
Overly obvious stock photos don’t help to build trust with your audience. They can actually do the opposite and make your business look scammy and disingenuous. I like to compare this to online dating – if someone looks too perfect on their dating profile it can make us feel a little bit uneasy, right? Are they really that attractive, or is it more likely that they are a huge catfish? Don’t fall into the trap.
In an ideal world, you’d have your own brand images that have been taken by a professional photographer to get all your best angles and professional poses. But if you’re not quite ready for that kind of investment yet, there are so many beautiful stock photo sources out there that will make a better impression. With free sites like Unsplash and Pexels or subscription services like Social Squares and Haute Stock you really don’t have to settle with bad photography.
6. Too many font styles on one page
Using too many different fonts on your website can overwhelm and confuse your visitors, and makes your site look messy and cluttered. The same way you’d feel is your date was wearing one too many statement pieces, you wouldn’t know where to look, right? Ick.
With the different fonts all fighting for attention, your users won’t know where to look, and you’ll have no chance of converting them into customers. Ideally, you should have no more than three different font styles on your website. Each font style should represent a hierarchy with clear styles for titles, headings, subheadings, paragraph text and call-to-actions. Your fonts should help your audience skim-read through sections of copy, and allow them to pull out key information quickly and easily giving them a positive, overwhelm-free experience .
7. Too much copy
Too much copy can again overwhelm your audience, and make your website look cluttered and unpolished. Have you ever had a date that talked too much, and wouldn’t let you get a word in edgeways? This is my comparison. It’s very unlikely that your site visitors will take the time to read all of the copy but if there’s way too much of it that’s a guarantee. As mentioned above, they’ll most likely skim through your text to find out what they want to know as quickly as possible. So breaking up your copy into short, digestible sections will make it easier for your audience to do this and prevents information overload. It also helps to make site more intentional, and leaves them wanting more. There’s a reason the quiet mysterious type is so attractive!
8. Low contrast colors
Pairing low contrast font colours and backgrounds together, or using low contrast font colours on top of images is a mistake I see all too often. You need strong contrast to help your users see your content clearly and avoid eye strain. Make sure to use high contrast colours, and ask others to test out your design to get their feedback. Everyone’s eyesight is different, and it’s important to try and be accessible to everyone. Hard to find a dating comparison with this one but I like to think of it like double-denim or beige-on-beige. It’s a no from me!
9. Too many animations and transitions
Now I’m sure we all love a good sliding transition or pop-up animation to take our websites to the next level. But having too many dynamic features can give your visitors a headache and make them lose their impact. No one likes a show-off, right? You only have a short amount of time to make a good impression and you want to keep your visitors on your site for as long as possible, so try to limit your animations to one or two per section to avoid overwhelming your visitors and taking away from your design. Less is definitely more.
10. No Direction / Broken Links
You don’t want your site visitors to get lost on your website, or be left at a dead-end with no other option than to click the X button. Therefore, your design should flow and direct your visitors through your site according to your website goals. Just like on a date you want the conversation to flow and by the end you want to know if it’s going to lead to something romantic. You’re site visitors want the same thing – to know it’s going to lead something good.
Make sure to design with intention and be mindful of your customer journey from start to finish. For example, if your goal is to gain more email subscribers, your site should be designed to direct your visitors towards your opt-in form. If your goal is to gain more bookings, your site should be designed to direct them towards your contact form. And so on.
And with the user journey in mind, you should also triple-check for broken links and dead-ends before making your site live. A broken link leading to nowhere is the equivalent of not exchanging phone numbers at the end of a good date. It’s over before it even began.
You may also like: 4 Reasons Showit beats WordPress for website design.
