The number of ways in which you can design your website is pretty much infinite. The variations in placement of sections, the way in which text or images are presented, the colors, the links to other pages or social media, the list just continues on for an eternity.
But then, with so many different options available, and people that want to include as much as possible on their website, it does lead to the question as to whether or not your website can be too distracting?
The key to answering this question will clearly lie in two different areas, the design and also the amount of content that you plan on including. The two work side by side and one can certainly influence the other, so there must be a sense of harmony for your entire website to then be able to function correctly.
Including too Much.
A major first hurdle that must be overcome is the apparent fear that is held by so many people regarding the amount of information that they should include on a single page. They worry that if they miss something out that it could lead to the visitor to their website not doing what they want them to do and going elsewhere, and the fear is very real.
The outcome of this is that people effectively tell their life story on a page as they feel that including all of the information that the visitor could ever hope to know will somehow make things so much better. Well, it doesn’t.
Instead, what it does is that the visitor lands on a page and is immediately confronted by a headache. All they see is text and information before them and they have no idea where to begin. Their eyes end up effectively shooting across the page and their brain makes valiant attempts to process the information, but it is not always that easy.
Think of it from this perspective.
If you owned a physical store, then your storefront is important when it comes to getting people to step inside. However, do you try and include every single product that you have for sale in the window?
Of course not as that would be crazy, and the same principles apply to your website. As with the window, you want to carefully select some of the best things about what you do and what you offer to entice people into viewing additional pages that they can then explore to learn more about you.
An Unplanned Design.
Careful thought has to go into the design of any page as it has been shown that individuals have a tendency to view things in an easy to follow manner. You need the design to flow as easily as possible so that the visitor can move between the different parts without feeling as if they have been overwhelmed.
If you look at successful websites, then there is a clear structure and a single page will be broken up into identifiable sections that all play an individual role in the overall make-up of the page. Spend some time studying other website and check out the kind of information that they are including in each section as this alone will help you with your own design.
Clearly, the design aspect can only really be achieved when you have worked on the information that is to be included. Once again, your research will allow you to determine which areas are working well along with those that are going against you.
Early websites did have a tendency to throw things together in a more haphazard way, but the understanding of the overall design and attention span of visitors to websites has ultimately led to things being streamlined somewhat. There is a reason why we now have a preference for more simplistic websites that are clearly defined, and it is because we just do not have the time, not the inclination, to work our way through websites that just swamp us with information.
The most important thing of all is to avoid falling into that trap of worrying about what to include and what to exclude on your site. Instead, focus more on building a structure of internal pages that can still get all of your points across, but in a way that will not swamp your visitor. If they are interested enough in you, they will trawl through your website, so you really do have nothing to fear.
