Why You Should Have a Clean Design on your Squarespace website
Last updated December 2019
In almost every way, I'm a minimalist who favours an uncluttered & crisp aesthetic.
I find it overwhelming when there's too much going on and my attention is being pulled in a million different directions. This is especially true when it comes to website design!
I spend all day, every day online, pouring over all sorts of websites and I can decide within a few seconds whether or not I "connect" with the design of a site.
And often times, the “best” sites are the simplest websites - they’re clean, uncluttered, easy to read and simple to navigate.
As such, I always encourage people to go for a clean and crisp website design over something flashy, bright, loud and/or trendy. While there’s definitely a time and a place for dark web design, today’s blog post is going to look at how effective clean web design is - and why I always recommend it to my clients and audience!
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Alright, let’s break down all the factors and features of clean web design on Squarespace websites.
Favouring clean web design
In recent years, clean and minimalist designs have been put up on a pedestal and are considered the most desirable website style.
Web designers, UX experts and users alike all agree that a website should adhere to the following guidelines:
Clear and easy to read
Simple site navigation
Limited in the number of widgets
Little to no advertisements
Content presented front and centre
This is a fairly basic set of guidelines but it can be surprisingly hard to adhere to, especially if you want to get really bold or creative with the design of your Squarespace website!
Defining "Clean"
Clean design can mean a lot of different things depending on the person, but it is almost always simple, fresh and welcoming.
The opposite is not "dirty" - instead, people consider it to be "cluttered".
Clean designs appeal to a wider variety of tastes/audiences than designs that are stuffed with filler and trinkets.
Right or wrong, minimalist styles have connotations of being more sophisticated and intelligent, whereas busy and loud designs usually do not.
Clean sites come down to easier communication between the users and the content your business hopes to convey. More than ever, people are distracted and short on time, which means that they are much more likely to understand something simple and accessible. If they have to filter through too much clutter, their usability is challenged and they will probably navigate away from your site.
Clean Design is a Personal Preference
We've talked before about how your business' website is a reflection of your brand, style and online identity. As such, the look and feel of your site is extremely personal and totally up to you. Perhaps you enjoy animated gifs, excitable design features and bright colours - that's okay!
If you're keen on funky widgets, large icons, and general stuff, feel free to use… them so long as they are consistent with the other ways your present your business. Just know that those are personal preferences that aren't shared by everyone.
While you are never obliged to pick a subtler design, they are favoured for a reason. Clean website designs are so popular because they appeal to almost everyone.
Keep your ideal audience in mind, especially if one of the goals of your website is to help you grow your business.
Opting Against A Clean Design
Let's say you've weighed the pros and cons of a clean design and ultimately have decided that the style isn't "you". It's totally fine to pick a design that breaks the clean & minimalist rule but there are things to consider.
For example, are you okay with what a busy look says about you and your business? If visitors to your site are put off by your loud design, will that bother you? If they have difficulties finding or navigating content, will you be bothered by those complaints? Do expert opinions on what constitutes "good" or "bad" web design hold any weight with you?
On the flip side, maybe you decide that you have so much information to share that it just isn't possible to pick a clean style. Many publications, such as newspapers, have this problem - there simply isn't enough room on the page to convey all the information without being a little cluttered. While there are "magazine" style designs and layouts, sometimes it comes down to sheer volume of information and having to display it one way or another. Know your business and it's needs when picking a design.
Half and Half
There's always a middle ground a maybe that's where you'd like to land. You can keep a jazzy personality on your site while keeping basic clean principles in mind. The left/right sidebars are notorious for being cluttered so this could be a great place to start simplifying. Consider cleaning up some of the widgets, moving towards a gentler colour scheme (i.e, pick 2-3 colours for your site instead of 6), or sticking to only one font across your site.
White Space
Another thing that clean websites have in common is that they favour and prioritize white space. Whitespace (also called negative space) is the area between the elements on a web page - such as text, images, videos, icons, etc.
This style means that web pages tend to be much longer (meaning the user will have to scroll more) because when you increase the space between sections / items, they will stand out more.
When a user has an easier time focusing on one element at a time (whether it’s text, an image, a video, whatever), they are more likely to understand your web content and business. This is why it’s so important that you create actual separations between the sections and/or elements on the page or in the blog post,
Don't forget that your goal is to keep visitors on your site as long as possible and by adding lots of white space to your site, vistors will keep scrolling through the pages, consume more of your content and generally stick around much longer.
Choosing the right Squarespace template if you want clean web design
Great news - Squarespace websites are designed to be clean, easy to read and simple to navigate! Yippee, that fits all our requirements!
So basically you can pick any Squarespace template and be in good hands.
That being said, the trouble usually arises when people start making too many tweaks or customizations to the Squarespace template. Just because you CAN do something, doesn’t mean that you should - remember, less is often more!
Personally I recommend any of the Brine templates since they offer the most robust features and customizations, but honestly you’re good to go with all templates!
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Final Thoughts
Clean web design is popular for a reason and when in doubt, I always recommend that you opt for this design choice! This is especially true if you’re going the DIY route on your website, or aren’t very experienced with branding yet.
Focus on usability and readability when designing your site because that is always the best choice for people who are visiting your website!
Now it’s your turn to tell me, what are your thoughts on clean designs? Do you favour them on your site or have you opted against them? Did you ever make the switch from one style to another? I’d love to know so leave me a note in the comments below!
