One thing I love is seeing all my fave do-it-yourself entrepreneurs rockin’ the website journey on their own using one of my templates. I am so grateful to be able to help so many of you guys get started by providing professional, ready to go website templates that you can easily customize.
BUTTT there are two sides to every coin, amiright?
The fact that Showit is so user-friendly and it’s a dream to move things around, change things up and create the website of your dreams, it opens the door for many DIY website mistakes to happen.
That’s where this series comes in! I want to help explain certain principles of good design so that you are better prepared to tackle the setup of your template and end up with a professional, high-converting website like the demo you purchased.
First on the agenda is one of the most common things I come across when reviewing websites for customers that customized one of my templates on their own – the removal of white space.
Summary: Don’t do this.
White space is there for a reason and it is oh-so-important! What is white space? It is the blank space around elements within your website design. Now white space does not literally mean “white” space. It can be any color and is more so just about the absence of content within a space.
Here’s a few reasons designers implement white space into their designs:
Increases content legibility. This means people will use less brain power as their navigate your site. Which is a good thing.
Creates balance and an overall comfortable aesthetic. Ever land on a page and get overwhelmed by elements that seemed to be crammed on the page? It’s a stressor. Same as a cluttered room. We want our websites to be a pleasant experience for visitors and we want to entice them to stay, not run away. Having white space helps give a sense of balance, calm and professionalism to a website.
Separates elements and ideas on your website giving clear direction. Having an appropriate amount of white space within your layout makes the user’s journey my seamless and they can better understand where they need to go next.
Allows for Accentuating Calls to Action. The whole purpose of your website is to call your visitors to action, right? That action is to buy, book or enroll in whatever you are offering. If your website is cluttered and condensed, these calls to action can be easily missed! Having white space allows you to accentuate these buttons and help them stand out.
Example of a good amount of white space vs. a poor amount:
Removing white space in website design is one of the most common DIY website mistakes that I see and if you worry about whether you have too little (or too much) feel free to shoot me an email at jg@jessicagingrich.com and I’ll be happy to review your website and give some input!
Are you just getting started in your website design process? Then make sure to check out my templates which give you a starting place with an ideal amount of white space for your reference!
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