Quality Websites

Recently, we’ve been working with several clients who emphasize their desire for a quality website. We tend to treat this as understood: we only do quality websites. However, these clients aren’t just saying that they want their sites done well. They have a particular look in mind.

We can build a high quality site with a cute look or a grunge look. A quality site performs well, looks good, and produces the effect the client wants. It communicates the nature of the company that owns it and makes visitors feel good about the company. But a site with a quality look isn’t going to be too cute or too edgy. The look is polished and upscale, with a serious presence.

What gives a website that quality look? It’s hard to articulate this sometimes, so — just as in the cartoon at right — we’d like to help make this more explicit.

Let’s look at some good and bad examples. We’ve cut the bad examples down to a few inches to protect the site owners, but these are mostly “before” shots from websites we’ve worked with. The good examples are “after” shots of sites we’ve written, though not of the same sites.

Color

We use lots of different color schemes successfully, from dark tech looks to light and elegant schemes. Your website will never suggest quality, though, if it has random color choices instead of an actual color palette.

Compare the example above with the example below, designed for Haden Interactive by Hapgood Design:

 

No matter what else is going on with the sites, the sophistication of the color palette of the second example will give an impression of quality, while the color choices of the first example, where the background, logo, and font colors were clearly all chosen separately, will not.

Images

Professional photography, good illustrations, or good quality stock photos will make your site look good. A site with no images at all, or with poor quality pictures, will not have a quality look.

The snapshot above doesn’t make the company look good, even though it shows their product. The picture below, used by WhatIf Creative as an abstract representation of a company, does a much better job.

Like copywriting, good quality images are an aspect of the web building experience that people are tempted to cut corners on — but both are among the things that really make a difference.

Typography

Even if your content is good, bad lettering decisions will keep your site from having a quality look. The bad example below is an academic website, and it is traditional for them to be poorly designed, so it may not even be fair to include it. However, it has so many of the classic problems that I wanted to discuss that when I saw it by chance this morning I couldn’t resist. Many bad typography choices come about, we think, when site owners want to make their sites look more interesting. See how multiple fonts and styles, centered lettering, and eccentric margins look?

Compare that with a site which has made some more intentional choices in typography:

This site, which we wrote for Sharp Hue, has just as much visual liveliness, but the look is far more upscale.

Content

The look of the site is what people mean when they talk about a “quality website.” A brief impression of a good site won’t hold up, though, if the content is poor. There has to be a clear main point, effective sentences, and precise grammar and punctuation, or your site will not maintain the quality effect when your visitors stay to read.

Code

Your human visitors won’t usually know if your code is good or bad, and they won’t care, either. Except that a site with lean, clean code will load faster, last longer, and behave better. Don’t make the mistake of insisting on a quality look and then spoiling it with poor code or content.

Not sure whether your website has the quality look you want?

Our full site analysis is labor intensive, but our extensive experience allows us to identify the three most important changes you should make quickly enough that we can offer a free site analysis. People who've tried it say things like, 'THANK YOU!!!This feedback is awesome and filled with incredibly helpful advice.'

We'd love to have a look at your site. There's no obligation. Just email Rebecca at Rebecca@HadenInteractive.com with your web address. We'll get back to you ASAP.