Is Your Website a Victim of Doughnut Syndrome?

When was the last time you actually sat back and had a look at what people are greeted with upon logging on to your website? There is an overwhelming need that people feel to try and crowbar everything onto their pages and unfortunately that’s one of the ways people think is MIEFT (making it easy for them). Usability experts agree that an airier, lighter and less crowded (was that too cheeky?) feel to a site will get you many, many more marks on their little charts!

Think about the most popular in site in the world

(I’ll give you a hint, it starts with a G). Now does that site look crowded? Does it shout at you with loud colours?

Below is a heatmap showing where people look on a webpage.

Google Heat Map

You’ll notice the top left corner is the most important, but not the top edge. Now where do people stick a great big logo or banner? You guessed it! This phenomenon is known as advertising (or branding) blindness. People are seeking content – information and media, not your logo or banner advertising, so they ignore it.

Think about the mindset you have when you’re semi interested in a magazine. You look at the pictures first, then you skim through the text paying little or no attention unless you pick up words that get you interested or give you the jist. This also ties in with search engine optimisation, (yes, this is not the first and certainly not the last time I am going to highlight how important keywords are!)

A major FYI

People surfing the internet are prediposed to look at websites in this mindset. As you may have heard mention of doughnuts before, I am going to be calling this doughnut syndrome.

Combat Doughnut Syndrome

So keep the doughnuts in mind when you consider aspects such as:

• Colours
• Layout
• Design
• Fonts
• Images
• Other media

These factors will all play a role in making visitors engage with your site, though don’t consider this list exhaustive. Of course, much of this is done for you if you opt for a weblaunch.