Do people judge the content based on website appearance?

I don’t have any data on this so I am trying to collect some from here.

Currently many websites look amazing as do their content/blog pages.
Let’s say even if you are providing valuable content but your website looks basic (WordPress), do people even care to read the blog or do they just skip it if there’s only content over there?

This is what I mean when I say a modern and basic Design, I might be wrong.

  1. Modern: https://imgur.com/a/6Sq9TQa
  2. Basic: https://imgur.com/a/XEz3KqU

Yes people judge everything on looks and first impressions.

It’s not so much about basic vs complex or modern vs old It’s just about it not being crap and god-awful to use or look at and it’s about picking a style or design that matches the tone of your website.

It’s rarer to gain marks but it’s super easy to lose them.

I did manage to increase page views per session by 10% changing the logo (the old one was unnoticeable and didn’t make sense) That was more recovering lost marks imo.

Broken layouts or overbearing animations and ads are the easiest way to lose marks Ezoic - enough said.

But imo there isn’t much between these two The right design probably depends more on the websites tone I don’t think one is particularly better than the other just different The modern one would look out of place for a website about peace love and growing organic food Both would be fine for something generic business & clinical feeling The minimal one feels slightly more personal and newspaper pullout magazine (but not much).

Also using Wordpress isn’t the on and off switch that determines if something is a good design or not Using Wordpress doesn’t mean your design is inherently basic It’s just a CMS The theme and customisation and how you chose to layout your blocks and the images you use will have a bigger effect If you changed your featured image the entire tone of both websites could completely change I actually think the featured image is the biggest thing holding the ‘modern’ one back.

I also think the ‘modern’ one isn’t very modern The basic one feels more up to date.

@Tosh
I was thinking the same thing (last point).

@Tosh
Thanks for this thorough insight.

So far I have been able to conclude that the reading experience of the user matters minimal is something that is always gonna work for the user So I feel this thought that I had for modern vs basic is very subjective and doesn’t have anything to do with content quality As you said the only breaking point is the blog page (website) itself being crappy (with tons of ads).

@Jackson_Smith
I wouldn’t say being crappy is the only way of breaking a design but the easiest and quickest way The other ways would be by making the experience disjointed or completely uneventful A steam-punk design for a herbal tea blog makes zero sense and probably won’t appeal to the target audience despite being an awesome design so you’d expect a very high bounce rate With a minimal design there is less risk to this but you miss the opportunity to put the reader in a positive frame of mind when viewing the website It also fails to help break the page up and it becomes a bit more like a wall of text - it does nothing to anchor the reader in their position on the page You end up losing out on views per session return visitors and having lower read duration/dwell time rather than actively destroying it if that makes sense If you haven’t got a clue what is appropriate or if your appeal is very broad or sterile start minimal and unobjectionable but add splashes of style to make the content digestible However if the content needs a homely personal feel (e.g. something about Grandma Jane’s Traditional Award-winning Jam) then minimal might be detrimental but I get the sense that this isn’t what you cater for.

I said it in another thread/post but it’s like how police stop red cars more often and how bad handwriting makes you get lower exam scores The wrong impression has a subconscious negative effect A neutral impression like beige wallpaper works great for selling houses because of the wide appeal but might not blow people away yield the optimal price or win any awards It’s not always evident that you have achieved neutral - all design conveys some tone A lot of modern white with black and slate accenting has replaced beige in homes been overdone and is hated by a lot of people - the first thing they think about is undoing the damage created by so-called ‘renovations’ You should shoot for a positive impression where possible with knowledge of your target audience and their taste If it’s not possible pick neutral and iterate later.

The only thing I might suggest for a neutral design is that a bright white background might be a bit much given how prevalent dark theme is A minimalist website with a non-white background still conveys character and improves accessibility without risking major design choices Even an off-white or eggshell can take the edge off One advantage of a minimal design is its easy to implement a dark mode switch It could also be worth looking at doing something interesting with section titles or the first character in each section (like a newspaper/magazine) to break the wall of text up and leaning on pull quotes or splashes of colour or design down the side bar It would still be relatively minimal but it would make the text much easier to read It could be worth taking a look at some dark-mode-first websites to see how they do this sort of thing without leaning on colour.

@Tosh
I’ll implement a few of the stuff you mentioned in the last paragraph really great points for a minimal design.

@Tosh
Hello my friend you have so much insight and offer great value I hate to ask but can you give me an honest opinion about the following ? It needs works since it is not a 1st priority but when I have time I work on it.

I am about to update it with several anchor articles.
Thanks :pray:

https://wp.newcitizen.io

The only way website design influences my opinion of the content is if the design is so bad or intrusive that I can’t focus on the content or if the website design is so good it enhances the reading experience (which practically never happens for me imo) Other than that I don’t consider web design when digesting content

I think the basic one looks better.

Yes otherwise there would be no need for web designers and good looking sites/themes It used to be my job to make sites look good.

Even without my experience I would tend to close a website if it was hard to use or looked bad It can even lead to me not trusting the website.

As a woman all I can say: LOL.

Leeland said:
As a woman all I can say: LOL.

What about as a reader?

I mean usually on a basic webpage they would still link to things and have various archive and navigation options Your examples appear to be more about functionality than their look.

Given all the same navigation options I think any kind of site can work as long as the design feels in line with the content If someone likes your website off of the look or dislikes it off of the look should hopefully align with if they would want to stay once they start reading the content.

@Jayson
Right it was more about functionality I had a thought people might just leave the page if it doesn’t enhance their reading experience.

I would honestly read either of those you showed The design is clean easy to understand and visually appealing I personally prefer articles without the sidebar because the unrelated stuff on the side can be annoying at times but it’s really not that bad.

If it doesn’t look like you put it together on a Google Doc or like the web has just come into existence I think you’re fine.

I’m personally not very demanding when it comes to website design As long as it’s not a complete eyesore and doesn’t make reading the content a struggle I’m good.

Bad design is definitely a turn-off though.

There is definitely an element of appearance simply because a professional-looking website conveys that you’re someone who can be trusted When they first come to your site they don’t know you your expertise your skills your certifications etc That first impression is based on what they see If the site they open is slow broken disorganized etc then they are likely to hesitate on trusting that it is being presented by someone trustworthy and reliable.

I’ll share my 2 cents.

I’ve seen even the shittiest designs rank on top of SERPs Most of the time I’ve found the most obscure information on those websites.

However designs do matter to the general audience If you’re in a gaming coding ai or some other tech-related niche having a basic downright boring design would actually work in your favor.

Yes I do Anything will talk about you: UI font size…

Some do some don’t.
The ones that do matter more.