Minimalist Design is Good For SEO
Minimalism is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “a style or technique (as in music, literature, or design) that is characterized by extreme spareness and simplicity “. Wikipedia goes further to say “minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features”.
More and more I am of the firm belief a minimalist design is the best option for a website. Google is a perfect example of minimalism in design. With a “sparse” design the visitor will know what to do. No searching around for menu links or reading through “keyword” laden text or over the top graphics. It is becoming more and more apparent to me that by providing a simple solution to a visitors need you will not only retain a visitor but that visitor will tell others how simple it is to find something at your site.
But what about text and keywords and relevant content you ask? All of that can be provided at your website; it just doesn’t all need to be stuffed into one spot. I think as more and more people become numb to webpage sensory overload, they are going to welcome a simple interface that quickly takes them to their answer. On subject or topic per page with one supporting advertisment that a business will pay for to be the only solution your site provides to it’s visitor.
Does this make sense to you. I am about to start and expirement with a domain I have had for a couple years that has not really done anyting on it’s own. I am going to pare down the design to the bare basics and turn it into a simple directory of answers the the particular industry that it deals with. No graphics, no rows of banner ads, no overwhelming text; Just a simple gateway to an answer. We will use social networking to promote and hopefully the quality of the visitors answer will become well known enough that the site starts to be known as the “only” destination for information and answers in it’s particular niche.
If this expirement is successful I will post the url on this blog as well all the steps I took to get the site known in its niche community.
Who knows, I may just be daydreaming, but then again, I like simple and easy to use. Maybe others will too.
What is your opinion?
Hi Eric,
I totally agree with what you are saying about having a minimal design. However, I too also believe that there is a balance of visual aesthetics. I have experimented using designs that have absolutely zero CSS styling and viewing source would reveal an A + + + design rated by any leading SEO expert. With that said though, even though I had ultimately the perfect coded web site it was too minimal in its design.
I’d like to believe that the way I design my WordPress themes they deliver the perfect balance for my niche blogs. I believe that a perfectly coded web site (or blog) should be enhanced with style, color and personalization. Fortunately that is why CSS was developed.
All in all, I do agree with what you are saying and I think by far a minimal design will out perform a terribly flashy and design or as you call it, a web site that causes sensory overload. As always, excellent article Eric, it was very fun to read.
That is the approach I have tried to do. A nice banner. Simple Navigation. Simple answers. For the most part it has worked. Another site I work on has done pretty well. The above is one of my new projects and it is doing okay. Honestly, it isn’t super minimalist, but I don’t think overwhelming either.
I too am a believer in minimalism, and Google is the ultimate example.
Sensory overload is often a problem, I call it a “busy” site.
It kills the purpose, and often I find myself just dumping the page and moving on.
My search engine position finder site takes this to heart. Since it searches Google, I shamelessly follow its example.
I hope you do reveal the url…………….
Does minimalist design also represents single page websites ?
Are single paged websites good for seo ?
Regards.