@Techno Viking 959889 wrote:
I’m curious. If you came across a fuggly web site and you think the design’s pretty shit, would you still use it? Can content make up for a lack of visual appeal or not? Or are you more of a shallow type who judges things on looks?
Ironically I am studying to get a certification in marketing with a focus on social media and website design so I can tell you this: everyone’s perspective is different on what a good website looks like. You can never please everyone but marketing isn’t about pleasing everybody – it’s about pleasing your target audience. For example if you have a used car dealership and put together a website to show off your stock of vehicles, the content needs to be visually pleasing to drivers, so the target audience would be people who use their own mode of transportation and not public transport.
The content on your website should show pictures of your vehicles with bright colors and beautiful descriptions for each one as well. Now assuming that you are on a budget if you’re a used car salesman, your website will need to have ads. Nobody likes a website covered in ads or pop ups – it’s an immediate turn off. What you want to do is use ads that are relevant to your website’s content such as an ad for car accessories; an ad for a local auto parts store or an oil changing/mechanics shop, etc. You would NEVER want to advertise a bus line like Greyhound or UBER because you want your target audience to come to you to buy YOUR cars and not settle for paying someone to cart you around. See what I mean?
I have seen tons of websites over the years and some were pretty shitty but every single one that I considered shitty had pop ups and irrelevant ads. Who cares about gummy bears if you’re interested in buying a used car? I never judge a website strictly on visual aspects as I do not know who runs the site or what their budget is etc. I believe to fully judge a site, you need to pay attention to its content and detail ALONG with the overall appearance. You want your site to appeal to everyone but strictly interest your primary customers you want.
In other words, you want your website to POP and immediately grab someone’s attention with proper font, colors, pictures, etc. but that isn’t all the website should be. If someone gets hooked by the look of your site, then they will most likely visit it more often and read its content and be involved.
I would still use a site if it had a terrible visual appeal if the content was relevant and interesting, yes. But no site should be just plain black and white, HTML format, with pop ups and irrelevant ads. Were you asking about a specific site or just in general? If you have a website and are asking based on that, then I can give you an honest review.
