

Ask HN: What makes a website look professional? - ekpyrotic

Are there any general design cues that distinguish a professional website from a non-professional website?<p>In particular, what makes a website look authoritative, and distinguishes it from a domain squatter's template?
======
martin-adams
In my opinion, a professional web site is one that may use the following (no
particular order):

\- Good balance of page elements, such as copy over graphics, etc.

\- Legibility of text (this is the visual spacing of which text can be read,
font-size, colour, line height, line length, kerning, etc, etc).

\- Readability of text (does it make sense when you read it?)

\- Professionally written copy. Forgets saying "We are the leading company in
..." - yeah you and everyone else. Tell me why you're better, not that you are
better, and why it's important to me, not your "thousands of other customers".

\- A strong value proposition (why am I here and what do I get out of it)

\- Strong images, such as good photography with people in it (pictures of
people do wonders to user engagement). Also have them looking at the product
or where to go next as it guides the user.

\- Page load speed - I don't want to see the non-essential elements be
rendered first all waiting while those adverts and analytics are loaded before
I get to do anything useful.

\- A business identity - professional web sites are run by professional
companies who don't mind talking to you over the phone, so show the phone
number.

\- Clear navigation with no confusing terminology that makes me wonder if I'm
in the wrong place.

\- No tacky animations, just non-obtrusive complimentary motions that support
my visual comprehension of the action I took, rather than it just trying to
look flashy.

\- If it's a service (such as MailChimp), then don't be shy of what other big
brands use your product. It gives more credibility.

\- Consistency. Keep navigation, fonts consistent with their purpose.

\- Be honest. When it comes to pricing, don't hide it and make me call.
Otherwise I think you're up to some shady practice to hound me in to spending
more.

Okay, that's all I've got time for.

------
UnoriginalGuy
Polish.

You can make a turd look like a professional web-site with enough polish. But
even if you do that it is still a turd.

People will come to your site if it has great content even if it doesn't look
"professional." Polish just makes them more likely to stay but not really more
likely to return (content does that).

Polish is all about getting both the "big" things right but also about getting
the little tiny details right too. If you spend hours considering if your site
should have rounded corners on the CSS boxes then you're doing it right...

~~~
DanBC
> If you spend hours considering if your site should have rounded corners on
> the CSS boxes then you're doing it right...

Only if you've previously spent hours making sure the content is the best it
can be.

------
Metatron
Multiple pages of actual content. Not just a handful of pages. Functional
design elements like social media buttons, logins, chat functions. Partner
links. No wordpress/etc imported theme.

------
xackpot
A good starting point would be to have your design elements aligned in such a
manner that they conform to the Fibonacci Golden Ratio. Here is a link to a
few articles that describe Golden Ratio usage in web designing:

1\. <http://webdesign.about.com/od/webdesignbasics/a/aa071607.htm> 2\.
[http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/05/29/applying-
divine-p...](http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/05/29/applying-divine-
proportion-to-web-design/)

