Gone are the days of pixel fonts, extravagant headers and long load times. They’ve been replaced by light-weight, easy on the eyes, and easy to use web interfaces. The new ‘in-thing’ is definitely simplicity with focus on good content, and I’m going to explain why.

Why are these complex designs no longer popular? Although designs like this do have their place, the truth is that the internet is going back to basics. Your average internet user isn’t coming to your site to see your robust flash intro, and they probably won’t stay because your site looks pretty. They’re there because they need relevant, quality content, and they want it fast.

Simple web designs accomplish a few important things:

• They help in getting users to stay longer. On average, visitors stay on the same page for about 50 seconds (or something like that). So, within the first 50 seconds, you need to capture the visitors attention. What do you use to capture their attention? Content, of course! You could use your pretty flash intro, but that will get you nothing more than one-time visitors who are either overwhelmed or couldn’t be asked to stay a little longer and actually take a look at your content. A website should be easy to read, and that means there shouldn’t be any unnecessary distractions. Sorry my friend, but nifty flash headers are unnecessary distractions (especially the ones that could induce a seizure, but let’s not talk about those).
• They’re generally much easier to code, and design for that matter. As the designer and coder of most of my sites, I can’t tell you how much I’d rather create a simple website for a client instead of a complex one. The time invested in creating these nifty flash intros and cool graphics that do nothing but increase load times is just phenomenal.
• They let the user focus on content. Let’s reference back to those near seizure-inducing animations. Have you ever tried to read something on a site, only to find that you can’t concentrate on the content because of it’s surroundings, and that you had to copy and paste the content into Notepad just to read it? I sure have.
• They load faster. There’s no doubting that less images, less flash and more reusable graphics help in optimizing load times. You don’t want thirty seconds for a page to load, and neither do your visitors.
• They cater to the largest possible audience. Small font sizes might look better given the design, but if your visitor can’t read it, then your design choice just cost you a read (and maybe even a sale)! That giant header might look great, but does the guy on 56k who never got to load it really even care? Nope.
• I like them more! That should be reason enough!

So when you design your next website, remember that the focus is always on the user. You want your visitors to stay, so give them a reason to. Make your pages simple, and you’ll be rewarded. Make your site complex, hard to read, and a bandwidth-hog, and.. well, I won’t like your site.