Quick summary: What’s the best way to approach building your brand? Should you go over the top with embellishments and details and try to catch your target audience’s attention through maximalism? Or is it better to focus on minimalism and functionality and allow your products/services to speak for themselves?
In truth, there’s no single (or universally correct) answer to these questions. Instead, it all depends on several factors: who you’re trying to reach and convert, what you’re trying to sell, and how you want your prospects to perceive your business.
Nevertheless, if you’re not entirely sure what the best direction for your brand is, erring on the side of minimalism probably is the right choice.
Why? It’s simple. Sleek design isn’t just easier to implement in your brand’s visual identity and online presence; it also provides several benefits in terms of aesthetic appeal and functionality.
This guide explores the role of white space, the top visual element of minimalism, in shaping strong brands, providing you with several benefits of incorporating more of it into your online presence.
What Is White Space?
In graphic design, white space (which is also referred to as negative space) represents any area of a layout intentionally left blank.
Its purpose is simple: providing the eye with a place to rest. Such a ‘respite’ offers several benefits, including elevated readability, clarity, and higher aesthetic appeal.
In digital settings, designers utilize white space for several reasons. Yes, it is often used for its functionality. After all, well-utilized white space improves overall user experience. It also improves the effectiveness of branded messaging.
Moreover, it plays a key visual role in determining brand identities, which is crucial for business success — especially in a world where branding and packaging directly shape consumer behavior.
For example, research suggests that consumers prefer websites that are simple and predictable in terms of design, which (at least partially) explains the popularity of minimalist design.
To incorporate white space into your online presence, you don’t have to go fully minimalistic. Nor do you have to forego embellishment — especially if it’s a key part of your identity. Nevertheless, smartly incorporating negative space into your branding and web design does provide some benefits, allowing you to intentionally shape brand perception and influence your prospects’ on-site behavior.
How White Space Shapes Branding and Web Design
If your goals include strengthening your brand, or simply elevating your chances of turning brand interactions into conversions — particularly on your website, here’s how white space could allow you to accomplish these goals.
Elevating Aesthetic Appeal
White space can transform almost any design into an aesthetically appealing whole. Not because there’s anything wrong with incorporating a lot of elements into your brand’s web presence. It’s just that negative space can allow each of those elements to shine, attract user attention, and communicate its message.
If you look at companies with some of the strongest branding out there, you’ll find that they often employ a great deal of negative space in their online presences.
Apple, for example, is famous for its sleek aesthetics — both in terms of product design and marketing materials. So, if you’re looking for inspiration on how to incorporate more white space into your online presence, taking note from this brand could be a great way to go, especially if you want your audience to associate your offer with highly aestheticized functionality that simply works.
Source: apple.com
Aiding Visual Hierarchy and Emphasizing Core Messaging
The second biggest benefit white space can offer when trying to strengthen your brand is that it can effectively allow your messaging (including value propositions) to stand out.
But how does this relate to consumer behavior?
There are two things you have to understand.
First and foremost, when looking for ways to resolve their pain points, shoppers want convenience. They don’t want to have to spend hours or days searching for a solution that might work. Instead, they seek effective solutions that do what they promise.
Secondly, 73% of buyers want brands to show an in-depth understanding of their needs and expectations. And that means your messaging needs to be relevant and personalized; otherwise, you risk your audience ignoring your value propositions.
The way white space in web design helps with this is that it plays a significant role in aiding visual hierarchy.
Essentially, a webpage element that’s surrounded by negative space is immediately perceived as more “important” than the rest of the content surrounding it. And that automatically means that web visitors pay more attention to it.
Take a look at how Somewhere utilizes white space for emphasis on its Hiring a Social Media Manager landing page. This brand surrounds its most important call to action — the invitation for prospects to hire a social media manager — with tons of white space.
Moreover, it utilizes additional white space surrounding high-value elements, like the one comparing the cost of hiring in the USA, the Philippines, and Latin America, knowing that this is information its audience is most likely to be looking for when making a decision.
Source: somewhere.com
Enhancing Readability and Comprehension
There are many ways, both big and small, in which white space can help shape a strong brand.
Sure, a minimalistic visual branding direction may boost aesthetic appeal, improve brand memorability, and aid brand recognition (particularly in highly competitive markets). But the benefits of enhancing your online presence with negative space go beyond your company’s positioning.
It’s just as much related to how effectively you can communicate messages that will make your audience want to convert into customers.
We already mentioned how white space aids visual hierarchy and helps emphasize core messaging. But it’s essential to remember that it also plays a role in elevating content readability and comprehension.
Ultimately, landing page readability directly influences conversion rates.
According to a recent report from Unbounce, difficult words reduce conversion rates by 24.3%. Long reading times do so by 19.4%. And a hefty word count can diminish your ability to convert new customers by 18.6%.
With this in mind, incorporating white space into your landing page content — to make it easier to consume and understand — could be a great way to ensure your prospects comprehend the value you offer and want to continue interacting with your business.
If you check out the Uproas Rent Facebook Agency Ad Accounts page, you’ll notice that the brand uses visual elements and white space to separate the benefits its solution offers. This design approach creates a clear distinction between each of the advantages of investing in the brand’s services.
It also makes it easier for web visitors to skim the content, ensuring that they see each claim without having to read word-for-word to understand how it might affect them.
Source: uproas.io
Improving the User Experience
User experience is a hugely important factor in shaping brand perception.
According to data, more than one-third of consumers will stop interacting with a business if its website doesn’t load fast enough. And 30% will stop viewing if the content isn’t displaying well on their current device.
Even more, 32% of all customers would abandon a brand they love after a single subpar experience. That’s why ensuring that your audience has a pleasant time interacting with your website is incredibly important.
The good news is that white space automatically allows you to elevate your site’s UX, without requiring you to make huge changes to your webpage designs.
In fact, something as simple as leaving sufficient breathing room between different sections of your homepage — like what RE Cost Seg, a real estate cost segregation service did — is more than enough to help guide your audience through your value propositions without overwhelming them with too much content or bombarding them with too many sales-oriented messages.
Source: recostseg.com
Creating an Easier Path Toward Conversion
Finally, as you explore the benefits of incorporating more negative space into your brand’s online presence, don’t forget that this web design element can be a great way to guide web visitors toward a conversion.
On the one hand, this is true because white space influences how web users interact with a layout. Their attention will naturally gravitate toward elements that are surrounded by more white space, simply because these will appear as important.
On the other hand, white space in web design boosts conversion rates by reducing friction. By removing unnecessary webpage elements from your visitors’ path toward conversion, you can maximize their chances of choosing to convert (or move to a lower stage of the buyer’s journey).
Take a look at what this design strategy looks like on the DialMyCalls Mass Notification System landing page. Here, the brand utilizes white space to ensure the “Try it Free” CTA button stands out against the blue background. Yes, it’s a simple design strategy that is used by most businesses. Yet, it works marvelously for encouraging conversions, making it a great tactic to implement on your site.
Source: dialmycalls.com
Final Thoughts
White space is an irreplaceable element of effective, attractive, and high-converting web design.
No, you don’t have to use it in excess or opt for a fully minimalistic direction for your brand’s online presence. But knowing how and when to use white space can tremendously help in getting your message across, shaping a positive brand image, and guiding your prospects toward a conversion.
Of course, if you want to ensure you’re using white space right from the get-go, the best thing you can do is hire a professional UI/UX design team who’ll understand your needs and priorities and ensure you get the absolute best design that aligns with your brand’s identity and target audience’s online behavior.
FAQ
What is white space?
White space refers to any section of a website (or printed material) that is intentionally left white.
Does white space have to be white?
No, it doesn’t. White (or negative) space can be any color that aligns with your brand’s visual identity. And it can even incorporate background imagery — especially when using it on social media or as part of your website’s hero section.
What are the benefits of using white space in shaping brand success?
In web design, white space ensures a positive user experience. It can increase the visual appeal of your pages, elevate readability, and guide user attention. Overall, its main benefit is that it allows your brand to leave a positive impression on prospects, which is crucial in ensuring their willingness to continue interacting with your business and increasing their purchase intention.
Author Profile: Mahipal Nehra is the Digital Marketing Manager at Decipher Zone Technologies, specializing in content strategy, and tech-driven marketing for software development and digital transformation.
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