Comments on: Good Eyesight Can Hurt Conversions

By: Landlord

Landlord — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:47:06 +0000

I think it’s been well proven that black on white is easier on the eyes than pretty much anything else. When I see a website designed with light on dark, I know the skills of the designer are in question and am already less likely to purchase or continue on the site.

I think the only legit light on dark sites anyways are gamer and goth sites right?

By: canadian bodybuilding

canadian bodybuilding — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:53:01 +0000

wow i feel sick now

By: Roundup Thursday for the Week of 9/21/08 | Click for Clients - Online Marketing Training for Small Business

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 04:31:27 +0000

[...] on a white background looks awesome, unless you begin to read it. My eyes still hurt. Discoverd via Bryan Eisenberg at Grokdotcom, please read the entire page in order to get the point. Now think about this in a commercial sense: [...]

By: Susan Greene

Susan Greene — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:52:00 +0000

I agree, white type on a black background is hard to read, ugly, even gothic. So how come so many clients request it when having their website designed? I think they believe it looks “creative.” Ugh!

Susan

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 15:09:14 +0000

white on black very rarely works for sites. Some “theme” sites like a game or something can SOMETIMES work, but it’s really just hard onthe eyes. If your design truly insists on using white on black, use a grey instead.

By: James Spinosa

James Spinosa — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:24:12 +0000

I have seen quite a few white on black, red on blue, and other techniques that people think are creative when they are first making them. Eventually you realize people want to be able to read your content

By: Bryan Eisenberg

Bryan Eisenberg — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:06:46 +0000

Craig,

Unfortunately, that is a template setup by GotoMeeting. I wish I had even more control over it.

Bryan

By: craig

craig — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:05:10 +0000

your very next article “Landing Page Optimization: Layout and Design Elements” leads to…. a page with black text on a blue background. almost unreadable, or maybe i was still dizzy from your (very good) example of why not to use white text on a dark background.

or was that another example of what not to do?

By: Sahota from UniqLooks - Cashmere Scarves Shop

Sahota from UniqLooks - Cashmere Scarves Shop — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:08:37 +0000

Great. Specially I guess eye opener for someone who has black background and white font color.

By: Karin

Karin — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 20:50:45 +0000

Awesome. No better way to explain it than show it. I really need to bookmark that page ……….

By: Jack from eyeflare travel tips

Jack from eyeflare travel tips — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 13:23:24 +0000

Ouch, that does hurt. OK, point taken, thanks for sharing. Re-design on the way…!

Yes, that really is a brilliant illustration of the problem.

By: Arlene Kahn

Arlene Kahn — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 04:41:56 +0000

I don’t understand people who use white on black or other light colors on dark backgrounds. It is so hard to read and I usually just close the page when I see that sort of set up.

By: Sarasota SEO

Sarasota SEO — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 02:30:28 +0000

Dang, that seriously hurt.

By: Michael Straker

Michael Straker — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 23:24:21 +0000

That really is a great demo page. I felt dizzy by the end!

Red on blue (or vice versa) is awful too.

By: Jason Egan

Jason Egan — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:27:47 +0000

Was your client Cnet.com!? I noticed the same issue when they launched their redesign and sent them feedback during their beta, voicing that the black header wasn’t the greatest thing on people’s eyes.

I truly believe that the larger a company gets, the less common sense is used.

By: Bryan Eisenberg

Bryan Eisenberg — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:54:17 +0000

Felipe,

Thank you for pointing that out and the kind words. It must be an issue with the video service. I’ll look to see what we can do to replace it in the next couple of weeks. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Best wishes,
Bryan

By: Felipe

Felipe — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:51:36 +0000

Hello Bryan, great work and thanks a lot for your blog and books.

I would like to point out that some links to videos on your blog are not working, i really need some pointers on Detail Page Optimization, and could
not wacth this article in video cast format:
http://www.grokdotcom.com/2007/08/24/screencast-optimizing-e-commerce-product-pages/

Is it a problem with the video service? Is there an alternative source for that information?

Thanks a lot