Website Alignment – How Do You Like It
posted in Web DesignJust like most things in web design and user interface design, personal preference is the cause of many arguments.
Rather than discuss this as an argument, I would like to see statistics on opinions from fellow designers, internet users, general garden gnomes etc.
Please select below, whether you prefer to create/visit/browse center aligned websites, or left aligned websites.
If you have a good argument for either, please comment below. I am interested to hear it, thanks 
[poll id="2"]
-
Center, all day, ever day. I don’t know if I have a specific hardlined reason for it, but it just makes sense. I think I last designed a left aligned website in 2002, but don’t quote me on that.
3 reasons for center aligned:
1. I sit in the middle of my screen, not the left side.
2. Equal spacing on each side feels right (not left)
3. It feels like it floats in the middle, I love floating.Thanks for the poll Brian.
Aaron Weiche’s last blog post..Content Management: Adding Basic Content Strategy, Not Just The Content Tool
-
I prefer elastic designs over either the center aligned or left approach if I can use them. If I’m stuck with strict dimensions I invariably go with center alignment.
My reason for elastic and center goes with the scaling of the browser window. If you have a very large screen (we have a ton of 30″ & 23″ Cinema Displays here) a left-aligned website has almost literally FEET of open white-space that is only on the right side.
Now, we have to assume anyone visiting our site will have other sites open in other tabs. If there is another tab with a center aligned or elastic site, then jumping between them makes yours looks amateur-ish or old in comparison (going back to the 800 x 600 pages).
As far as the ridiculous amount of white space goes, the argument for center aligned would be that on either side of the site, there is always exactly the same amount of space on either side and thus your page looks like it fits and was made for that screen – even better if it’s elastic.
Both elastic and center perform the same when using smaller browsers also, and eventually, if the browser window gets small enough, a center alignment will function the same as a left-alignment since it will just move left until the content hits the left wall.
My 2C
- Dustin
-
Simple equation:
Keyboard: Aligned central
Wacom Tablet: Aligned central
Me: Aligned central
Browser: Aligned central
Darth Vador Lego Man on top of Screen: Aligned central….
Website: Aligned central
You know it makes sense
Andrew Kelsall’s last blog post..Avoid Bad Design with White Paint?
-
What about right alignment? (j/k)
Center all the way, makes so much more sense. Whenever I visit a site that is left aligned I feel like the site was designed center aligned but not optimized for my browser… Fluid can sometimes work as well.
-
Although I prefer centre-aligned — my own website has that layout — left-aligned has its place, I think. Right now I’m working on a new website that is left-aligned. It gives a solid, anchored impression that suits the purposes of this particular site.
I guess I never really thought about it, but now that I’m forced to, I would think that centre-aligned conveys traits of flexibility and creativity, while left-aligned sites would convey traits of reliability and rock-solidness. I think that each has its place in the World Wide Web.
I know this isn’t part of the question, but I will add that I prefer fixed-widths sites as well. Too many times, things go awry because the site expands to the screen size. With more and more people switching to th 4:3 style monitors, this could also lead to some very wide columns — making for very uncomfortable reading.
IMHO,
~Graham
Graham Strong’s last blog post..John Lennon
-
Centre aligned is my preference for sure. We see left aligned sites less and less, and I often wonder if they forgot to centre it, or could not manage it. I think Andrew Kelsall says it all.
Steve’s last blog post..Frenzy in the ball pool
-
Margaret says:
I prefer centre-aligned now although a lot of years ago where there was more of a trend for left hand navigation, left aligned worked well.
I am not so keen on a fluid layout though. I like to keep the appearance of a website as I’ve designed it, including the flow of text and I think you can lose the integrity/appearance of a design with a fluid layout.
-
I prefer center. It just seems more natural. You know, like most books.
It’s just easier to read that way.When things are left-aligned, the “eye flow” just doesn’t work as well and in some browsers, when there’s not enough white space on the left margin, it really can be difficult to read.
~ Annie
Annie Anderson’s last blog post..Business cards & logos
-
I prefer center, but there are nice left aligned sites , it really depends the way it is structured overall
-
Thanks you everyone for your votes and comments. Looks like as of today a whopping 90% of my site visitors think center aligned websites are the way to go.
I agree that center aligned site are much easier on the eye, when a majority of the most visited sites on the web are center aligned. When I come across a left aligned site, my eyes feel strange and uncomfortable for some reason. With a large monitor also, there is a lot of empty white space in the right half of the screen and it just doesn’t look right.
There are some big sites that are left aligned though out there :
https://www.bankofamerica.com/index.jsp
http://vodafone.ie/ -
Brian, the examples of left-aligned websites got me thinking about my bank website, and it is also left-aligned. So I did a quick search for the word “bank” and lo-and-behold…that majority of bank websites (in my country) are left-aligned.
So either they do this on purpose to give a sense of “stability”, which is pretty important in a bank. Or, because banks tend to be stuck in the old ways, and mired down in bureaucracy which caused the pace of change to be glacial.
John Pash’s last blog post..Mac users are more smarter
-
Carlo says:
Isn’t there a psychological proof or something? Comments like “It doesn’t feel right”, “It just doesn’t look right” will not convince the managers of Vodafone, they need eye-tracking,user tests,a/b-testing or some scientific evidence that centered sites perform better/have higher conversion rates then left-aligned fixed width sites.
Wouldn’t it be nice to throw a survey and ask the top 100 online e-commerce sites why they choose to have a left-aligned site/centered site? I am also curious why some big sites are still using the left-aligned layout.
-
Poll doesn’t seem to be there? Just says ‘poll id=2′. I would have voted for centre aligned as most others did.
Paul – UK Shore’s last blog post..Kent coast
-
Oh man I wish I had found your blog earlier!
Sadly the poll isn’t there anymore, I guess I’m really too late
My vote would also have gone for center-aligned.Farid Hadi’s last blog post..Deep Blue – Free WordPress Theme
-
fred says:
If it is minimal, ie – plain backgroudn , then i prefer left aligned, can’t stand text just stuck in the middle of nowhere it is diffiult to read, at least when it is left aligned I have the browser window t provide a visual border.
When I use dreamweaver, visual studio, etc, most o fmy time is spent lookign left, and do I notice it? Of course not. Just liek I don’t notice it when I’m on Google…
-
Jesse Van Hiller says:
I suppose it really depends on what the use of the site is.
While my own preference is for a center-aligned design, what are the needs of the user? Are there language considerations? Behavioral considerations? Business considerations?
While design for design’s sake is good conversation, you can’t forget to consider the end user in your discussions, even for artistic expression.
-
Left-aligned websites are seriously annoying to look at on larger monitors. It’s like going to the movies and having all the action framed way off the the side. I don’t get it.
I’m just imaging the design agency executives selling the bank executives on “It just feels more stable and solid, man, trust me, it’s so awesomely symbolic. Your welcome for our brilliant point of view.”
I defy any designer to come here and justify (heh) a left-aligned site over a centered design.
-
shah says:
just browsed for the topic. a topic so central to the web development but no one has fully understood. why are search engine usually left aligned?
