Website Conventions: Why Breaking the Rules Breaks Your Website
Posted on UX Design | Website Conventions
The Day I First Learned to “Stay in the Grid”
My first job out of college was in an art department—before desktop publishing, when layout meant actual paste-up. We worked with X-Acto knives, wax machines, and non-repro blue pencils. Columns weren’t something you dragged on a screen—they were drawn by hand, measured precisely with a pica ruler.
It was there that I first heard a phrase that has stuck with me my entire career: “Stay in the grid.” It meant: Don’t improvise. Don’t reinvent. Trust the structure. The grid was sacred because it guided the reader’s eye. It brought order to the page.
Decades later, I still think about that grid every time I visit a website. Because websites, like newspapers, succeed when they follow certain invisible rules—rules users have come to expect.
These are conventions. And while breaking them might seem bold, it usually just leaves users feeling lost.
What Are Website Conventions?
Website conventions are established design patterns and placements that users expect without thinking:
- Logo in the upper left (and clickable to the home page)
- Main navigation across the top or down the left
- Blue or underlined text for links
- Search bar in the upper right
- Shopping cart icon in the top corner (for e-commerce)
- Sticky headers for easy navigation
- Footer with contact info, social links, and site map
These aren’t trends. They’re not “nice to haves.” They’re what keep your website from feeling like a puzzle.
And just like how we don’t stop to think about what a headline is or where to find the author’s name in a newspaper, users don’t stop to think about these web conventions—until they’re missing.
From Newsprint to Netscape: Conventions Are About Comfort
In the newspaper world, the layout was everything. You had mastheads, headlines, subheads, body copy, pull quotes, and captions. People knew where to look because designers used consistency to teach them.
Here’s how newspaper conventions map to the web:
| Newspaper Element | Web Equivalent |
|---|---|
| Headline | H1 Page Title |
| Byline | Author/Metadata |
| Caption | Image Alt Text or Caption |
| Pull Quote | Testimonial or CTA |
| Column Layout | Grid System |
| Jump Line (continued on page 6) | “Read More” Buttons |
| Section Headers (Sports, Politics) | Navigation Menus |
Newspaper designers knew that no one read every word. Readers skimmed. So design wasn’t about showing off—it was about making sure the right things stood out.
Sound familiar? That’s web design in a nutshell.
Why Conventions Matter
1. Users Don’t Read—They Scan
Nielsen Norman Group has been saying this since the 1990s: web users don’t read word for word. They scan for headings, links, and buttons. When you follow conventions, users can scan more effectively. When you don’t, they hesitate.
If your “About” page is buried under a button called “The Journey,” you’ve just added cognitive load.
2. Website Conventions Build Trust
A clean, predictable interface makes your site feel credible—even before users engage with your content. If your checkout process feels unfamiliar or clunky, users may abandon the cart, regardless of price.
Just like a newspaper that ran sports scores on the front page would seem suspect, a website with misplaced or missing navigation sends the wrong signal.
3. They Speed Up Decision-Making
Users make split-second judgments. Familiar structures make those judgments easier. Think of Amazon: their product pages follow the same template every time. That’s not boring—it’s effective.
If your site forces users to relearn how to interact, you’re not creating a memorable experience. You’re creating friction.
When Breaking the Rules Works (and When It Doesn’t)
Yes, there are moments for innovation. Just like magazine layouts experimented with full-bleed photos and typographic anarchy in the 1980s, websites can push the envelope in controlled ways.
But here’s the difference: magazines were designed for leisurely exploration. Websites are built for function.
Break a convention only when:
- You replace it with something better and easily understood
- You’re solving a real usability problem—not chasing “cool”
- You test it with users before rolling it out
Otherwise, you’re just trying to reinvent the wheel—and nobody wants to drive a wheel they don’t recognize.
Common Website Conventions That Still Matter (and Shouldn’t Be Ignored)
Logo in the Top Left, Clickable to Home
It’s the single most common convention, and users rely on it. A logo in the center or hidden in a menu might look slick, but it violates years of user behavior.
Navigation at the Top
Whether it’s a horizontal bar or hamburger menu on mobile, top navigation is king. Placing it at the bottom or burying it inside multiple layers erodes usability.
Underline or Style Links Differently
If users can’t tell what’s clickable, they won’t click. We still see websites using the same color for links and body text. That’s a mistake.
Contact Info in the Footer
Users expect phone numbers, addresses, and links to support or FAQ pages in the footer. It’s the equivalent of a newspaper’s masthead section.
Clear CTAs (Calls to Action)
Just as newspapers had “continued on page 6” lines, web pages need unambiguous CTAs: “Learn More,” “Sign Up,” “Buy Now.” Cleverness kills conversions.
The Psychology Behind Conventions
Website conventions work because of mental models—internal representations of how things work based on past experience.
When users visit a new site, they bring every past web experience with them. They expect:
- Navigation to be in a familiar place
- Forms to behave a certain way
- Buttons to be styled consistently
- Pages to load predictably
When your site violates these models, users don’t think “this is creative.” They think “this is broken.”
The Cost of Being “Different”
🚫 Slower Task Completion
If users have to hunt for the menu or guess what an icon means, they’ll spend more time navigating and less time converting.
🚫 Lower Engagement
A blog post without skimmable headings and subheads will see higher bounce rates. Why? Because people don’t read walls of text anymore.
🚫 Damaged Brand Perception
Weird UX doesn’t make you look cutting-edge. It makes you look careless—or worse, outdated.
What Good Website Designers Know
Here’s the irony: the more experience a designer has, the more they respect conventions.
Beginner designers often try to “stand out” with experimental layouts or cryptic navigation. Seasoned designers know that subtlety wins: hierarchy, whitespace, consistent UI elements.
It’s the same in print. The best editorial designers didn’t draw attention to themselves—they drew attention to the story.
Conventions vs. Templates
Don’t confuse following conventions with using templates. You can have a completely unique site that still respects core conventions.
Think of it like this:
- Convention: The light switch is near the door.
- Template: Every house looks the same.
Great design is like great architecture: custom homes still adhere to basic rules about where the front door is located and how stairs function.
Don’t Make Me Think (Still Holds True)
Steve Krug’s classic book Don’t Make Me Think became a UX bible for a reason. Its central premise? Good websites don’t require explanation. They just work.
That only happens when designers respect the invisible scaffolding that users depend on—conventions. When you honor them, you build trust. When you break them, you build obstacles.
As someone who came up through the ranks in pre-digital design, cutting galleys and lining up type by hand, I learned early that structure doesn’t limit creativity—it enables it. That grid we laid down on those boards wasn’t a restriction. It was a promise to the reader: you’ll be able to find what you need.
Your website should make the same promise.
Frequently Asked Questions About Website Conventions
Because it’s the most common placement. Decades of web usage have trained users to look there first—not just for branding, but as a clickable route back to the homepage.
Standing out is good—confusing your users isn’t. You can have a unique design while still respecting conventions that make your site intuitive and usable.
If users can’t tell something is clickable, they won’t click. Styling links like plain text violates user expectations and damages usability.
Focus on core behaviors: navigation, links, forms, and buttons. Start with usability research like Jakob Nielsen’s heuristics or use tools like Hotjar and Google Analytics to track user behavior on your site.