CAREER & HIRING ADVICE

When you scroll through a website, what makes you stay or leave? Often, it’s not what’s there but what isn’t.

White space (the empty areas between elements on a page) plays an essential role in how users interact with your site. Many designers undervalue these breathing spaces, treating them as wasted real estate rather than powerful design tools.

Research shows websites with adequate white space receive 35-45% more visual attention than cluttered alternatives.

This is backed by user behavior data. Many clients saw significant improvements in engagement metrics after simplifying their layouts and adding more thoughtful spacing.

White space isn’t empty space but purposeful design that guides users through your content, reduces cognitive load, and keeps visitors engaged longer. So, let’s explore some practical ways to use white space effectively and turn this simple concept into better results for your website.

Highlighting Your Key Messages

When a visitor lands on your website, you’ve got about 15 seconds to grab their attention and communicate your main point. That’s not much time to make an impression.

White space creates visual hierarchy, drawing the eye directly to what matters most – your key message.

White space around important elements creates a spotlight effect. Your value proposition, CTA buttons, or headline stands out when it’s not competing with nearby elements. The brain processes isolated information more efficiently, making your message stick.

Here’s how to use white space to emphasize your key messages:

• Isolate your most important message with generous margins.
• Keep headlines and value propositions brief and surrounded by white space.
• Create breathing room between paragraphs and sections.
• Use padding around buttons and clickable elements.
• Avoid placing critical content near distracting elements or busy backgrounds.

The spacing doesn’t need to be extreme. Even modest white space can dramatically improve how users process information. Test different spacing options with actual users to find the right balance for your specific audience.

To demonstrate how this principle works in practice, we’ll look at Sewing Parts Online, a retailer specializing in sewing machines, parts, and supplies.

They understand many visitors aren’t familiar with their brand when first arriving. So, their solution is to position their value proposition prominently on their homepage, surrounded by ample white space. This design choice makes their core offer impossible to miss.

The uncluttered presentation helps visitors quickly understand what the company offers and why they should care. Without competing elements nearby, the message registers immediately, reducing confusion and helping guide users toward the intended action, whether browsing products or making a purchase.

Source: sewingpartsonline.com

This approach works because it respects how people actually process information online. Prioritizing visual clarity around key messages helps brands communicate more effectively.

Giving Elements Enough Breathing Room

When website elements crowd each other, users feel overwhelmed and struggle to focus. Proper spacing between components reduces visual noise and mental effort, making your content more digestible.

Research in cognitive psychology confirms that our brains process information better when it’s presented with adequate spacing. Crowded layouts create friction. Users need to work harder to distinguish between elements, increasing frustration and bounce rates.

Adding strategic padding between elements reduces this cognitive load and keeps visitors engaged longer.

Here’s how to implement proper spacing effectively:

• Maintain consistent margins between similar elements.
• Add more space around important content to emphasize it.
• Ensure paragraph width doesn’t exceed 60-90 characters for optimal readability.
• Create distinct visual sections with generous vertical spacing.
• Allow form fields and buttons extra padding for better touch targets.
• Leave room between navigation items to prevent accidental clicks.

The goal isn’t minimal design but purposeful spacing. Different elements need different amounts of breathing room depending on their function and importance.

Transparent Labs, a natural sports nutrition supplement company, applies this principle expertly on their Grass Fed Micellar Casein Protein Powder page.

Their approach demonstrates how white space enhances product presentation. The packaging itself contains numerous details and information points that customers need to see clearly. So, by using a clean white background and giving the product image ample room, Transparent Labs ensures nothing competes with the product itself.

This deliberate spacing choice allows potential buyers to fully appreciate the quality and design of their supplement packaging. Each element on the page, from product images to nutritional information, gets its own defined space.

Source: transparentlabs.com

This uncluttered approach improves usability significantly. Customers can easily find what they’re looking for without visual distractions.

The result is a page that feels premium and trustworthy, matching the high-quality positioning of their supplements while making the shopping experience smooth and frustration-free.

Arranging Related Elements

White space doesn’t just separate content. It connects related items visually.

Our brains naturally group elements that appear close together while perceiving more distance between separated items. This principle, called proximity in design psychology, helps users understand content relationships instantly without conscious effort.

Strategic grouping creates visual shortcuts that help visitors navigate your site more efficiently. When related items cluster together with white space separating different groups, users grasp your information architecture intuitively. This reduces the mental work needed to understand your content.

Here’s how to group related elements using white space:

• Place functionally related items closer together.
• Use consistent spacing within groups and larger gaps between different groups.
• Align related elements to strengthen their visual connection.
• Create a clear separation between major page sections.
• Use micro white space (smaller gaps) within related content.
• Apply macro white space (larger gaps) between distinct content sections.
• Test your groupings with actual users to confirm the relationships are clear.

The key is consistency. Similar relationships should have similar spacing patterns throughout your site.

OrthoBracing, a company offering orthopedic bracing and cold therapy machines, demonstrates this technique on their homepage.

They’ve organized their content into clearly defined sections with distinct purposes, each separated by generous white space. Visitors can immediately distinguish between different content types, such as media mentions, best-selling products, customer testimonials, and other information categories. Each section maintains its own visual identity, while the spacing between sections creates natural breaks in the user’s journey.

This thoughtful organization allows customers to quickly locate the specific information they need about orthopedic products without feeling overwhelmed. The clean separation between content blocks makes scanning the page intuitive, helping users find relevant information about braces or therapy machines without confusion.

Source: orthobracing.com

Implementing similar grouping strategies on your own site helps create a more logical, predictable interface that feels natural to navigate. This improved organization leads to longer visit durations, higher engagement rates, and, ultimately, better conversion outcomes.

Enhancing Readability and Comprehension

Dense blocks of text repel readers online.

Studies show that properly used white space between lines, paragraphs, and margins can increase comprehension by up to 20%. This boost happens because spacing reduces cognitive load. Your brain works less to process information when it’s presented with breathing room.

Text without adequate spacing causes eye fatigue and discourages deep reading. Users often skim or abandon content that looks overwhelming. When people can’t quickly grasp your information, they’re less likely to take desired actions like making purchases or signing up.

Here’s how to optimize text spacing for better readability:

• Set line height (leading) to approximately 150% of your font size.
• Keep paragraphs short (3-4 lines maximum for web content).
• Add more space between paragraphs than between lines.
• Limit line length to 60-90 characters for optimal reading speed.
• Use headings and subheadings with generous spacing to create visual hierarchy.
• Create indented lists with space between items.
• Increase letter spacing slightly for small text.
• Ensure mobile spacing remains proportional when screens resize.

Remember that readability is both about font choice and the space that surrounds your text.

Pergola Kits USA, a company that designs and sells handcrafted pergola and pavilion kits, demonstrates excellent text spacing on their homepage.

After showcasing their product imagery, they provide detailed information about their pergola systems and outdoor structures.

Rather than overwhelming visitors with dense paragraphs, they strategically employ white space to separate content into digestible chunks. Clear headings stand out from body text thanks to additional spacing, while concise paragraphs and bullet points make technical information accessible.

Source: pergolakitsusa.com

This thoughtful approach to text spacing helps customers understand important details about pergola materials, construction methods, and installation requirements without experiencing information overload.

The enhanced readability keeps potential buyers engaged through what could otherwise be complex product specifications.

Polishing Your Site’s Mobile UI

With over 60% of web traffic now coming from mobile devices, your mobile design can’t be an afterthought.

On smaller screens, white space becomes even more critical. Limited screen real estate makes proper spacing the difference between a usable interface and a frustrating experience that drives visitors away.

Mobile users interact with your site differently. They’re scrolling with thumbs, often distracted, and need clear touch targets. Smaller screens amplify layout problems. Elements that seem adequately spaced on desktop can feel cramped and difficult to interact with on mobile devices.

Here’s how to optimize mobile white space effectively:

• Increase touch target sizes to at least 44×44 pixels with adequate spacing between clickable elements.
• Prioritize vital content and remove secondary elements that consume precious space.
• Add more padding around form fields for easier interaction.
• Maintain consistent spacing ratios when screens resize.
• Use progressive disclosure techniques (expandable sections) rather than cramming everything visible at once.
• Test your spacing with actual users on various device sizes.
• Consider how landscape and portrait orientations affect your layout.
• Ensure text remains readable without zooming.

An excellent example of a great mobile UI is Veed, an AI-powered video editing platform.

They understand that users accessing video editing tools on mobile need interfaces that remain clear and functional on smaller screens.

Their mobile design provides generous white space around all interactive elements, ensuring users can tap buttons and fields accurately without accidentally hitting adjacent controls. This spacing consideration is particularly important for a video editing tool where precision matters.

Content sections maintain clear visual separation, helping users understand the distinct features and benefits of their editing platform without feeling overwhelmed. By avoiding the temptation to cram features too closely together, the brand creates a premium experience that builds trust in their technical capabilities.

Source: veed.io

This approach pays dividends in user satisfaction and conversion rates by reducing friction points that might otherwise drive potential customers to competitors with more thoughtful mobile interfaces.

Final Thoughts

The difference between a good site and a great one often comes down to what you don’t fill. Thoughtful use of white space makes your site easier to use, easier to trust, and easier to stick with.

If your layout feels cramped or noisy, it might be time to step back and clear some room. Sometimes, the best way to say more is to show less.

So, take a step back and have a look at your site. Are you giving your content (and your visitors) room to breathe? If not, start implementing these tactics today. Your engagement metrics will respond to the power of what’s not there.