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11 Almost Perfect Business Layouts
Business companies tend to impress visitors with solid site structures, precise navigation and the credibility of presented content. Therefore business layouts are usually quite unspectacular, mostly informative, but not attractive. It’s an appropriate approach if you want to inform your visitors, but what should you do if you want to attract users’ attention? How to combine serious tone with attractive design? We’ve decided to figure it out. And selected 11 almost perfect business designs / layouts used by companies from different countries of the world.
What does perfect mean?
Different tastes result in different understandings of a perfect layout. The examples we’ve selected stand out, because
- they are clean. It concerns both code, text and graphics.
- they have a balanced layout, all site elements have their own place and are consistently placed on all pages
- they pay attention to small details; the smallest things such as link colors and headings are well thought-out
- they make use of white space, which places special emphasis on design and content
- they use modern design elements, but remain moderate, without extreme use of graphics
- they use intuitive color schemes and high contrasts to make sure the legibility of the text and the perception of visual elements are optimal
- not all of them are gorgeous, but they don’t have to. All of them are descriptive and they work, and that’s what really matters.
11 Perfect Business Layouts
1. Sumagency (USA / Paraguy)

2. ReachGroup Consulting (USA)
3. Exceel (Brazil)
4. Folietto (Austria)
5. ROI Sure (UK)
6. Jewelboxing (USA)
7. Adesus (Portugal)
8. Triplecrowncs (USA)

9. Brightfinance (UK)
10. WEB9 (Thailand)
11. Agentur 52eins (Germany)
The Co-Founder of Smashing Magazine. Former writer, web designer, freelancer and webworker. Author of several books. Runs the business.
- 78 Comments
- 1
- 2April 26th, 2007 9:51 pm
Thanks!
- 3April 26th, 2007 9:52 pm
Nice collection! I especially like Sum Agency – its simple and effective – it takes a few cues from current design trends, but adds Its own flair to the mix. Attractive, but not distractive. On the other hand, Exceel’s header and footer distracts me from the content, and Folietto looks a tiny bit scattered & too 2.0 – but both are still great and other designers would do well to see them…
- 4April 26th, 2007 10:08 pm
Some nice designs there. I would love to see some nice designs that allow for banner advertising? Article idea for you guys?
I have no troubles creating a nice design, with a nice colour scheme, but banners always kill everything!
- 5April 26th, 2007 10:13 pm
Very nice compilation. My favourite: “Web 9″ from Thailand
- 6April 26th, 2007 10:28 pm
Very nice list, i really like Sumagency design..
- 7April 26th, 2007 10:57 pm
Okay, nit picky creative director stuff aside, great article thanks!
- 8April 26th, 2007 11:39 pm
Hmmm. When I look at them I immediately think that the site will be completely content devoid.
- 9April 26th, 2007 11:41 pm
The last one is reminiscent of the first generation website. There used to be a lot of these around. The clean code is quite impressive.
- 10April 26th, 2007 11:54 pm
Fantastic designs; shows that companies can have stylish design and sensible layouts, without compromising on branding.
- 11April 27th, 2007 12:59 am
Not all good.
Sumagency and Adesus very good for my ideas.
- 12April 27th, 2007 1:53 am
I like the article and some sites, but you miss some important issues:
- easy to use
- accessibilityRegards,
Horácio
- 13April 27th, 2007 1:53 am
really? the only one i found at all compelling was web9. the rest are uninspired, cookie cutter sites.
- 14April 27th, 2007 1:55 am
Folietto.com is beautiful!
- 15April 27th, 2007 2:07 am
nice sites. I think this site deserves mention:
I am not affiliated with them so no, I’m not promoting them. I think their site strikes a perfect balance between professionalism and creativity.
- 16April 27th, 2007 2:35 am
But they lack humor. They’re stiff.
- 17April 27th, 2007 2:40 am
i like the first 2,
Brightfinance loks like an old template monster…
- 18April 27th, 2007 2:44 am
shure, that web9 is from thailand??
i think this one is from germany…. - 19April 27th, 2007 3:14 am
I liked Folietto
- 20April 27th, 2007 3:36 am
Why do I continue to see the same companies featured here on Smashing Magazine? The web is gigantic and full of great design, I would love to see more digging or *sniff* I’ll get bored with you!
- 21April 27th, 2007 3:36 am
Great collection. My vote goes to Adesus.
In the “dark side”: Agentur 52eins
And what about this one? - 22April 27th, 2007 4:15 am
nice…alot of non english sites, eh?
- 23April 27th, 2007 4:40 am
Nice article. I like the way that “less is more” these days with 3 columns as a maximum, centered templates and small yet noticable graphic styles (notably drop shadows) to make the difference.
- 24April 27th, 2007 4:46 am
Worst list ever, (from you guys that is).
Seriously. They are not that good.
If I had to do a list of your lists this would come bottom. - 25April 27th, 2007 4:52 am
Some nice websites, bute also some I would never call perfect.
- 26April 27th, 2007 4:57 am
Lee Rickler I agree. Brightfinance, exceel and Web 9 are really bad!
- 27April 27th, 2007 5:15 am
wow, 2 sites i’ve done made the list, thanks a lot!
- 28April 27th, 2007 5:25 am
Some of these site layouts are pretty nice with clean lines and a lot of simplicity. But, is it just me, or are other people beginning to see a recurring sameness to this whole Web 2.0, airbrushy, eye candyness? I think it’s a far cry better than the usual pre-bubbleburst designs from the mid-nineties, but it may wearing thin as a current trend. Plus there’s a preponderence of cool graphics for coolness’ sake, rather than having any relevance to the content. Sorry. Just had to get that off my chest.
- 29April 27th, 2007 5:30 am
I have to say, I’m not a fan of these sites. Three of them use a nearly identical layout, while the others come straight from 2002.
Love the idea, but I also doubt that these sites even have solid sales. There is very little (or in most cases no) immediate call to action.
- 30April 27th, 2007 8:11 am
One question: What is good about number 11? I can’t see what makes it special.
- 31April 27th, 2007 9:12 am
Good stuff.
- 32April 27th, 2007 9:16 am
Not a terribly impressive list.
#3 The “rounded” look is unique, but the main landing page is way too plain!
#4 and #9 seem really familiar. Then I realise they look like they came straight out of those ready-to-use template sites. #9 in particular looks horrid. What is it doing here?
My favorites: #2, #8, #10
- 33April 27th, 2007 9:27 am
Wow, great websites from a design point of view. The new logo looks really good..
- 34April 27th, 2007 10:02 am
I like how clean they are.
- 35April 27th, 2007 10:52 am
You know, the six bullet points are an excellent guide to business sites that work and “work” is singularly the most important.But our swedish freind summed it up they are stiff and lack humour. Dont be afraid of humour, IF you know how to use it! One last thing, learn how to write clear and compelling copy. Most get wrapped up in flash and dynamics that they forget the visitor wants INFORMATION !
Fine guidlines though. Thanks
‘ - 36April 27th, 2007 12:49 pm
Nice to see some relatively non-web2.0 designs in there.
- 37April 27th, 2007 4:26 pm
No e-commerce sites? (Well, besides that Jewelbox one, which just sells 1 product.) Most of these websites appear to be text-oriented. They’re largely for consulting and service companies, so it’s no surprise that they’re big, fancy brochures.
I have my own notions about what it takes for an e-commerce site to be successful (especially since I work at one), but I was hoping for some insight.
- 38April 27th, 2007 4:53 pm
Triplecrowncs stock graphic looks like a guy about to smash a coconut on his head.
(I hate stock photos on web sites.)
- 39April 27th, 2007 9:10 pm
This is a press release, not an informative article.
- 40April 27th, 2007 9:41 pm
9 is not a template?!
Take a look at the code, it is clearly a bespoke build.
My fave is #1
- 41April 27th, 2007 10:51 pm
11 almost perfect business layout? I don’t think so. There are 2 that might qualify, 8 snorers and 1 that has serious accessibility problems.
Graphically they are technically competent. The have clean code, and generally good typography and use balance of white space. IA and usability are almost all above average. But are they effective marketing tools?
As far as providing a quickly identifiable brand or anything memorable, they mostly don’t cut it Two do a nice job of providing unique branding, Triple Crown and Web9. Exceel is pretty but has white space problems and embeds the navigation in a useless Flash animation, which should have excluded it from your list. The others? Forgettable.
I don’t know about the non-english sites but most of the front page copy is marketing speak babble. A superior website has superior content that includes obvious calls to action and focuses on user needs, and which excludes marketing speak and self-focused filler. None of these is superior an most poor in quality content.
Look at sites like Mint and Coda for examples of compelling content and good layout. Both are still too Web 2.0 looking for my tastes but they are highly effective.
- 42April 28th, 2007 3:35 am
@MILA: WEB9 is sited (headquarters) at Thailand, really.
- 43April 28th, 2007 3:45 am
Really cool
- 44April 28th, 2007 10:39 am
Excellent sites
- 45April 28th, 2007 5:05 pm
1st 3 websites are good, but the rest are average..
1 site I would ask you to add is VIRGIN.com. Its got the best interface. - 46April 28th, 2007 7:30 pm
Mmmm … I’m a little disappointed in this one. I think the list of points which were used to determine effectiveness is ok “ish”, but the sites selected do not live up to the quality we have come to expect from the Smashing team. The exceel, Bright Finance, Web 9 are very poor examples. Some of the other examples display very nice use of whitespace but lack any other significant “perfection”. ROIsure’s choice of background colour for their logo has let them down and lost them major brand focus. I think the example which comes closest is SUMagency. They have a strong brand presence, clean layout, clear focus, no unnecessary elements though I think their use of whitespace has gone a bit over the top. I still love “smashing mag” but hope this post is a lesson in not getting too complacent after past successes. Don’t shoot the messenger!
- 47April 28th, 2007 9:48 pm
The website suggested by Sanchit is nice but in Flash, with a poor navigation system. Each time you click on an item to view its page, the menu fade away and you have to click on the BACK button to get back to the navigation menu. This is annoying and lack usability. Surely this website should not be in this list.
This list is cool and there are surely over website that can be added to this list. listapart website, to my opinion rocks.
- 48April 28th, 2007 11:19 pm
Very nice Layouts. My favourite: Brightfinance
- 49April 29th, 2007 1:11 am
They all look good, but make sure you visit the site see how they look when the footers/bottom part the site aren’t visible on 1024 by 768 screens. Some of these designs look better when snap and resized as a picture.
- 50April 29th, 2007 2:54 am
Nice layouts, very clean and functional.
- 51May 2nd, 2007 1:33 pm
Great websites! I saw that jewelboxing one two years ago! Realyl stands the test of time. Even as optical discs become fast redundant?
- 52May 2nd, 2007 9:55 pm
Nice, clean business designs.
Folietto looks really good!
- 53May 2nd, 2007 11:35 pm
Quick question: I’m looking for great layout that will help me reduce clutter on the home page (NYWellnessGuide.com). There is tons of information and I’m looking for examples to help me solve this. If you know of any layouts with tons of info that are well organized, please let me know. Contact through website or post it here. Thank you all in advance. This site rocks. So many great posts.
- 54May 3rd, 2007 12:56 am
Hey Sanchit, Virgin site is crap.
- 55May 3rd, 2007 6:18 pm
Terrific Websites. My personal fav.. Web9..
- 56May 5th, 2007 12:37 am
“Hmmm. When I look at them I immediately think that the site will be completely content devoid.”
QFMFT. 90% of these “almost perfect sites” are horrid. Especially Triple Crown. I love how people use Templates from unnamed websites, and then get awards and recognition like this for it.
GG Triple Crown.
- 57May 5th, 2007 3:29 pm
Sumagency is my favorite. Web design is really about communication rather than something else.
- 58May 15th, 2007 7:15 am
Web9 is awesome!! juz left me wondering from where the stunning layout is comingcfrom
- 59May 17th, 2007 10:23 pm
Nice article, thank you very much!!!
Web9 is a template (published at cssbeauty or w3csites, can not remember, but seen before for sure). Still good by the way. - 60
- 61May 19th, 2007 5:15 pm
these are dam cool design!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- 62May 25th, 2007 12:00 am
Never thought about it. IThey are absolutely gorgeous!
- 63
- 64November 3rd, 2007 4:39 pm
Great sites! Thanks very match!
- 65November 22nd, 2007 5:34 pm
Folietto has nice shades of blue. Why didn’t I checked it before.
- 66January 26th, 2008 5:21 pm
web9 THAILAND — HOME PAGE not working (non-functioning), but other pages seem to be fine. Almost like they lost their CSS for the HOME PAGE, i.e., text is present but that’s it.
- 67February 19th, 2008 3:52 am
It’s impossible to define objectively the best business layouts. Overyone can name ones own 11.
- 68February 22nd, 2008 4:14 am
#10 imo is the best site…
- 69February 28th, 2008 8:34 pm
I really love sumagency.com design and layout.
thanks - 70March 14th, 2008 9:05 am
SUM is an apple.com rip off… you can do better than that. Simple candy face websites don’t cut it. All this color in Brightfinaance and ROI, and the smart-white-space-wannabees is something I expect from novice designers. You should raise the bar a little bit.
One good (not perfect) business website: http://www.microsoft.com (Apple’s is better but you’ve seen it already :)
- 71March 26th, 2008 12:30 pm
Great websites, I used to look at Template Monster for inspiration, but this website is awesome for inspirational show cases.
Thanks
- 72May 20th, 2008 3:27 am
interesting tips of small business sites, worth viewing; a lot of useful information.. thanks for the article!
i think i’ll add one more business site to this list – http://bizaims.com
i have also found some curious information (an article) about how to begin a small business on the internet… good ideas. - 73June 27th, 2008 4:22 pm
Nice!
Republic Of China(Taiwan) is not People’s Republic of China(Red China)!!!
- 74June 1st, 2009 12:34 pm
far from perfect…
- 75July 19th, 2009 2:07 pm
not too perfect
- 76July 28th, 2009 11:28 am
I think this site should be up there…http://www.clintonbeattie.co.uk
Easy navigation, just the right amount of information and some nice appropriate use of javascript.
- 77August 11th, 2009 4:17 am
it seems the author’s choice very personal. i would say those examples are generally good. but not brillant,
- 78October 24th, 2009 12:28 am
These are not perfect examples of business website i think yahoo.com stands out from the rest
- 00
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