Why some websites feel expensive: the checklist

When a client asks "why does my site feel cheap next to theirs?", this is the checklist I run. Grade each line pass or fail. I treat a score under 70 percent as the point where a redesign pays for itself.

Most lines check something an expensive-feeling site refuses to do: crowd a layout, mix three competing fonts, fire an animation on every scroll. The gap between amateur and premium comes down to small decisions you can verify one at a time.

Typography

• Body text stays under about 65 characters per line. Longer lines are one of the most common tells of a template site.
• Two font families maximum: one for display, one for text.
• Line height around 1.5 for body text, tighter (1.1 to 1.2) for headings.
• Emphasis uses bold, never italic. Underlines are reserved for links.
• Numbers that update (prices, stats) use tabular figures so they do not jiggle.

Hierarchy and layout

• One clear focal point per screen. When every element shouts, the eye has nowhere to land.
• Spacing follows a rhythm (multiples of 4 or 8 pixels) instead of eyeballed gaps.
• Whitespace is used as structure. Premium sites let sections breathe; cheap sites fear scrolling.
• Content is aligned to a grid you can actually perceive. Test: could you draw the columns with a ruler?

Color

• A restrained palette: one background family, one ink, at most one accent.
• Text contrast meets WCAG AA (4.5:1 for body text). Gray-on-gray text that fails this ratio is hard to read, however refined it looks.
• State is never conveyed by color alone: errors also get an icon or text.

Motion

• Animations only use transform and opacity, so they run at 60fps.
• Everything is under 300ms. Longer, and the interface feels like it is waiting for itself.
• Frequent actions (menus, dropdowns, typing feedback) are instant. The best animation is often none.
• Buttons respond to press: a scale to about 0.97 on active is enough.
• The site respects prefers-reduced-motion. You can check it in devtools, and it is the line most often failed.

Speed and mobile

• Loads fast on a mid-range phone over cellular, not just on the designer's laptop.
• Images are sized to their container and served in modern formats.
• Touch targets are at least 44 pixels.
• No layout shift as things load: nothing jumps while you read.

Trust

• A real business name, address, and reachable contact in the footer.
• Legal pages exist and are current (here in Quebec: privacy per Law 25).
• No dead links, no placeholder text, no last-year copyright date.
• The contact path costs one click from anywhere on the site.

How to use this

Copy the list into a note. Open the site on your phone first: most verdicts are in after thirty seconds of mobile use. Then check the desktop details and score honestly.

Sites that feel expensive tend to pass the boring lines (contrast, spacing rhythm, load speed) rather than the flashy ones, so start your fixes there. They cost restraint rather than budget. The list grades craft only; it will not tell you whether your offer or your copy convinces anyone.