Centered or at the left margin?

Which is better?

[isorg]

I am making a new content-rich website which will have articles, discussion, downloads etc. etc. etc. and I have traditionally centered all my websites, but have noticed that quite a few websites are now flush with the left margin.

Do you have any recommendations as to which style is better?

I find left-flushed sites are better if there is a lot of text to read, as the eye can focus on the left border of monitor as a reference point while scanning down, but if the site is graphics-driven then it is better to have it centered as this makes it easier to look at the graphic.

Any thoughts?

[TimmyMagic]

I personally prefer the left sided approach. A perfect example of a fixed width left sided site is the BBC news website.

[Rachel]

I agree. I find it very difficult to read centered pages, I guess because the beginning of the line is never in the same place.

[Longhaired Genius]

They're talking about centred or left-aligned divs (or tables) Rach, not centred or left-aligned text. Personally I think centred content is ok, after all, letters and expensive books have plenty of "white space" surrounding the copy.

[stapel]

Personally, I prefer the centered-table formatting. If the table is centered and there is extra space on the screen, this extra space is, to me, less noticable, being split between the two sides and looking sort of like margins. But if the table is flush-left, then the empty space is more visible, being a broad empty area on the right.

Eliz.

[Rachel]

Oops, thanks for pointing that out, LG. :)

[willybfriendly]

Of course, there is always scalable design that expands or contracts to fit the screen.

(Though I do look forward to the day when min-width and max-width is widely supported:()

WBF

[rocknbil]

I hear it time and time again . . . .

"What's this big empty space on the right of my screen? Is that intentional?"

Internet-savvy users have technical reasons for liking one or the other, but the average user seems to like it best if it fits the viewport, preferably fills it, and if not, centers.

This of course is with no other research other than one developer's interaction with many customers over the course of 8-10 years, but that's one of the questions I hear year after year.

[httpwebwitch]

from a developer's POV:
left-aligned layouts are more manageable because absolute positioning (top, left) is absolute.

From a user's POV:
the top left corner of the screen gets more eye-traffic, so impact is greater if your content is anchored there

a centered layout has no noticeable effect on readability (as long as the text block is left-justified)

often a centered layout (especially if the width is constrained, consistant, and thin) will look nicer, aesthetically

left-aligning a layout does have a measurable positive effect on ad clicks

[httpwebwitch]

it's always insightful to look at what the major players are doing. Companies with kajillions to spend on useability testing are probably doing things right.

Left-alignment seems to be the most popular overall, but centering is common in certain genres.

A quick look at top sites reveals some interesting patterns:

search engine, home: narrow & centered.
search results: full-width or wide & centered

news sites: always left-aligned.

blog/commentary sites: full-width or centered

e-commerce sites, home: left or full-width
e-commerce sites, interior: full-width