Top 7 Web Design Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

by Isaac Asher
March 27, 2024

Common Web Design Mistakes

The technology of the internet is complex, and there are many things that can go wrong when designing a website. In this time of DIY everything, many solopreneurs and aspiring business owners are building their own websites to avoid the up front cost of professional design. Designing a website is not easy. If you don’t have the skills to do it, it is best to hire a professional web designer. However, if you are going to do it on your own, there are some common mistakes that you need to avoid.

Here the top 7 most common mistakes that DIY web designers commonly make:

 

  1. Using too much text on the homepage – Cluttered pages will make visitors leave due to confusion.
  2. Not including a navigation bar or menu – People tend to get frustrated when they can’t find what they want.
  3. Not optimizing for mobile devices – More people do business on mobile devices now than ever. It’s important to meet your audience where they are.
  4. Poorly written content – A poorly written website reflects badly on your company and can drive away potential business.
  5. Improperly sized graphics — You want a site that will load quickly and be easy for people on mobile devices to navigate through without any problems. Improperly sized graphics keep visitors from being able to enjoy your content fully.
  6. Poor Design – This one mistake can ruin your entire website design. You can’t afford something that looks cheap or tacky when people visit your site for the first time.
  7. Not hiring a web designer – Although it’s tempting to build your own business website, it’s often best left to the professionals who can make sure your site will bring you revenue.

Using Too Much Content on The Homepage

When there is too much content on the homepage, visitors will leave because they feel overwhelmed. They need to be able to find what they are looking for quickly and easily.

Instead, designers should keep items visually close to show their relation using the proximity priciple. This will help visitors quickly understand what the page is about and what they can find there. The worst thing for a business website is when visitors land on the home page and immediately leave, commonly called a “bounce”. Bounce rates are important to monitor so you know how well your content is being received by your audience.

Not Including a Navigation Bar or Menu

One of the most frustrating things for visitors is when they cannot find the navigation bar or menu. This can be because of a broken navigation bar or because it was not included in the first place.

The navigation bar usually contains links to all public pages on your website, and without it visitors will have to guess where they should go next. There are many different styles of navigation bars available in modern web design, and the choice is ultimately up to the designer and the client. Whatever it looks like, it is important that you include a navigation bar or menu on your website so that visitors can find their way around easily.

All even basic website builder applications have the ability to create a menu bar. This is the easiest way to handle website navigation, by far.

Not Optimizing for Mobile Devices

Mobile optimization is a necessity for any company that wants to stay competitive in today’s increasingly online world. It not only helps you rank higher on Google, but it also helps you engage with your target audience.

In a 2015 announcement about an update to the Google search algorithm, Google made a clear statement:

“Starting April 21 (2015), we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.”

Think about how often you do business from your phone or other mobile device; your target audience isn’t any different. People today are constantly on the go and need a quick and easy way to take care of business.

Mobile optimization is no longer an option; if your site isn’t already mobile friendly, it’s costing you money.

Poorly Written Content Drives Users away from Your Site

Poorly written content is a serious problem for many businesses, many of which aren’t even aware of the problem. It actually drives users away from your site leading to a loss of potential revenue.

The problem with poorly written content is that it looks like spam and lacks authority. According to FirstSiteGuide.com, there are over 1.93 billion websites currently on the internet in 2022 (source). Tech Times has a great article on what to look for and how to avoid fraudulent websites in 2022. Take a look through the tips there and make sure you aren’t accidentally doing any of these on your own website. Anything you can do to show you are a legitimate business owner will help your online reputation and ranking.

It is important to remember that you are not just writing for yourself when you write content for your website. You need to have the user in mind at all times, so that they will find the information useful and stay on your site longer.

Improperly Sized Graphics Negatively Affect Website Performance

With the modern rise in website traffic, it is important for companies to have a site that loads quickly and looks good. What does this mean for graphics?

To understand how improperly sized graphics affect website performance, we need to first understand what they are. Graphics are images that are used to make a site look more visually appealing or convey information to the user. They can be found on everything from an online flyer or newsletter to a company’s homepage.

There are two simple ways in which graphics can negatively affect the performance of a website: by being too large or too small.

Graphics that are too large take a long time to load as the entire file has to be transfered over and then sized down to fit the display. No one wants to use a website that takes ages to load, and users will bounce off quickly and go on with their day.

Graphics that are too small load quickly but lose clarity when they are sized up to fit the display. There’s no point in a graphic that is so unclear we can’t identify the subject of the image. If there is any text in an image like this, it will be completely lost.

Consider the function of the image when determining what size to use. Is this something that needs to show small detail in large scale? Better make it a larger image size. Is this simply a cute little design in the corner to add some flair? Make it a smaller image size.

A good rule of thumb to use is that you should upload the file in the largest size it would ever be displayed. This way, your website builder will only shrink images instead of enlarge and none of your images will lose quality. By keeping the original file size at the maximum you would want to display, you can conserve storage space on your hosting server and keep your website running quickly.

Poor Website Design Makes Your Company Look Unprofessional

Websites are the digital face of your company and often the first contact you have with potential clients. If you want to make a good first impression, you need to make sure that your website is easy to use and doesn’t have any flaws.

Poor web design can lead to a bad user experience which will negatively affect your company’s reputation. The worst part about it is that it doesn’t take much time or money to fix many common issues.

It’s important to use color correctly in your design so it sends the desired message to your audience. InVerve Marketing put out an awesome article on the effects of color on consumer behavior. It’s worth a few minutes to read up on how your color choices might affect your website visitors in ways you didn’t realize.

Not Hiring a Professional Web Designer

For all the weight websites have in the modern consumer economy, professional web design is well worth the investment. The big idea here is that web design is not easy. Sure, anyone with a computer and a mouse can click and drag elements into place using the myriad website builders available today, but that doesn’t mean the end result will be a fast, effective website that converts visitors to clients.

Web design and digital marketing are nuanced and constantly changing. People make careers out of these fields for a reason; they aren’t easy and take a long time to develop.

A professional web design can help you make your website more attractive, faster, and more effective. With a professional web design, you will be able to better attract your target audience and generate more revenue for your business without having to worry about learning the technology that drives the internet.

Conclusion: Learn from these Common Web Design Mistakes And Make Your Website Better

After looking at these common web design mistakes, you may have found a few things you can change on your own site in order to improve its effectiveness. That’s exactly the point of this article!

It’s also possible that after reading this article, you realized that design is not really your thing. There is a lot to learn here, and as a business owner already stretched too thin, it’s unlikely you would be able to devote the time needed to learning all the skills involved.

Clear Sky Technologies is happy to provide web design and hosting for busy folks who need a website and don’t have the time to learn the skills for themselves. We have been building professional websites for satisfied clients since 2016, and would love to help you with your project. Click here to learn more about launching your website with Clear Sky Technologies.

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