12 web design mistakes to avoid

It’s a dynamic world today where change is the only constant thing and the same rings true with web design. What was supposed to be the most “in” thing last year can dubbed as an old rag this year and this calls for constant evolution for your website. The last thing you want for your visitors is to feel awkward with your outdated website and switch to your rival company. The maxim here is to adapt your website to the changing trends so that you can always ensure an updated outlook for your platform. However, a good web design is not just about what’s in vogue now but must also incorporate the lessons learnt from the pitfalls of errors over time.

Horrible navigation

Poor & misleading navigation plays a crucial role in plummeting your site page views. The problem is that despite the presence of web navigation standards, some web designers just keep on misusing them, leaving an utterly confused state for the visitors. Remember, your traffic here is coming to your site for more clarity and information and a confused approach is a big turnoff for them any day.

Solution
Please, don’t risk reinventing the wheel. There are some iconographies that are considered standard universally and your visitors’ mindset is tuned accordingly. Any change here will leave them bewildered and clueless. Always make sure of mass usability while working on the navigation.

Structure-less Content

The content is the king of any website and you have to be extra attentive here. You have to come up with a pronounced content that is not only dotted with rich information but also a proper structure. Without an appropriate framework, your content would lose out on its value big time, regardless of the rich data packed in it. Lack of proper structure could stem from poor or no planning with the content flow, presentation & placement or mismanaged content growth as the site expands over time.

Solution
You have to define the hierarchy of your content in tune with the typical goals of your site. When you are creatinga  landing page mostly aimed to capture emails- then your design must come up with a neat visual hierarchy leading the visitor to your CTA (Call To Action) button.

Splash page issues

Splash pages are not cool for your website…period! Yes, there are some sites which require splash pages but in most of the cases, these are just some unnecessary daunting interactions and your web page visitors simply don’t like that.

Solution
Please be mindful to not include splash pages in your website- simple

Too much of autoplay

Autoplay is cool, rendering a dynamic effect to any website but then too many of them can mean a clumsy ridiculous look for your website. In fact, it can be really baffling to see everything playing automatically as you chance upon a site. Specially autoplay videos are the worst nuisance on any web page that severely turns off visitors.

Solution
Unless and until the theme of your website demands autoplay, be careful not to use it. There are some websites such as the parallax options where video autoplay would be great but then these are exceptions only.

No responsive design

It’s a crime today to not to ensure a responsive design for your website when 70 percent of online users prefer browsing the web through their smartphones. If your site is unresponsive, your website will appear shrunk and illegible on small mobile screens as it’s specifically designed for large screens.

Solution
Make your site mobile responsive. As mentioned earlier, 70% of online users take to smartphones for web surfing and if your site is not responsive, just imagine the huge chunk of traffic you are going to lose out for your website. Verify with a tool like Screenfly the rendering of the design on various devices even if you do not physically own them.

Mindless color schemes

Colors are indispensable for any website but not when your chosen color scheme is painful for your visitors. You will find web designs with mindless color use and this is a huge turn-off for many visitors. Colors play a vital role in defining the aesthetics of a platform and any issue here only reflects a poor taste. For example never use pure black (#000000 as it does not exist naturally) or do not mix red and green. These are basics but then you need to have knowledge about color usage in-depth (which of course most web design companies do not have).

Solution
Make sure to understand the color palette and the significance of each color. There must be some kind of uniformity throughout your color scheme for a seamless experience for your visitors. For example, when you are opting for a cool green for all the links, never use the same tone for any other thing on the website. Besides, each color signifies a definite mood. Be careful to use those colors only that sync with your particular theme of business. For example- a white color scheme would be too pale for a party website while a neon would be just no-no for a non-profit platform.

Inconsistent site icons & reference imagery

This is another stupid mistake that can break your website. Inconsistent website icons & reference imagery can make the entire experience confusing for your visitors which would drive them away.

Solution
Please maintain the initial definition of the icons- if you have used a magnifying glass icon for “zoom”, make sure to maintain the same pattern throughout. Switching icon definitions is just a no-no.

Website too tall

Scrolling is a cool way to reveal the wonders of your website to your visitors but indefinite scrolling, as usual with too tall websites- speak of poor visitor experience. It seems like a never-ending stuff that can get really daunting after a certain point of time.

Solution
It’s better to arrange the site with solid deeper pages that can assure a smarter, more fluid journey for the users. Bank on “the fold” feature in designing your website as the risks of users bouncing off the site heightens when you impose lengthy scrolls on them.

Giving out everything at once

If your site is on this endeavor to give out everything at once to the user, beware, it can signal poor browsing experience and a clumsy website.

Solution
The tip here is to curate the site content strategically and please only feature those that are the most indispensable defining aspects of your business or platform. It’s better if you leave something for the user to explore gradually. In simple words, please do not try to fit each “special” element over the fold.

Sole focus on homepage

Yes, your homepage is the first thing that the users see as they land up on your website and you have to ensure the best impression here. But the deeper pages are important as well – however, you will find many websites getting too casual with the other pages, with maximum attention solely focused on the home page. It’s just not done as it tarnishes the high expectations of the users that they developed about your website from your amazing homepage, making them leave your site too soon.

Solution
You must work on each and every page of your website with the very same commitment that you maintain with your homepage. Your passion must be evident all across the website and not just with the homepage. A smarter idea here is not to work on all the pages on one day- it can be really exhausting. You can take a light break and schedule some pages for next day so that you can work with renewed energy.

No sync with demographics or product

Your market niche is the most important thing for your business – in such a situation it’s dangerous for your platform not to have any parity with the traffic it’s catering to. This way, your visitors won’t be able to relate to your portal and won’t mind taking their business to your competitors.

Solution
You should understand the wants and expectations of your users prior to designing the site. It calls for an extensive market research on your target niche and customizing your website design accordingly.

Too inquisitive contact forms

It’s a busy world today where your users want everything streamlined if there are too many questions on your site’s contact form, they would get bored soon.

Solution
Make sure to maintain a concise, more targeted approach with the contact forms. Do not ask more than the most indispensable questions so that you don’t bore your visitors with unnecessary queries.

So, next time when you want to design a smashing website, be careful of these 12 blunders.

We are a professional web design company in Kolkata. We design and develop websites, custom software, ecommerce, mobile apps and do search engine optimization. This is our own blog where we provide potential tips for the common people just from our experience.

Previous Post Next Post

Categories

Recent Posts

Archive

Have a project? Call us at 8001000123 for a Free Consultation and Quotation.