13 Top Web Design Mistakes That You Should Never Commit

Web design mistakes cripple conversions and revenue generation. Your website is the online profile of your business. It needs to be appealing and at the same time it should make money.

There is no doubt that mistakes in web design push people away from your business. Fixing these errors can do wonders in boosting traffic and sales.

Website design being a subjective element, are you wondering how can one say that it affects your business?

Wait, there is some proof! Research says that a poorly-designed website can scare some people away.

· It just takes 0.05 seconds for a visitor to form an opinion about your website!! Source

· Visual appeal and website navigation are the key influencers in creating first impressions of your brand. (Remember the most effective content becomes powerless in poorly-designed digital space!) Source

· 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience. Source

Maybe now, you are getting why a prospective client that was a hot lead never came enquiring again. Your website might have terminated their confidence in you.

Avoid These Web Design Mistakes at Any Cost

1. More weightage to good looks over usability

It’s a commonly found web design mistake to overly prioritise good looks over functionality or usability. Web design is all about how users can interact with your site. You can’t just focus on aesthetic appeal and ignore the importance of easy navigability and smart layouts. Both aesthetics and usability together form the ultimate aesthetics of your website. Give importance to the functionality of your website and the ease for visitors to discover what they are seeking.

2. Failure to choose the right technology stack

Website owners should invest adequate time for brainstorming what technology to be used. You may not be aware of the technologies out there. But it’s sensible to familiarise yourself with the basics of the available technologies. You need to know the pros and cons of different technologies and analyse the long-term impact they will have on your website.

You can certainly get in touch with expert full scale website development companies like GetMySites. These experts will recommend the best technology for you with a justification as to why that particular technology is the best choice for your business website.

3. A non-customized theme

Getting a website up and running is an easy task these days even for non-techies. We can make use of a premium theme, free UI kits, and pre-made website elements to breathe digital life into your business. But if you are planning to apply a theme and call off the task, your website is not going to stand out in the crowd. It will just be a replica among hundreds of other sites.

You need to make your website look fresh and bespoke by customizing the theme. You choose a theme as you likes the demo. But even after installing it and making color/font changes, and including some elements like sliders, galleries, other visual features, content, etc. you are not getting satisfaction as it does not match with the demo.

It is better to collaborate with an experienced CMS development company with expert designers. They can easily fix the design mistakes and regain the overall appearance of your website.

4. Lack of responsive design

Making your website easily reachable to your prospective clients is very significant. Irrespective of the device from which they are accessing your website, the experience should give a seamless experience to them.

If your site isn’t optimized for mobile, your site is practically invisible in the SERPs. You ened to optimise your business website to the users’ screen: be it desktop screen, a laptop, tablet, or the tiniest of smartphone screens. Adopt a mobile-first approach while designing your website, because Google also wants it! If you want a more convincing reason for responsive web design? Here it is: Visitors are more likely to leave a non-mobile-friendly website.

5. Loading speed that tests users’ patience

If your website is loaded with flashy videos, large images files and lots of images, your website is sure to take ages to load. Remember that your visitors are not going to wait there for more than 5 seconds. Ensure that you resize and compress your images in the right way and save them in the right format.

You can’t afford to have this web design mistake at any cost, because speed is a critical factor that affects the UX of your website. If your website is slower to load, the bounce rate will increase leading to low SEO score. Note that your page should load in 3 second or less.

6. Excess of information

Have you ever visited a website that screams lots of information at your face? I’m sure you would have felt total bewilderment as to what the business actually offers and what their core service is. Chunky walls of text with no attractive images and layout is absolutely a big no! It’s a crucial web design mistake.

Focus on creating easily-digested content that informs what matters the most. Include crisp paragraphs, plenty of visual content areas and white space, easily readable fonts, etc. Concise information delivery should be the goal.

7. Exceedingly minimalist

This is another extreme in web design. Minimalist is good. But it shouldn’t be too minimal that your customers do not even bother to spend a few seconds there. Because there is nothing exciting that attracts them. Web designers should focus on subject, usability, and balance while adopting a minimalist website design. Ensue that there is sufficient content that gives information to the visitors.

You can stick to minimalist design without committing the web design mistake of being overly minimalist. Stick to a judicious design that leaves superfluous and distraction elements. Always hold up your company’s soul and innovative spirit. Focus on usability and visual appeal that serves the purpose.

8. Poor website navigation

Poor website navigation stems from a range of web design mistakes. Non-responsive websites are one among them. Poor website navigation drives visitors crazy as they are not sure where they are going. They may end up in uncharted spaces and will crave to get out from your digital space.

Putting your navigation in non-standard locations will never help visitors to discover the right content. Do not experiment with navigation styles. People expect the horizontal navigation across the top and the vertical navigation down the left side.

9. Website with no favicon

Majority of the website users are in the habit of keeping many websites open in multiple tabs. They keep them open to refer to them later. Websites with attractive favicons (shortcut icons) help users to locate your website from the crowded tabs. They can visually match every browser tab with a certain website. If your website does not have a favicon, the user will close the tab in which your website will open as it fails to demand any attention.

Absence of favicon is a web design mistake as your flop to give any relatable cue to your visitors.

10. Generic 404 pages

Having generic 404 pages is considered to be a grave mistake in web design. Bespoke 404 pages helps in conveying brand identity and keeping visitors amused. It’s true that you don’t want your visitors to land on a 404 page. But if it’s unavoidable, don’t you think the best thing to do is to make the experience the least irritating and may be cool?

Brilliant UX designers take care to avoid this web design mistake by turning the situation to their advantage. They can design it in such a way that even a 404 page becomes your brand ambassador. Clever 404 pages will have witty design that softens users’ frustration. They will find it witty and simply hit the back button, leaving your site for good.

11. Confusing CTAs

Confusing Call to Actions (CTAs) can be terrible elements. As its name suggests, it commands the visitor to do something to get a result. But if the CTS does not clearly speak what the visitor is supposed to do, it can become a disaster. CTAs should clearly convey what they’re going to get from taking action and what information they need to offer. Do not throw CTA on the face of visitors as soon as they enter your website. Let them linger a while to understand about your brand. Place concise CTAs at the right places and be the least annoying with minimum form-filling efforts.

12. Wrongly placed Ads

Ads are a key income source on some websites, especially blogs. See to it that there are just an optimum number of ads. Place your ads near the content your users are interested in. Avoid noisy and flashy ads that distract your readers from the information they want. If your website features popups ensure to have buttons that allow for easy closure. Follow best AdSense practices on your website to stop your customers from running away.

13. Hiring the wrong web design team

If you are looking at developing a brand new website or revamping your current website, hiring a bad web design company can be suicidal for your brand. Always make an informed choice while choosing a website development agency. You need to pick a team of professionals who work for you and understand your goals just as you do. If you are a small business, looking for a great-looking website that ranks locally for her keywords, there is no need to hire a big agency with a wow portfolio.

Choose a web development company that is interested in your business, your target audience, and passionately asks what you want to achieve from your website, and is seriously concerned about your business goals.

Key Takeaways

To err is human; but continue to err even after it is pointed out is insane! Web design mistakes can seriously hurt your digital presence and business. Therefore, you can’t experiment with different types of mistakes. It’s better to plan your website development and design in the right direction from the start.

Never try to develop a website if you don't have enough technical and coding knowledge. Hire a proficient web development company to make a charming and error-free website. If you are still confused about how to go about developing your website in the right way, call us to get a free consultation.