Creating a website that stands out and engages visitors is a great digital marketing endeavour. However, it’s easy to stumble into common web design mistakes that can hinder your site’s effectiveness. Whether you’re a novice or an experienced web designer, avoiding these blunders is crucial. In this blog post, I will list 14+ common web design mistakes and provide practical tips on how to steer clear of them.
If you would like us to design a website for you, you can check out our web design services or contact us at bisa@ghanayellowpages.com or @ghyellowpages (all social media networks).
1. Cluttered Design
Cluttered Design happens when a website looks messy and confusing because there’s too much stuff crowded together.
Avoid it by making sure your design looks neat and tidy. Use empty space wisely to separate things, so it’s easy for people to see and read everything on your website.
2. Inconsistent Branding
This means your website looks different in different places. Like using different colours, fonts, or logos on different pages.
To avoid this, make sure you use the same colours, fonts, and logos all over your website. This makes your site look organized and put together.
3. Slow Loading Times
When a website takes a long time to appear on your screen, it’s frustrating.
To avoid this, make sure to:
– Optimize images: Make the pictures on your website smaller without losing quality.
– Use efficient coding: Write the website’s code in a way that makes it load faster.
– Consider CDNs: Think about using CDNs (e.g., Cloudflare), which are like helpers that speed up your website by delivering it from different locations.
4. Non-Responsive Design:
This common web design mistake is when your website doesn’t work well on different devices and screen sizes, like phones or tablets. It might look weird or be hard to use on those devices.
Solution (Avoidance): Make sure your website can change and adjust to fit nicely on all kinds of screens. You can use a CMS like WordPress, which makes this easier. This way, everyone can use your website comfortably, no matter what device they have.
5. Complex Navigation
Complex Navigation means making it hard for people to find what they want on your website. To avoid this, make it easy and clear. Use clear words for buttons and menus, and arrange things in a way that makes sense. This helps visitors find what they need easily.
If you would like us to design a website for you, you can check out our web design services or contact us at bisa@ghanayellowpages.com or @ghyellowpages (all social media networks).
6. Poor Readability
This means it’s hard for people to read and understand the text on your website.
To avoid this:
– Choose legible fonts: Pick fonts (the style of writing) that are easy to read.
– Use appropriate font sizes: Make sure the text is not too small or too big, but just the right size for reading comfortably.
– High-contrast colour schemes: Use colours that make the text stand out clearly from the background, so it’s easy to see.
– Ensure text is easy to read on all devices: Make sure the text looks good and is easy to read on both computers and mobile devices like phones and tablets.
7. Overuse of Pop-Ups
Problem: Using too many pop-up windows on your website.
Solution: Only use pop-ups when you have something important to say or ask, like a special offer or a newsletter sign-up. Don’t use pop-ups that annoy or bother visitors.
8. Auto-Playing Media
Auto-playing media means when videos or music start playing on a website without you pressing a play button. To avoid this, let users decide when they want to watch or listen to it by clicking a play button themselves. It’s better because people may find auto-playing media annoying or disruptive.
9. Ignoring SEO best practices
Ignoring SEO best practices means not doing things that help your website show up in search engines like Google.
To avoid this mistake, make sure you use good practices like giving your web pages clear titles, writing helpful descriptions about your pages, using headings properly, and making your images search engine-friendly. This helps more people find your website when they search online.
10.No Call-to-Action (CTA)
A “Call-to-Action” (CTA) is like a sign that tells visitors what to do on your website, such as “Sign Up” or “Contact Us.” If you don’t have CTAs, people might get confused and not know how to use your website.
To fix this, make clear and easy-to-find buttons or links that tell visitors what you want them to do, like “Sign Up” or “Contact Us.” This helps guide them to take the actions you want, like signing up for your service or getting in touch with you.
11. Too Many Fonts and Colors Mistake:
Using lots of different fonts and colours in your website design can make it look messy and unprofessional.
Avoidance: Instead, use only a few (e.g., 1 or 2) fonts and colours that go well together. This makes your website look better and more organized.
12. Neglecting Security
Neglecting Security means not taking steps to keep your website safe from hackers and harmful software. To avoid this, make sure you regularly update and protect your website to prevent security problems and malware attacks.
13. Unscannable Web Content
When content on a website is not easy to quickly glance through, it can be a problem. People read more slowly on screens than in printed books, about 25% slower. So, when we’re online, we don’t really read word-for-word; instead, we quickly look over the text to find what’s important. If a website’s content is not scannable, it means it’s hard to skim through and find the key information. This can make it frustrating for users.
To avoid this, web content should be organized with clear headings, bullet points, and concise text, making it easier for people to skim and find what they need.
14. Not displaying contact information
Not having clear contact information on your website can be a problem. It makes your website less trustworthy, and you might lose potential customers.
People who visit your website want to find ways to contact you, like a phone number or email. If they can’t, they might go to a competitor instead. So, it’s important to provide contact details to build trust and get new customers.
15. Not having a search bar or button
Not having a search bar or button on a website means visitors can’t easily search for what they want. It’s like not having a map in a big and confusing place. A search bar helps people quickly find what they need, especially on large websites with lots of information.
16. No Value Proposition
When making a website, it’s important to tell people clearly what your business is all about. You should say what you do and explain how it can help the people who visit your website. This helps visitors understand your purpose and how you can help them. So, before you build your website, make sure to have a clear mission and purpose for your business, and communicate it clearly on your site.
If you would like us to design a website for you, you can check out our web design services or contact us at bisa@ghanayellowpages.com or @ghyellowpages (all social media networks).