Top 5 Web Design Mistakes to Avoid
Imagine browsing the web and you come across a website that has images that don’t match the website, font’s that make you squint to read, or navigation links that offer you fifty different pages.
Sounds frustrating right?
Even if you are building your own website, it’s important to know that the design can make or break your online presence. That’s why steering clear of some common design mistakes is absolutely essential as a bare minimum.
Neglecting Mobile Responsiveness
I want to start off with not optimizing your website for mobile because this is crucial.
Did you know that over 4 billion users browse the internet every day using their mobile devices?
THAT’S A LOT OF PEOPLE!
Just think about how much you use your phone to browse, shop, etc.
And guess what - if your website isn’t optimized for mobile viewing, you’re gonna lose a lot of website traffic which means less eyes on your products and services.
So how do I make my website look good on mobile?
There are so many website builders out there that easily allow you to design your website from multiple viewpoints.
That’s one of the reasons I love Squarespace, because you can easily select the mobile view button and just touch up your design!
Overcomplicating Navigation
Remember earlier when I mentioned having fifty plus links in your header or footer is hard to navigate?
Regardless whether your website is big or small, navigation makes it easy to quickly get to the most important information that your visitors are looking for.
Overcomplicating your navigation structure can confuse visitors and make it hard to find what they're looking for, ultimately leading to missed conversions.
What to avoid:
Excessive dropdown menus with multiple sub-levels
Redundant navigation elements or links
Lack of clear hierarchy in navigation items
Unnecessary animations or effects
Cluttered Layouts
A cluttered website overwhelms visitors and diminishes the user experience.
It's essential to embrace whitespace and simplicity in your design. Whitespace, or negative space, provides breathing room between elements, allowing your content to stand out and making it easier for users to focus.
A clean layout can also enhance readability and comprehension. You can better guide visitors towards your primary call-to-action without unnecessary distractions.
““Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.””
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Slow Loading Speed
Slow loading speeds can significantly break your website user experience and harm your website's performance.
Search engines even penalize slow-loading websites, impacting your site's visibility and SEO rankings.
My Best Advice:
OPTIMIZE YOUR IMAGES!
If you have a website with lots of images, it’s absolutely crucial that you reduce the image size (see how I didn’t say quality!) so that pages load faster.
You can learn more about optimizing images and your website SEO in this blog post about “5 Tips to Optimize Your Squarespace Website“.
Lack of Clear Call-To-Actions (CTA's)
Your website has a purpose - to sell, book, contact, etc.
You want your visitors to know “the next step” right off the bat.
This means making sure you:
Include a simple CTA button in your header navigation
Have any relevant pages include a CTA somewhere near the end of the page (an example would be like a service page where you want users to contact you for a consult after they have browsed your service(s))
Remember, web design is not just about aesthetics but also about functionality and usability. By considering the user's perspective and avoiding these mistakes, you can create a website that increases your conversion rates!