It can’t be said enough – in 2019 and beyond your website can make or break your business. Many small business owners try to save money by designing their own websites, but even those with the best intentions are prone to make a few web design mistakes here and there.
Web design is an art form. Unfortunately, many business owners treat their websites as a necessary evil and put minimal effort into the web design process.
Top Mistakes in Web Design
If this is you (and even if it isn’t) we’re here to help you understand that your website deserves a greater investment of your time and energy to ensure it delivers the user experience your customers need.
Check out these 12 bad website design features and how you can avoid them.
1. Your Website Takes More Than Three Seconds to Load
No one has the time or patience for your website to load slowly. Your site only has a few moments to render before visitor interest begins to wane. 40% of consumers will abandon a page if it takes longer than three seconds to load. That means one thing – improve your website load time or else!
2. Your Call to Action (CTA) Is Terrible
A good CTA will compel people to act. “Click here!” “Buy now!” “Share on social media!” A compelling call to action doesn’t involve guesswork – it’s clear and concise. With that being said, there are certainly ways to screw up your CTA.
For example, being too vague or overusing the “Buy Now” phrase can be surefire ways to turn your customers off. Double check the effectiveness of your CTA to ensure it’s clear and compelling.
3. Many of the Links on Your Website Open New Tabs or Windows
Committing this design sin will lose you potential customers quickly. Multiple tabs/windows often slow down computers and mobile devices and can eat up bandwidth. Avoid this issue by ensuring the links on your site open in the same window or tab and not a new one.
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4. You Don’t Use H1 or H2 Subheadings on Your Website
We live in a society that loves to skim. Even if an individual is interested in a webpage, they’re likely going to skim through to see if the content is truly worth reading. If your site has massive walls of text that make it difficult to skim, you run the risk of people losing interest in what you have to say. Bold subheadings make skimming a breeze and will encourage visitors to invest their time into your content.
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5. Your Website Doesn’t Immediately Communicate What You Do and Why Customers Should Stick with You
On average, users only need a few seconds to form an opinion about your website. It’s up to you what that opinion will be. Bad web page design forces visitors to hunt around just to learn what your business brings to the table. But this begs the question – what makes an effective website?
Remedy this issue by having your services and products front and center on your homepage. It also doesn’t hurt to throw in a few confidence-boosting elements such as awards and testimonials.
6. Your Website Design Is Too Minimalistic
Minimalism is a major trend right now and can be effective when utilized correctly. However, when your website is minimalistic to the point of being cryptic, you may have a problem. Your visitors still need to know who you are and what you can do for them.
If your design relies too much on your visitors figuring that out for themselves, then you’re making a big mistake. Learn how to write an about us page to start communicating better with your potential customers.
7. Hidden Navigation
Common website design mistakes often include hidden navigation or hard-to-find search bars, which often infuriate site visitors as a result. Focus on making your site easily accessible by making your menus and search bars as visible as possible.
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8. Hard to Find Contact Information
One prime example of how not to design a website is to make your contact information difficult to find. How do you expect your customers to get into contact with you if they’re struggling to find your contact page? If your “Contact Us” page isn’t one click away, then you have a design flaw that needs to be fixed.
9. The Font on Your Site Isn’t Reader Friendly
This is one of the top web design mistakes to avoid. If your visitors have to squint to read the font on your website, then you have a big problem. Using size ten font may fit more content on the screen, but it’s also extremely difficult to read.
Furthermore, difficult to read font can also serve as a turnoff to your customers. Use size 12 to 14 font and stick with Times New Roman or Arial to improve readability.
10. Too Many Ads
There’s certainly nothing wrong with placing a few ads on your website to generate some extra revenue. However, when you have ads at the top, bottom, left, and right of the page (along with pop up ads to boot) you might be overdoing it a bit. Too many ads will frustrate your visitors and site traffic will likely decrease as a result. Not to mention, Google pays attention to potentially abusive ad experiences on your site and could decrease your rankings accordingly.
No one is telling you to remove the ads on your website. Just don’t overdo it and you should be fine.
11. Your Website Is Too Confusing to Navigate
As far as website design mistakes go, this is one of the worst ones you can make. Have you ever visited a website where the homepage had navigation links, fonts, color palettes and images that had no relation to each other? They can be extremely confusing to navigate.
Businesses that make this design flaw often aren’t clear what their brand image is. Before designing your website, sit down with your web designer to ensure you’re both crystal clear on what you want your brand to communicate.
12. Your Site Isn’t Mobile Friendly
There are more than a dozen mobile marketing statistics that prove websites in 2019 and beyond need to be mobile friendly. In a world that’s mobile-centric, failing to optimize your site for mobile users is one of the most common mistakes made by websites.
To escalate this issue further, having a mobile-friendly site is a huge component of SEO website design. If your site happens to be an offender, this is something that needs to be rectified immediately.
Contact the Pros to Avoid Poorly Designed Websites
Web design can be tricky business but with the right tips, you can design a winning site that’ll captivate visitors and increase conversions. Always keep your brand image firmly in mind every step of the way and you’ll have a stunning and functional website in no time. One of the biggest marketing mistakes you can make is neglecting your brand, so always keep striving to provide a better experience!
Your website serves as the online face of your business. Make a good impression by working with the professionals. MARION is a marketing agency dedicated to helping small businesses grow and thrive online.
Rest assured our talented team knows exactly which web design mistakes to avoid so you won’t have to worry about the negative consequences associated with careless slipups.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you grow your business.
