5 Common Web Design Mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes, but your website is one place that should be error-free.  Here are a few ways to prevent them from occurring on your website.

1. Clarity

Well, lack of that is. It is vital that when a person visits your website they can clearly see and understand your message. You have roughly seven seconds on average for a person visiting your site to figure out your main idea. If a person visits your main page and has to read paragraph followed by paragraph to gather your central message…well, they’re not going to. That person will probably not visit your site again. However, having a clear message on the home page of your site towards the top in plain language and bold lettering will allow them to clearly see what your site is about. More readability means more visitors, and more visitors means greater success for your website.

2. Too Many Graphics

Having too many graphics on your website (especially large graphics) can cause your site to load extremely slow. Often, slow websites cause visitors to become impatient and leave your site. No one likes to wait. To make sure this doesn’t happen, save your graphics as GIF files (.gif) instead of JPEG files (jpg.). Also, you can easily reduce the size of your graphics.

3. Too Many Clicks

Try not to make your visitors jump from page to page to find anything on your website. Keep everything three clicks away from the home page to ensure easy maneuverability around your site.

4. Not Giving Clear Direction

Make sure you tell the customer what to do next.  After the customer has browsed your website and they’ve learned all about your company……you need to tell them to contact you, whether by phone or email. They won’t know what to do next unless you tell them. Do not make the mistake of expecting them to figure it out on their own; be clear and tell them. Keep in mind the goal of your web page, and then have them contact you accordingly. For instance, if your goal is to get a prospective customer on the phone, make sure you leave your phone number in multiple locations, and tell them to call you. If you’re selling products on your site, make sure customers can add products to their shopping cart.

5. Poor Search Results

Having a search button on your website is important to ensure customers are able to find exactly what they want, without having to search through numerous pages to find that one product. One way to make sure that your search button is easily recognizable and efficient is to add Google’s Custom Search Engine. When your customers use this to search your site, the results will be formatted in the same recognizable manner as their Google search results.