You may think designing a website is easy, but many businesses still make mistakes when building one. Those mistakes can reduce conversions and scare away leads
Here I present to you eight website design mistakes you may make and how you can fix them.
You Don’t Use The Right Templates
Every website carries its own key function. For example, an e-commerce website aims to sell products, while a portfolio website requires a page displaying someone’s work, encouraging visitors to get in touch about a service. Thus, you need to use a tailored template that helps maximize the chances of conversion.
How to fix: Understand what type of website you’re building. Consider how you want visitors to feel about the website because each design aspect will give a different impression. For instance, the full-width layout brings a creative and modern look, while the boxed-width design looks more professional.
To begin with, choose a website builder that categorizes the designer-made templates for different purposes.
Not Using a Favicon
Favicon is the mini icon you see on the address bar, tab, or bookmark list that acts as your website's visual identity.
Having a favicon gives the audience a marker for quick identification when searching for your site in the browser history or tabs. The favicon may also influence search engine optimization (SEO) as Google will look for it when crawling your home page.
How to fix: Apply favicon and ensure its size is a multiple of 48px square, such as 48x48px, 96x96px, or 144x144px. Don’t use inappropriate favicons, that contain symbols associated with hate or pornography, because Google will change it to the default icon. Working with an experienced SEO company can help you achieve the best results when it comes to web design..
The Design is Confusing
Confusing website design refers to the use of themes, color palettes, and images that don't correlate with each other. Websites with hard navigation also often make visitors confused.
It can happen if people try to convey too many ideas at once and see the design elements as individual components while they actually work together. Get free website development tips from website development consultants.
How to fix: Use these two tips to avoid confusion in the website design.
- Consistency is the key. Stick with the same design elements, including color palette, buttons, size, and spacing. Plan them thoroughly before designing your website.
- Get a visible navigation bar. It helps visitors know where they are while moving through your site. Also, limit the number of menu options. You can always create drop-down menus if needed.
Your Design Is Not Responsive
Implementing responsive design is crucial as it can lead to a better user experience for visitors with different devices and helps Google accurately index the website.
How to fix: Design a responsive website by using some of these responsive patterns for inspiration.
- Mostly fluid. Keeps the size the same and only adjusts the margins on the wider screens.
- Column drop. Stacks the column as the screen becomes narrower.
- Layout shifter. Is considered the most responsive pattern as it breaks multiple sections across different screen widths.
Your Call To Action Is Not Clear Enough
Unclear call to action (CTA) leaves visitors wondering what they should do next.
How to fix: Use direct and concise CTAs, like “Click here,” “Start my free trial,” and “Buy now.” Use contrasting colors when designing CTA buttons for your website, so visitors will draw their attention to the button.
Also, understand the customer’s journey when creating it, especially when you have two CTAs. Take a look at the example. The designer highlights the “Get Started Now” button that he directs the audience to do and keeps the “Discover More” ready but not distracts the main task. An experienced SEO Consultant can help you improve your CTAs.
The Ads Are In the Wrong Place
Ads can be an effective income stream for websites, and it can be an affordable medium to increase brand awareness for businesses. Yet, too many ads can frustrate the visitors.
How to fix: Place no more than four ads per page to help your audience focus on your content more than the ads and avoid violating the webmaster quality guidelines.
When applying banner ads for your website, use standard banner sizes:
- Leaderboard – 728x90px
- Half Page – 300x600px
- Medium Rectangle – 300x250px
- Large Rectangle – 336x280px.
You can place them on the header, sidebar, or footer. If you use pop-up ads, make sure it’s closeable.
You Are Using Too Many Fonts
Using too many fonts on your website can create confusion.
How to fix: Limit them to only 2-3 easy-to-read fonts. Decorative fonts may look cool, but they are difficult to read.
Sans-serif fonts are preferred for online or on-screen text because of their simplified letterforms. If you need to pick two fonts, combine one serif and one sans serif. They work together well, especially for contrasting sizes.
