A well crafted and designed website is essential for businesses and individuals as well. To remain competitive and ahead in today’s digital era, a well designed and user friendly website is important for both companies and on a personal level also.
But many website developers don’t understand the following mistakes which drive away visitors, reducing engagement and diminishing conversion rates. This guide will tell you about the top 10 website design mistakes and its impact and how you can avoid it. So that you can create a more effective and intuitive website design for clients.
Complex navigations
Effects: less number of visitors and low engagement
Navigation is a really important aspect of website design. Users must have easy access to navigation and search bars so that they can quickly find what they want to. If they cannot find what they are looking for conveniently then they are likely to not visit your website again. Complex navigation may create frustration among visitors and also decrease the engagement of the site.
Use a clearer and more intuitive navigation structure with simple labels. Incorporate a search bar so that users can find specific content easily
Make sure to keep important pages accessible and just a few clicks away from the landing page. Clear navigations enhance user experience and more visitors are likely to stay longer and again on your site. They can explore more options and content on your website.
Undefined call to action button
Effects: low conversions and visits by people
The call to action encourages users to take a desired action for instance making a purchase, selecting the product, booking a service, signing up for a newsletter, or downloading a resource. If your website has unclear calls to action and users find it hard to click on it. The users will get tired and they will not take the required action. This can lead to low conversion rates. Place the call to action button on prominent locations of the website most likely at the top or bottom of the page.
It must clearly state what the user will gain for instance by signing up now they may receive updates from your website.
Use bold and different colors for CTA to make them look different from the rest of the content and it’s clearly visible to the audience.
You can compel and encourage people to take action with clear and defined call-to-action buttons. You can greatly improve the conversion rate of the website.
Excessive content
Effects: makes information hard to understand
Too much of the content can overwhelm visitors on your website. The excess of content can make it difficult for visitors to find the specific information that they are looking for. The content must be placed in the right way without wordiness so that it doesn’t create any frustrations keeping the clarity and simplicity in reading.
Break the content into smaller sections and subsections using headings subheadings and bullet points. Use visual aids like images, infographics, videos and captions below images which complements it and makes it more engaging. Focus on quality over quantity by providing simple and insightful content.
Content is a crucial part of on page SEO therefore it should be easy to read and understand. Viewers must grab your idea and message. This improves user experience and keeps them on site for a longer time.
Old and unprofessional website design
Effects: looks outdated and incredible
A website design that looks appealing and up to date gets more visitors and the traffic of such websites increases fast. You can incorporate modern and trending designs like attractive layouts, bold typography and high quality images to captivate the audience. The website looks good on all the devices if it is user friendly whereas unprofessional and old designs are often neglected by people reducing the trust by clients.
You can update your website design usually so that it gets higher traffic. A professional website can assist you in getting more customers. It is the first thing noticed by the client therefore it should be good in appearance increasing trust and credibility.
Neglecting search engine optimization of website
Effects: reduced website’s visibility and search by people
The significant part of on page SEO is incorporating best SEO strategies to improve websites visibility. The search engines suggest those websites which implement best practices of SEO first. Ignoring SCO can make it difficult for your visitors to find your website thus diminishing traffic and engagements.
The best SEO practices involve conducting keyword research, optimising headings meta title and description with relevant terms and phrases that the audience might use to search.
You must have a mobile friendly design of a website which is a significant factor of SEO that enhances websites visibility and attracts more traffic.
Excessive use of colors
Effects: create visual chaos
The implementation of colour scheme is an essential aspect of designing however use of too many colors can create visual chaos. It will dull the appearance and professional look of the website if overused. A consistent colour scheme can attract the audience more and they stay connected with overall experience for long. The strategic and cohesive use of colours is crucial to highlight important elements of websites like call to action or key information given. This encourages users to take quick action and also assist to maintain readability of the site.
The unsuitable contrast of colors might confuse the audience between what they are seeing and what they are looking for. Therefore a pleasant and visually appealing user experience can only be created with consistent and well thought colour scheme use.
Lack of consistency in design
Effects: disturbs the user experience
Just like a consistent colour scheme the use of consistent design elements like fonts colors and layout is important for a smooth experience.
It could be best achieved by incorporating a style guide that aligns with other elements of the website. You can follow a consistent layout between all pages so that it can aid users to find information they need. A cohesive experience that is gained by consistent design promotes your brand also.
Slow website speed
Effects: less visits and high bounce rate
Users want fast loading speed of the website otherwise it is left by them. The website if it takes too long to load has high bounce rates.
To overcome this issue you can optimize images by compressing them. You can store static resources in browser caching which reduces loading time of the site.
The high user satisfaction is the key for longer engagement and high traffic. This is best achieved by fast website loading speed.
Unavailable contact information
Effects: low credibility and trust issues by customers
You must have a dedicated contact page so that customers can reach you through multiple ways. You can give your email phone number and contact form which helps in getting the trust of clients. Keep yourself transparent and accessible for people so that they can easily contact you. Give links to your social media pages to get in touch with people and that is how they learn more about you.
Poor mobile responsiveness
Effects: poor user experience
You must have a responsive design that is easy to approach by people through different devices. A website design that is easy to navigate is to search more and get more traffic. Mobile is more used by people therefore your website should be easy to access via phone and other devices as well for best user experience. Optimize buttons and links that are easily clickable on various devices.
By avoiding these website design mistakes you can surely create a more engaging and user friendly website that can get a large audience and higher traffic to achieve your business goals.
Use features like easy navigation, approachable call to action button, easy to read content, consistent designing and colors, fast loading speed, implementation of best SEO practices, and mobile friendly websites can greatly increase website performance and client satisfaction.
