Is your website looking a bit…. prickly? Also, are you struggling with slow loading times, confusing navigation, or a lack of engagement? Don’t worry as you are not alone.
We have seen many websites falling victim to some common design mistakes. These faults unexpectedly hurt your online presence. But the good news is that you can fix them and increase conversions.
This article has brought you the top 10 web design mistakes that you should avoid at all costs. Our experts have spilled beans on each of these mistakes in detail. This way you can understand these pitfalls better and take necessary steps to avoid them.
As a result, you will design a good-looking website that performs well and attracts visitors besides just navigating easily. So don’t get stuck in the sand and optimize your website today.
Top 10 Web Design Mistakes that You Must Avoid
Do you know 61% of users want to find the things they are looking for on your website within 5 seconds?
This is the most important time. It decides whether the visitors will act on your call to action. But the thing is you can’t convert them into customers without having a web design that functions well and has an attractive look as well.
This mostly happens when some web designers unconsciously commit the biggest mistakes in web design. We are talking about the insane top 10 mistakes in web design that ruin your web design.
Why don’t you start working on avoiding them?
Understanding and solving them is the only way to optimize your website and get ahead of the crowd. So keep reading ahead to learn about the common web design mistakes to avoid now and forever.
Mistake #1: Cluttered Design
Let us keep it straight. Have you ever realized how your room or home looks in its untidy state?
There are things scattered everywhere and you can’t find what you are looking for. At the same time, you are in a hurry as well. But not finding your targeted thing in such a mess wastes your precious time more. You might even leave home without getting that thing because it\’s already too late.
This is the exact case with your business website. It is like your home, which you have to take great care of. If you stuff buttons, images, videos, etc all in one place then it would give an unprofessional and filthy look. No one would like to see your site and what you are offering. This is the most common mistake web designers make.
So never go for a cluttered website design. Instead, focus on keeping everything simple and clean. You should give enough space between all elements. A clear design will help users find easily what they are searching for.
Mistake #2: Slow Loading
We have found that a user typically takes 0.05 seconds to give an opinion about a website. This is the time they take to decide whether to stay or leave. But most of the visitors will leave your site immediately if it is taking too long to load.
Around 57% of the users mostly abandon your site when it is taking more than 3 seconds to load. But why does this happen?
It is because you have used:
- Large images
- Large videos
- Complex codes
That is why, you should optimize and then compress the images and videos. You can also use some advanced tools to speed up your website and leave a lasting impression on your audience.
Mistake #3: Hard-to-Read Text
The importance of a good text on your website can’t be stressed enough. It is an important factor in your web design to attract the audience. You will witness it yourself if you have ever been to a website where you can’t read text easily.
So using either too small or too large text is another common mistake in web page design. How can you solve this prickly mistake?
It is simple. All you need to do is follow the accessibility and legibility standards of a web text. You need to keep a considerable space between the letters and don’t ignore white space. Also, there should be a good contrast between the text and the background to make it easily readable for the users.
Mistake #4: Not Mobile-Friendly
If you want to attract a wider audience then you have to keep both desktop and mobile audiences in mind. And the surprising thing is that more traffic comes from mobile users rather than from desktop users.
It is proved by the fact that around 58-60% of users visit your website from mobiles. However, only 39% of the audience uses a desktop to reach your site. But most beginner web designers don’t optimize their sites for mobile phones and this is when you lose a big chunk of profitable audience.
Therefore you should use a mobile-friendly web design that is responsive on all devices. This way users don’t have to zoom or scroll sideways for viewing the content. Otherwise, they are more likely to leave your site if it doesn’t look good or function well on their devices due to common mobile web design mistakes.
Mistake #5: No Clear Call to Action
Do you have an aim in your mind and want a targeted result from your business website?
If yes then you need to work on your call to action although ignoring it is one of the biggest web design mistakes. You need to use clear and concise language with bright buttons for a strong call to action.
So you should include catchy CTAs focused on your desired outcome like “Sign Up” or “Buy Now” etc. Without it, users wouldn’t be able to know what they need to do next and hence end up leaving your site.
Mistake #6: Confusing Navigation
Confusing navigation counts as another web design mistake. Users get frustrated if your site is hard to navigate. They will eventually leave your site if they can’t find their way around the website.
So what do you need to avoid the navigation web design mistake?
- Use simple navigation.
- There should be clear labels for each section.
- Avoid using too many menu items.
Then keep the structure as logical as possible for better navigation.
Mistake #7: Overloaded with Information
Content is the king. It is understandable. But having too much content and that too sprinkled everywhere around your site in an unorganized way is unhealthy for your site.
Giving too much information at once can just overwhelm your audience and nothing else. There is no need to overload the information on your site. Instead, keep it simple, precise, and easy for users.
You should break down the content in the given ways to make it easier to read:
- Headings
- Images
- Bullets
In short, focus on what is important. Keep that in the most prominent areas on your site and avoid including unnecessary information.
Mistake #8: No SEO
There is no doubt that ignoring the SEO of your site and not optimizing it are the most common mistakes in web design. You may not understand its importance initially. But you will realize it once you don’t receive good website traffic.
Why?
Because effective search engine optimization helps appear and even rank your site in the search engines. Users may not even be able to find your site without SEO. This hurts your struggles with an effective website because quality SEO can even drive 1000+ traffic to your site.
So what do you need to do next to improve the SEO of your website?
Just start:
- Using keywords
- Adding meta tags
- Optimizing images
- Using simple and descriptive URLs
- Writing clear headings for each section
These are the most basic things to improve the visibility of your site in the search engines. You can even think of hiring a professional SEO agency to do these tasks at once if you want guaranteed results or if you are unable to cope with them individually.
Mistake #9: Bad Image Quality
Using blurry or low-quality images ultimately has a bad effect on your audience. Why do you even think of using some irrelevant and unprofessional images on your site?
This is the underrated yet common web design visual mistake. You can avoid it by using high-quality images. These must be clear and should have a proper size. But you should also compress them to avoid slowing your site. Don’t forget to optimize these images to help your content rank in the internet searches.
Mistake #10: Not Accessible for Everyone
You have a site for everyone. Then why are you not allowing its access for everyone out there on the Internet?
Limiting your site to just a specific audience according to your niche is OKAY. However, limiting its access without any obvious reason is unacceptable. This comes to be the last of the top 10 web design mistakes.
We recommend you never make these mindless mistakes in web design. Otherwise, you are not going to achieve your dreams of a successful website.
You should make your site available and accessible for everyone even for those with disabilities. This simply means adding alt text to the images. Then ensure your site works well with the screen readers. Doing so is helpful for the users and also for legal functions.
Get the Expert Help You Need to Avoid These Web Design Mistakes
Don’t let these biggest web design mistakes hold your website back. Wowbix is here to help you. Our professional web designers will help you get an effective website that fulfills all the demands and requirements of a profitable site.
We can help transform your online presence and achieve your goals with the right expertise and guidance. We aim to provide you with a website that does not look stunning and drives results likewise without focusing on one thing. So why not contact us today and reserve your free consultation to get a top-notch website without any design faults?
FAQs About Top 10 Web Design Mistakes to Avoid in 2024
How can you as a web designer avoid bad web designs?
You can avoid bad web designs as a web designer by keeping it simple, making the site load fast, using clear text, ensuring it works effectively on mobile phones, and having easy navigation with a strong call-to-action. Similarly never compromise on the SEO of your website, including stunning images, and then ensuring the site is safe and accessible for everyone.
Why is web design difficult?
Web designing might sound difficult to you if you don’t have any interest in basic coding, creativity, handling technical complexities, and understanding user experience. Otherwise, it won’t be challenging to design a website if you have an expert on your side.
What are the elements of a bad website?
There is a sea of reasons that make web design bad. However, the most common elements of a bad website are that the website is slow, confusing, and hard to read. In short, any site that takes more than 3 seconds to load is a bad website and it is found to lose around 40% of its visitors.
What is the most common mistake web developers make?
Prioritizing aesthetics over functionality is the most common mistake web developers make consistently. It costs them a big audience because poor navigation causes 80% of the visitors to leave the site.
How can I improve the readability of my website\’s text?
You should use clear and concise language with an easy-to-read font. Then ensure there is enough contrast between the text and the background for better readability.
How to make a web design successful?
A few important things to focus on for making your web design successful are user experience, fast loading times, and clean designs. We have found that a website loading in less than 3 seconds has a high conversion rate as compared to the slow ones.
