5 Mistakes All Website Designers and Companies Should Avoid at Any Cost

The real challenge in building a website is how you make it usable for your visitors. Bear in mind that your website is where people, potential customers, and partners, will reach you and take a look at what you have to offer. It is where your fans will go to for exclusive content. Sadly, there are some designers that don’t get the whole point of website design.

One of the most important rules in web design is “less is more.” Good web design can be attributed to readability, ease of navigation, content hierarchy, and focus. We make website related decisions that should also cater to our customers, and not just to us.

1) All Over The Place Homepage

The first thing your visitors will see when they check out your website is the homepage, and first impressions can certainly leave a lasting effect.

Although it is the main page of the website, the homepage is really meant to be the carrier to your website’s more specific pages. But oftentimes, website designers would include so many unnecessary elements. A cluttered homepage is enough to keep your visitors away.

2) Confusing Navigation

One of the main elements in creating an effective website design would be a seamless navigation experience for your visitors. It should be consistent, easy to understand and straightforward. We make website navigation easier by following the tips below:

1. All external and internal links should be working. Dead links are highly discouraged, so you are advised to regularly test these out.
2. Do not place a link to the homepage on the homepage itself.
3. Be concise and straight to the point when using text as navigation.
4. Keep your navigation structure in line with your website’s theme.

3) Lack of White Space

Putting important elements too close to each other can be really frustrating since your visitors will find it harder to read and search information. It can also turn your website into a major eyesore if not corrected.

Feel free to throw in some white space every so often, and you’ll find that your site can look so much better. 

4) Poor Readability

Poor readability could severely hurt your company’s website. Choosing the right fonts, font sizes, and the color is a critical element that a professional website development company should be mindful about.

A visually appealing interface will certainly catch the attention of your visitors, but your efforts would be put to waste if they find it hard to read your content. Some website designers would use complicated fonts and font styles that they deem suitable for a strong, bold interface. Sure, it’s reflective of the nature of the company, but too much strong visuals could make users' experience an unpleasant one.

Statistics shows that 76% of website visitors stay longer on websites that are simpler and much easier to read. The following are just a couple of tips on how to make your site more readable for your visitors:

1. You may opt for a bolder, more creative font for headlines, but keep them short and easy to scan. Use both cases to make scanning much easier.
2. Use simple sans-serif fonts for longer bodies of content. There are fonts that are made exclusively for web readability such as Trebuchet, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, and Lucida Sans. Serifs enhance readability in printed text, but on-screen, it does pretty much the opposite since the little serifs would quickly blur and fuse together.

5) Hidden Calls to Action

A professional website design company should know very well that a company website has a goal and a purpose. The website should be able to gather visitors, keep them interested, and ultimately convert them into paying customers. This is where a proper call to action comes in. In most websites, especially those dealing with e-commerce, this is the most important part of a website design.

In some cases, however, the call to action is very hard to find. It may be located somewhere far down the web page or sized too small; it’s barely noticeable. Other times, so many calls to action compete with one another on a single page. That is how you confuse your visitors. We make website call to actions like this:

1. Make use of third-party tools like SumoMe. It offers several calls to action options that can be very effective for your website.
2. Make it easier to find. Your call to action must be clearly visible and specific. Be clear with your instructions in order not to confuse your visitors.
3. Keep it short and simple. Only ask for information that you need. The more information to fill out, the less likely your visitors will push through with the whole process.
   

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We hope this article will call the attention of website designers who pay very little to no attention to a website’s functionality and role. Avoiding these very simple errors can go a long way.