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7 Most Common Web Design Mistakes
To increase sales, meet customer needs, and increase profits, modern businesses transfer from offline locations to online web stores.
12:42 21 October 2020
However, this transfer can be successful only if the new virtual office is trendy, convenient, and user-friendly. Specifically, 50% of the website conversion and business results depend on visual appearance. The conclusion is obvious: you need to work very carefully on the landing page design. However, even attractive graphics and useful content don’t always achieve high traffic goals. What could be the problem?
What Are the Issues in Web Designing?
There are several common designers’ mistakes that push away users and lower the website’s trust level.
In this article, we'll talk about these mistakes and ways to prevent them.
Bad navigation
The user must clearly understand how to find the information needed. Otherwise, one will simply go to your competitors. The basic mistake lots of designers make when working on a landing page is showing too much creativity and lack of practicality. As a result, users will see a web page with cool videos or pictures and almost no information about the product, its features, or price. They may struggle to find a menu or contact information.
Solution
To determine how the navigation meets the user's requirements, you can use the following parameters:
- Have a closer look at the website structure. Is the product positioned logically and are there extra sections that can be combined with others?
- Check the location of the main blocks and targeted actions on the page. Do they grab the user’s attention?
- Look at basic navigation elements - menu, site footer, search field, icons for basic actions (subscribe, login into a personal account, favorites, etc.). Are they noticeable?
Mobile unfriendly design
Another common mistake is related to the website's inconsistency with modern technologies. We are talking about adaptability to mobile devices. Today, more than 53% of traffic comes from cell phones and tablets. Mobile users want to browse the Internet, watch videos, and make purchases as conveniently as they do it on PCs and laptops. That is why website responsiveness is one of the crucial parameters that affect its productivity. The more mobile-friendly website is, the more traffic it can get.
Solution
If your website is not adjusted for mobile devices, you have three options:
- Launch a mobile version of your web page with a separate URL address;
- Develop an app that will work together with your web page;
- Build a new responsive website.
Go to Alice Wonder Web Design for more detailed information.
Old-fashioned design
Of course, it's not worth following all the trends in web design, but a website designed like in the 2000s is unlikely to provide a positive user experience. Fuzzy amateur pictures, flashing gifs, and archaic lettering - these things immediately catch the eye and form the impression about a website. If this impression is negative, the user won’t even bother to read the text provided on a web page.
Solution
Don’t forget to update your website. Look at the web pages that you like and use them for inspiration.
No accents
Sometimes, the web page looks like a monotone picture, and the user’s eye has nothing to catch on. There are no bright elements that would be remembered by the client, no alluring buttons for targeted actions – purchases and subscriptions that increase the website conversion.
Solution
Define the key elements of the web page you want users to notice and make them stand out. Choose the colors that go well together. Use pictures in one color spectrum.
Poor content quality
Usually, the presence of low-quality content on a website significantly reduces the conversion. What do we mean by “poor quality” content?
- Low-resolution pictures;
- Clichéd stock photos like smiling girls, laughing families, and shaking hands with business partners;
- Walls of text.
Solution
Post only original images (photos, infographics). They emphasize the brand’s individuality and increase consumer confidence. The text on your web page should be formatted. Divide it into paragraphs, add subheadings and lists, and highlight important words and phrases with a different color.
Incorrect color range
Besides the fact that you need to keep track of the content, the chosen color palette of the website is also important. Users see the content and background as one image, and even high-quality pictures, when merged with many bright and inconsistent elements, make a weird picture.
A typical mistake of inexperienced designers is to put colorful accents all over the web page. They often combine colorful images in the background, bright headlines, and dark menu buttons. The user's eyes will get lost, and one won’t be able to find and buy the desired product.
Solution
Define brand colors and use them wisely - in the menu, headings, quotes, and buttons. Everything else should be light-colored.
Complex registration forms
It is a common mistake of designers who work for online stores. They think that the more information they ask for, the better they will know the customers. However, it works oppositely: when a person sees that filling out the form may take more than 10 minutes, he/she simply leaves the website.
Solution
The ideal registration form has a maximum of 4 lines; 2 are even better. Usually, it is the person’s name and phone or email. The optimal time to fill it out is 2 minutes. If it is an online store, then you can divide the form into several blocks: basic information about the client, delivery method, and payment. Just remember that placing an order shouldn't take more than 5 minutes.
Conclusion
If you want to make sure your landing page is user-friendly, analyze it using the information provided above and contact a professional web designer for troubleshooting. Yes, this job isn’t exciting, but keep in mind that even one mistake affects your profit every single day.