Web Design Mistakes

You can feel it, right? You visit a website, and right off the bat something just isn’t right. And while you just can’t put your finger on it you know you won’t last longer than the industry standard 5 seconds before you click X, ALT F4 or the get the heck outta here button. In this post we’re going to talk about some common web design mistakes a lot of businesses make and how to avoid them.

It’s not difficult to find pretty websites out on the web. In fact, we’re all flooded with them on a daily basis. But, what is rare is to find a site that not only succeeds in form but also in function.

As a web designer, my role is not only to make a site look good. No…my passion is to make a site successful. But, believe it or not just having a site that doesn’t crash all the time is not the end goal.

No the goal is for your site do exactly what you want it to. Here’s the top 5 web design mistakes I see businesses making when building there websites.

1. You don’t have a goal

Yogi Berra said:

If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.

Your website needs to have an end road in mind. What is it you want to accomplish? Are you trying to sell a product? Are you trying to amass an email list? Or are you just wanting to educate people about what it is you do?

I can’t tell you how much it pains me to see a website that’s just there for the sake of being there. This is one of the most common web design mistakes I see. Maybe it does a little good just to have something. But, the bottom line is you need a goal. Start with that before anything else. Before you pick color scheme. Before you figure out what features you want. Pick a goal.

Your goal will be the determining factor in almost every decision you make.

2. You Don’t Get to the Point Quickly

You need to get right to the point once you’ve picked your goal. I joked before but you literally have seconds to convince someone that staying on your site is worth their valuable time.

So you need to cut to the chase and it needs to be simple and clear. Donald Miller from Story Brand calls it the “Grunt Test.” Could a cave man figure out who you are and what you do in the time it takes him to grunt?

3. You’re Saying to Much

I get it. Your passionate about your business. You have so much you want to share and your website is your chance to do just that. The only problem is we live in a world of distractions. It’s tough for anyone to sit down and devote time to anything. So, if you’ve got to much copy on your website chances are a user will feel overwhelmed and opt out before they’ve even given you a chance.

The truth is writing concisely is not an easy task. I just recently read a book by Seth Godin that was about 200 pages long. At the end he explained how hard it was to write such a short book. I feel his pain. But taking the time to compact your message is crucial to getting someone to engage.

And, you can always point people to more info for those that are interested. But, don’t fall pray to this web design mistake. Keep it short and sweet.

4. You’re Not Thinking of the End User

You have to have a good idea of who your target audience is. What do they like? What do they dislike? And isten, this isn’t easy. Big corporations spend a lot of money figuring out just who their perfect customer is. So, before you spend a lot of money making your website just right make sure that you do some work to figure out who you’re building your website for.

Believe it or not, the U.S. government has a great tool to help you avoid this web design mistake. They post their Census findings on their website HERE.

You can fine tune the data to your hearts content and determine who it is you should be building your site for.

5. Your Web Design is Outdated or Messy

Customers will assume that the effort you put into your website will be the effort you put into them as a client. This doesn’t mean you have to be trendy with tons of flashing lights. That might not appeal to your target audience (refer to number 4). But, it does mean your site needs to look clean and intentional.

If you’ve got elements falling all over each other and text that’s cut off it sends a message to a client. Or if you haven’t kept up with the latest design trends you might be sending the message that you’re business is outdated. Your website doesn’t have to be a work of art. But, it should be updated to stay in touch with the market around you.

Avoid this web design mistake. And, keep people from missing out on a great opportunity to work with you just because someone else’s website looked better.

It’s not difficult to avoid these web design mistakes. It just takes some fore thought and intentionality. The internet is huge! And there’s more than enough websites out there. You can set your website apart by avoiding these web design mistakes. And, if you need it, Misterek Web Design can help.