What Are the Top Website Design Mistakes and How to Avoid Them?

There are almost two billion websites on the internet today, which means your business site has a lot of competition. In order to make sure you get visitors, you have to be sure your website is both functional and beautiful. The design plays a huge role in how successful this tool is for your company. 

Designing a website is a big job with a lot of details to focus on. The last thing you want is to go through the entire process only to realize you’ve come up with something that isn’t quite right. 

Read on to learn the top website design mistakes people make and how to avoid them for the best results possible! 

Bogging the Speed Down 

A slow website loading time is one of the biggest frustrations for customers. No one has the time or patience to wait for a page to load, if it doesn’t happen within a couple of seconds they’re going to move on and never look back. 

It’s important to make sure your hosting system and plug-ins are all optimized for the fastest loading speed possible. 

When you overload your system, it will have a negative effect on the site’s display and make it much harder to load leaving visitors impatient and annoyed. Continually make sure your speed is as quick as possible to avoid delays and keep visitors engaged. 

Never Updating Design

Creating a website design that represents your brand at a glance is a difficult task. It takes a lot of detailed work and can sometimes be time-consuming, which is why it’s tempting to just leave it and never switch it up. 

While you don’t want to be changing it every month, it is important to update the design on occasion. 

The last thing you want is for someone to come to your site and think your company is outdated from what they see. It’s helpful to have a schedule for checking in on the design and making any updates you feel are necessary. Even tweaking one element, like the font or opening image can make a big difference. 

Poor Image Quality

It seems society has never been more visual than it is right now. Images are everywhere and we have come to count on them as a regular part of our daily interactions. Businesses that don’t focus on having high-quality, relevant photos are going to struggle to attract visitors and customers to their websites. 

Be sure that the images you’re choosing to use are crisp and clear. The last thing someone wants to see is a blurry, unfocused shot. They should also be an accurate representation of your brand or product. 

It’s important to optimize your website to be able to handle these kinds of files as well! 

Keeping Social Media Separate

For many companies, social media is a major part of their marketing strategy. It’s one of the easiest ways to spread your message and reach a wider audience. Those companies that don’t create a link between their website and social media pages are missing out on a huge opportunity for growth. 

Most social media platforms make it easy to link a website to a profile for easy navigation. You want to recreate that on your website as well. Customers should easily be able to get to any of your social media profiles right from your website. 

For extra points, make that available on every page of your website to encourage even more views. 

Straying from Branding 

Branding is one of the keys to longevity in business. The clearer and more recognizable your brand is, the more loyalty you can experience from customers. They’ll know a product is yours and can be trusted just by looking at it. 

The website you create should be a clear extension of that branding from the very start. 

It’s confusing for customers who visit a website and see all different colors, logos, and messaging than they see in other places. Everything that has your company’s name should feel familiar to your customers no matter what the platform. 

Difficult Navigation 

Generally, websites have multiple pages that all have different purposes. Customers may need to visit more than one page to complete their transaction or find what they’re looking for. Difficult navigation is a quick way to turn visitors away and keep them from going through with a purchase. 

Spend a lot of time making sure the flow of your website makes sense and is easy to understand. It shouldn’t require a lot of investigation for a customer to find exactly what they’re looking for. 

Trying on Your Own

Building and designing a website might seem like a task you can take on yourself but this often leads to less-than-stellar results. 

The website is one of the biggest representations of your company to the world, the last thing you want is for it to be mediocre. Invest in working with website professionals to come up with a design you’re proud of and all of the functions you need as well. Their knowledge will be invaluable. 

It’s especially helpful to work with professionals who have a lot of experience and can use that to make your site even better than you originally planned. 

Top Website Design Mistakes to Avoid

If you can avoid these top website design mistakes, you will feel confident that your customers will have a positive experience with the site and keep coming back for more. It’s a critical business tool that should be one of the top priorities for every company. 

All of these steps can easily feel overwhelming, especially when you consider all that needs to go into a website beyond the design. There are also steps to help your site be found and ways to promote more visits. It’s a lot to manage when you don’t have the knowledge or expertise in this field. 

Our team has developed many successful websites for all different industries. We’d love to help you strategize the best steps forward for your company’s online presence. Contact us today to get started!