There is no denying that a website became the backbone for every business during the COVID-19 era. The pandemic has changed the way consumers buy goods and services. A well-designed website is essential for the success of any company in 2021 and beyond.
The website design helps create a good impression on the potential customers, encouraging them to take the desired action. However, some design mistakes can compromise user experience and derail the best of efforts. Website design agency experts are mostly aware of the elements of a good web design. You can learn more here about the good practices and the services provided by a reliable web design company. But what about the mistakes that must be avoided? That is what we will discuss in this article.
Assuming the Purpose of the Design
A lot of web designers make the mistake of assuming that their design is going to work. They forget the importance of drawing the layout on paper before implementing it.
Drawing the layout helps a designer understand and identify the motivational factors that will attract the customer. The objective of a good design is to relate to the consumer problems and showcase the solutions. Drawing the layout on paper will help the designer:
- Identify the goals of the design
- Outline the scope of the project
- Build the features to attract business
- Identify user requirements
- Showcase feasible solutions
- Foresee the technological capabilities
These factors will help the designer identify the data points and device the right layout and features before jumping onto a designing software. Designers need to research and understand what their customers care about before designing a website.
Ignoring Grids and Columns
The landscape of web designing is changing rapidly, and designers need to adapt to it. But some designers still limit themselves to the old ways of organizing content using flexbox and float. They have not realized the effectiveness of CSS grids and guides to develop a well-architected and responsive website.
On the other hand, developers of the new era think that flexbox and floats have become obsolete. The truth is flexbox and floats are as essential as CSS grids to avoid web design errors related to grids and columns. Web designers use CSS technology to automatically segment and align the content using rows and columns, which delivers a seamless user experience.
Forgetting About the Visual Hierarchy
Missing out on the aesthetics of visual hierarchy is another common mistake that designers make. They need to have a clear strategy to implement the visual layout for features, content, and CTAs. An efficient visual hierarchy can guide a visitor’s journey on the website.
Designers can achieve that by using appealing colors, images, and other small animations. These elements must be sized and spaced appropriately to drive user engagement. If the visual hierarchy of a website is not right, users will not engage with the website.
Skipping Intuitive Navigation
A poorly configured menu and navigation are some of the prominent mistakes of web designing. If the website does not have a proper navigational structure, it can be confusing for a user, which would drive them away.
Designers should also keep in mind that website navigation might not be the same for all devices. Therefore, they must devise the right strategy to provide smooth and predictable navigation and test it for different browsers and devices.
Overlooking Website Accessibility
Another aspect the designers often overlook is the accessibility of a website. Americans with disabilities constitute a large market segment for any business. Therefore designers must keep certain factors in mind while designing a website. These are some of the ways to optimize website accessibility:
- Provide Optimum contrast between text and the background
- Assign alternative text for essential images
- Use Navigation that can be accessed with keyboard only
- Ensure videos are supported with closed captions and transcripts
- Provide alternatives for color as information
- Use proper titles and headers
- Place options to resize text
Website accessibility is not only essential to improving user experience, but it is also a legal requirement. Moreover, making a website accessible also improves its chances to rank higher through SEO.
Multimedia Mistakes
Web designers often make several mistakes related to the media present on a website. Auto-playing videos can not only prove detrimental to the visitor’s experience, but they also make a website slower. Designers should also avoid using large-sized images on websites as they can also affect the loading speed.
Slow-loading websites can not only drive away visitors, but they also rank lower on search engines. Some web designers also use free stock images, which may not create the desired impression on customers. Besides using proper images, web designers should also use contextual icons to deliver the right message and boost the brand image.
A website is the most essential asset for a business in the current times. Therefore, designers have to ensure that it can create a great first impression. By avoiding these common mistakes, designers can guarantee that the website achieves the goals of a company.