Web Design Mistakes That You Should Avoid
The number of websites that go online every day is increasing. With such an abundance of content, it is hard make your website stand out above the others. Web users are very picky and will quickly skip over any website that does not meet their standards. Make sure that your website does not include the following design mistakes that are commonly made.
The URL of your website should not be long and complicated to remember. This is the address of your website. If you want visitors to come back, you must make it easy to remember. Use words that are obviously relevant to your website, like your best keywords. Do not string more than several words together. Also, make it catchy. If a web visitor cannot remember your URL, they will usually search for your type of business in a search engine, and chances are, they will land on your competitors' website. Avoid losing business this way, and be sure that your URL is easy to remember.
Your website should not be loaded with animated content that slows down the loading time. If your web page takes a long time to load, your visitor will not stick around to wait for it to finish but will move on to your competitor's website. Also, too much animated content, like messages that scroll across the screen and moving images, distract the web user. If you want to use animation to capture your visitor's attention, use is sparingly and only to highlight content that will motivate them to take the next step.
The page load time of any web page should be no longer than 15 seconds. Anything longer will discourage visitors from exploring your website further. If you do have images that are relevant and helpful to your visitors, reduce the image file sizes as much as you can without sacrificing the display quality. Use image formats that are efficient in compressing an image file, like jpegs and png.
Do not forget to include a clear navigation menu on each page of your website. This menu should be standardized throughout your website. Your goal is to motivate your web visitors to stay and explore your content. If your visitor cannot find what they want because your website is cluttered and confusing to use, they will leave. Label your menu buttons clearly. It will also be helpful if you can include a sitemap of your website. This sitemap includes the organizational structure of your website and includes a link to every page. It is like the table of contents in a book. Your web visitor can tell what your website includes at one glance and will remember your website for the convenience and ease of use.
Make sure that all of your pages are linked to a parent page. Pages that are not linked to another page cannot be found through navigation, and the valuable content on this page is as good as lost.
If you are serious about launching a website that you want people to visit, invest some time into learning good web design techniques to avoid common design problems. A well-planned, well-designed website will attract the visitors that you are after.
