A website design can have a major impact on how visitors view a website. You can have the same content and images, but the design of the site can convey a totally different feel to visitors. More so, design can influence SEO too. For businesses who want to become an authority online, marketing professionals should be following expert design practices. Even if you are not entirely up to date on the latest trends, you should certainly avoid certain web design mistakes that can ruin visitor experience. In this post, we’ll cover some of the biggest mistakes in web design right now.
Not Embracing A Mobile Website
In 2018, every website should have a mobile design. With today’s most popular website platforms like WordPress, it is very easy to have a mobile-friendly website. There are thousands of responsive themes that make your website look great on any device, including desktop, tablets, and phones. According to DreamHost, the number of mobile users already exceeds the number of desktop users. Since a large majority of customers look for businesses on their smartphone or tablet, it would be a smart investment to make your website mobile friendly as soon as possible. The change could also help your search engine rankings while bringing in additional traffic for the company. Don’t miss out on this key website design aspect for people using smaller screens.
Using Oversized Images and Files
Secondly, oversized images take a long time to load and slow down the website’s page load times. Due to the larger file sizes, visitors have to wait for the images to complete rendering on the page. Especially on smaller devices like a smartphone or tablet, the excess image size wastes resources that could save time for your visitors. To fix this issue, optimizing images can improve your website load time and visitor experience. Consider using compressed images and files that load quickly. If you are using smaller images in your design backgrounds, image elements, and content, the visitor experience will be positive in terms of speed.
Missed Favicon Branding Opportunity
Sometimes, website designs do not change their favicon. The company spends thousands to create an amazing website with top notch branding design. However, the favicon is a default image or blank altogether. You should ensure that the company favicon has a brand driven icon uploaded. This makes it easy for visitors to identify your website from tabs in a browser. It is one of those small and important web design details. If your favicon is blank, it could get lost easily. Moreover, the favicon is a great opportunity to brand your website with a simple icon design. Sometimes, simple design elements can have a huge influence on the visitor perception of your company overall.
Forgetting To Include Social Elements
If your website does not prominently display social media icons or follow boxes, you are making a big mistake. The best website design projects are able to incorporate various elements including social media. When you have social media links and icons readily available, visitors will interact with your brand. They can follow you on Twitter or Instagram. Or, they can share your content on their social profiles. For example, a Facebook share from a single customer could bring in many other customers who need your services. It is an absolute necessity to incorporate a social presence within your website design for visitor sharing and engagement.
Omitting A Search Box
Sometimes, a website does not have a search box available for their visitors. Odds are, if someone came to your site, that means they are looking for something. A search box allows them to locate the content that they want quickly. This is a positive benefit for user experience when people can find what they want quickly. Furthermore, a well-placed search box can encourage visitors to search for what they are looking for. This gives your marketing team more insights as to what customers want. This opportunity is two-fold, placing a search box benefits your visitor experience and your ability to meet their demands too.
When thinking about your website design, you should avoid these common mistakes. All of these mistakes have simple fixes and can immediately enhance your visitor experience. Optimize your website to be viewed on all devices. Shrink any images that are being used in backgrounds, elements or content. Then, carry your branding through to the favicon and social profile links. Finally, make sure that visitors can easily search your site to get what they want. By fixing these mistakes, your web design will drastically improve the overall on-site experience for visitors.
