The idea of optimized web design would be to ensure that the website can fulfill its purpose no matter the scenario. When it comes to primary websites for businesses, the focus is to ensure that interested users have a chance to be converted into buyers without necessarily being inconvenienced by a website’s many nuances.
That said, effective web design can be challenging in the hands of an inexperienced company owner, which is why it is often best to allow professionals a chance to strut their stuff. Here are just ten common website design mistakes to avoid!
Not considering technical search engine optimization (SEO)
For those who are not in the know when it comes to digital marketing solutions, SEO would be a group of best-practice methods to help company websites and products rank higher on the Google search engine results page (SERP). One of the most subtle methods of ensuring that a website is fully optimized would be through the use of technical SEO.
Technical SEO is all about the inner workings and fundamentals of a website to ensure that the Google algorithm has an easier time finding and indexing the site. It also has the added benefits of improving load times, which brings us to the next step.
Not considering a site’s load times
There are few things more effective at keeping online users away from a website than having it take ages to load. A website that takes even just a few seconds longer to load than usual is in danger of driving away most of their valued clients. No matter the stage in web development, loading times will always be a relevant topic.
Not utilizing tools that check for the bounce rate
The bounce rate of a website is how often online visitors end up on the main page only to click away. There are plenty of reasons why any given website’s bounce rate is high or low, though it always pays to understand where the company stands when it comes to bounce rate. Fortunately, there are plenty of effective apps that take note of a site’s bounce rate.
Not utilizing content marketing methods
The simplest way to take advantage of content marketing would be through the use of articles and blogs to help generate leads for a website. It is also one of the few parts of a website where going for long-form content is the best idea. Otherwise, it would be best to consider the next common website design mistake:
Not keeping things short and sweet
As stated above, going for long-form content (1000 words and over) for articles and blogs are a fantastic way to help generate leads, as well as providing great opportunities to link back to the website. It can help encourage online users to purchase the company’s products and services.
On the other hand, the rest of the website would do well not to get carried away with the word count. For example, a header that gets straight to the point and tells the online user what they need to know about the business is crucial for the main page.
Not focusing on the mobile platform
This is perhaps one of the strangest web design mistakes, as it is quite obvious that the mobile market is growing quite large. The pandemic alone has driven people to do most of their online shopping within their homes, with the help of their phones. The lack of a mobile platform is proof of an inexperienced business, as optimized web design only reaches its full potential when both the browser and mobile versions are effective. It pays to note that a company focusing only on mobile and not on the browser version is much more likely to succeed than the other way around.
Not utilizing an effective online marketplace
If it is too challenging for a company to work on a mobile platform (such as with a startup), the next best thing would be to make use of a service with an effective mobile platform — allowing the site owner to focus on other aspects of web design. For example, those businesses interested in offering products and services online would benefit quite a bit from Amazon or Shopify. If you are planning to use Shopify, you’ll definitely benefit from this article: Increase Your Shopify Sales with These 10 Incredible Shopify Apps. This has been posted by Tada, a small business marketing app to help store owners with increasing their email subscribers and sales. That said, there is a whole batch of rules with SEO methods in those online marketplaces, which means some research is mandatory. That said, there is a whole batch of rules with SEO methods in those online marketplaces, which means some research is mandatory.
Not taking advantage of local SEO for website design
For most startup companies out there, the best thing to do would be to design a website in such a way that it caters to a specific target audience. The best thing to do would be to utilize content marketing with local SEO tactics. For example, using local events as a snare when producing articles and blogs, simultaneously making it relevant for the company’s products and services.
As a matter of fact, even larger businesses would benefit from local SEO, as there is an over-saturation of online businesses in the market. The amount of competition can be overwhelming, which is why the next best thing is to level the playing field by narrowing the company’s focus to a specific audience. Otherwise, things get too tricky to guarantee success.
Not keeping track of image quality and resolutions
It might seem like an obvious rule to ensure that images used in a website are always of high enough quality, though there is such a thing as too much. For example, the reason why some websites end up loading slowly even without widgets or site accessories is the unfortunate fact that the images used are too high a quality to be effective. Having an unnecessarily high resolution for images will only be more trouble than it’s worth, as it can easily slow things down for just about any website.
It would also be a good idea to keep track of image resolution when designing a website for the mobile platform. Otherwise, it can be easy to get overwhelmed and leave things as they are. The help of professionals comes highly recommended, as it can be quite challenging for a company to keep track of image resolution if tackled without help.
Relying too much on inspiration
Perhaps one of the most crucial don’ts of web design has to do with getting carried away when it comes to motivation and creativity. While a creative website might amuse and make fans of a specific target audience, not everyone will be amused by an inspired website. Most people are just looking to purchase what they want, or perhaps be encouraged to make the purchase with the help of a blog.
Having a website that is difficult to navigate on purpose for an inspired and creative reason will not necessarily tank things for a company, but it is still considered a mistake compared to keeping things simple. While inspiration is great, trying to keep things professional is still the name of the game. It can be challenging to stay professional when the web design is trying too hard. The point of web optimization is to keep things to the point, ensuring that online users have the necessary opportunity to get what they want without being bogged down.
There is no denying that proper website design takes plenty of time and effort to perfect. It is the reason why most people are content to let professionals have their way while they focus on other aspects of business management. For startups, and even industry veterans, the tips above are bound to help. Understanding what not to do can go a long way to finding the right path in web design.
