Most Common Web Design Mistakes
Many small business owners design and build
their own websites, or ask a friend/family member to do it, in order
to save on costs. Unfortunately, uninformed and inexperienced designers
will make mistakes that cause customer loss and a loss of credibility
for your business.
The biggest mistake new designers make, is trying to impress their viewers with alot of flashy graphics, instead of selling to them.
Rule No. 1....
No one else cares about you or your website.
Keep repeating that to yourself, tape it on your forehead, your computer,
do whatever you have to do, but keep it foremost in your mind as you
build your site. The truth hurts.
The three reasons a viewer visits a website:
1) They want/need information
2) They want/need to make a purchase
3) They want/need entertainment
What do you want your site to do for your business?
Not too many viewers will go to your website
because they want to see how pretty your graphics are, how cute the
bouncing little teddy bear is, nor do they care about the photos of
your new car or your last family vacation. Save all the little tricks
and flash for your own personal web page. Keep repeating...Nobody cares....
So what is the answer to a good website that keeps your customers coming and coming back for more? Simplify, simplify, simplify. Keep it clean, clear and consistent. Make it very clear what your product is or what your website is all about.
Read through the following examples of newbie designer mistakes, and avoid them. Your visitors will thank you. Good Luck!
Hard To Read Pages
Dark page backgrounds or patterned backgrounds
make a page hard to read. A lighter background with darker text is always
the best bet. While you may think that background image on your page
is really cool, does it make it hard to read? If so, trash it. Try again.
Using the Wrong Fonts
If you have specified a font for your text and
the viewer does not have it installed on their machine, they will not
see it. Specify fonts that are available on both Windows and Macs.
They are: Arial, Comic Sans, Courier New, Times New Roman, Trebuchet, Verdana.
If you've found a font that you just can't live without, you can incorporate it into your graphics. That way it doesn't need to be installed on the viewers computer and they will still be able to see it.
Bloated Graphics and Graphic Intense Pages
Many people still use dial up Internet providers,
older computer systems and older operating systems. Make sure you optimize
your graphics on your page before using them, specify in your code the
correct viewing size so your browser doesn't have to guess. Keep graphics
to a minimum, maybe 2 or three on a page. This includes buttons, bars,
arrows, etc.
Page Size
Try not to use large amounts of text all on one page. Most people will
scan through a web page, so try to break up the text. It not only looks
better, it makes it easier to know where you're at on the page. Try
using interactive text and links to break things up if necessary.
Spelling, Spelling, Spelling
All computers have some sort of spell checker
on them.....learn how to use it.
Navigation, Don't Make It Difficult or Confusing
Make sure your navigation is clearly visible
on all pages, and keep it consistent. Don't make the viewer hunt for
the button or link to go to the next page they want to view. Be descriptive
on the navigation of where you are taking them. Always make use of the
different colors of the links, active links and visited links. This
helps the visitor know where they are and where they have not been yet.
Test, Test, Test Again
I cannot stress this enough. You need to download
the main browsers viewers are using. They are, Internet Explorer, Netscape,
Opera, and Mozzilla. Everyone does not use Internet Explorer....
Unfortunately, these browsers are not all the same. Our design world would be a much nicer place if they were, but live with it. What works and looks awesome in I.E. may totally crash in Netscape. Test, test, test. There cannot be enough said about checking for browser compatibility.
Screen Size and Resolution
Test your pages under different screen sizes
and resolutions. This can easily be done by going to http://www.anybrowser.com
and click on Screen Size. Type in the url to your site under the different
screen sizes. The window that pops up will show you what other people
see if they have a screen that size. A good rule of thumb, build your
sites with a maximum width of 700. Not 800, not 1024. Center your pages
and use percentages instead of fixed widths. This will enable the browsers
to resize the pages accordingly.
Remember: Nobody Cares About You or Your Website
Your site is being built for what reason? To sell a product, to give
information, or to supply entertainment. Not to show off your latest
tricks or design capabilities.
