Most web designers are driven to create killer websites. They want each of their creations to be fresh, innovative, and functional, and most of all they want them spiked with the newest techniques. They know that if they don’t stand out from the pack, their work will not be noted.

Although these intentions are noble and easy to understand, in reality they may have the opposite effect. In other words, what looks good on paper, may not necessarily work in the real world.

The following is a list highlighting some of the worst mistakes a web designer can make.

1. Miscommunicating The Site’s Nature
Different audiences have different needs, but they all want to know what the site they have in front of them is all about. If a visitor cannot figure out what the site is about in the first few seconds, they will quickly move to the next site. Most users do specific searches and do not want to waste time with sites that do not fall into their set criteria.

Conclusion: Clearly state the nature of your site, and display this feature in such a way that it will attract your visitors’ attention as soon as they pull up your web pages.

2. Bad Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Your website search engine visibility can be drastically reduced by typos, plurals, hyphens, slang, and other variants of query terms. Search engines may not pick them up, and not all of your users may consider them. Especially the elderly and new Internet users may be unfamiliar with specific expressions.
In addition, wrong query terms and the misspelling of your products can confuse search engines. As result, you may go down in rankings, your customers may not find you, and you will lose important business.

Conclusion: Do not count on ‘advanced search options’ for users to find you. Do it right from the start and enter the right search terms. It will help your audience to navigate straight to you.

3. Using PDF Files
Most Internet users hate PDF files because they break the search flow. PDF files are tougher to handle, and simple tasks like printing or saving documents are trickier. Standard browser commands often don’t respond either, the document is hard to navigate through, and the paper layout rarely matches the size of the reader’s browser window.

Conclusion: Reserve PDF files for distributing manuals or other large documents, and stick to real web pages for your online business.

4. Leaving Navigational Links Unchanged
Links are a key factor in the navigation process, bringing your audience from one location to the next. Users like to know which pages they have visited, especially those that have proven useless to them. They do not want to waste time returning to those sites. On the other hand, some pages may have proven quite useful, and worth another visit.

As a website creator you have the power to assist your audience by allowing visited links to change colour. This way, your visitors will know exactly which links they have previously used.

Conclusion: Allowing visited links to change colour will help your audience to orient themselves better, and stops them from visiting pages they are not really interested in. Even if this feature is not beneficial to all of your visitors, the majority will appreciate your efforts.

5. Hard To Scan Text
A long page of uninterrupted text is boring, painful to read, and sometimes even intimidating.
Today’s online users have so much data to choose from that they no longer read every page they come across. They scan the headlines and subtitles, and only if they are convinced it is worth the effort, they will read the entire write-up.

To make your online text scannable, use well-documented tricks, including
• subheads
• bulleted lists
• highlighted keywords
• short, uncomplicated phrases
• short paragraphs
• the inverted pyramid – placing of the most important information first within your text
• refrain from complicated language

Conclusion: There is a distinct difference between paper print and online writing. Study the difference, and make sure your text is scannable. Keep your text easy to understand and add simple illustrations.

6. Small or Fixed Font Sizes
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to disable your Web browser’s “change font size” button and keep your font size fixed. Although you may think that tiny font sizes look cool and give you more room for text and illustrations, the majority of readers do not like small fonts, for the simple reason that they reduces readability significantly. Just ask anyone over the age of 40!

Conclusion: Respect your readers’ preferences and allow them the resize text when needed. Do not use small, fancy, or unreadable fonts.

7. Page Titles With Reduced Search Engine Visibility
The “Search Option” is the most important way for users to find specific websites. They will be attracted to your site, by your page title, which is contained within the HTML tag, and the micro-content write-up displayed right underneath. Essentially your SEO drives a major part in people finding you.

Users interested in your site will click on the page title and be automatically re-directed to your website. They will also use that same page title to bookmark your site in ‘Favourites’ folder.

Page titles are vital and need to be to the point. Therefore, don’t waste valuable space by starting your title page with “The” or “Welcome to.” Instead, list your company name first, followed by a brief description of your site. For pages other than the homepage, create a title with some of the most informative words related to your page, or the products displayed on that page

Conclusion: Page titles have to be visible to search engines, yet informative to your users.

8. No Navigational structure
A well-structures website has not only a navigational bar built in, but is also equipped with extremely visible links.

Particular website layouts and phrases have become quite popular on the Internet, and should be taken into consideration by those new to the field, or those with few proven design tricks up their sleeve. If you belong to either one of these categories, you should consider, for example:
• Organizing logos linking back to the homepage in the top-left corner
• Using the term ‘About us’ to display company information
• Placing navigation links in the same place on each page
• Moving flashing logos to the middle or bottom of the page. Users assume that anything placed above the top logo is advertisement
• Using the term ‘Shopping cart’ if you are selling products or services.

Conclusion: Do not underestimate the power of conventions. As the Internet matures, more and more of these customs and practices will emerge. Study your competitors’ sites and see what works for them.

9. Advertisements Are Like Red Flags
Placing ads on a website is not always to your advantage. A lot of users stop paying attention and will click away from sites that are too loaded with distractions.

Because of the “anti advertisement” phenomenon, users often mistake legitimate design elements for promotions. They do not study the web element; they only react out of habit.

If you want to avoid falling into the “advertising trap,” exclude the following from your design:
• Banners – Users never fixate on anything looking like a banner ad, which has a distinctive shape, and is generally located at certain spots on a page.
• Animations – Blinking and flashing text or other aggressive animations are distractive, and by and large not appreciated.
• Pop-ups – Overall, pop-up windows are a nuisance, and Internet users will often close them before they even have had a chance to fully download.

Conclusion: If you want to avoid being misread, refrain from website essentials that look like advertisements.

10. Not Respecting Consistency
Consistency is a virtue and one of the most powerful usability principles. Just think about how you feel when you visit some of your favourite websites. You know exactly where to click and what to expect whenever you use a website feature.

Your own audience feels the same way about your website. In addition, they expect the same features, and click-through results as they do from other websites.

Conclusion: If something works, don’t deviate. The more changes you make, the more you confuse your fans.

0

0