The Most Common Web Design Mistakes Startups Make!

Intro

Web design is an art form; just like art, it gives an experience to viewers. Web design combines form with function to make a website enjoyable, interesting, usable, and easy to navigate for everyone. And to develop an impeccable website, there are certain unspoken and spoken rules for every web designer to follow.

People often don't follow these rules, and that's when disastrous websites happen. The digital world is competitive; every business needs a well-designed and fully upgraded site. It isn't an option anymore.

Poor sites can make businesses lose their customers — which means losing money. Unfortunately, even after having a site, businesses lose valuable customers.

Do you know the average attention span of a visitor is eight seconds? It means that your site should grab their attention within five seconds. You wouldn't want your customers to switch to your competitor; making the first terrible impression will only increase your site's bounce rate.

Unfortunately, business owners usually make this mistake without even realizing it, occurring with an alarming frequency. It usually happens when business owners try to save money and take charge of the project.

Don't be that business. A great site is a form of investment; it will be fruitful in the long run. You might lose thousands of dollars by making web design mistakes. So avoid the following mistakes to grow your bottom line:

Non-Functioning Call-to-Action (CTA) Button

The website's CTA (Call-To-Action) button encourages customers to take action. It could be simple as a 'buy now, 'subscribe now', 'call', or a 'sign-up' button. A CTA can be in contact forms, chat pop-ups, and chatbots.

Generally, small businesses don't realize the importance of CTAs, resulting in fewer customers and potential leads. A good website has visible and attention-grabbing CTAs, with proper content and position to compel visitors to become customers.

If you have hired a good web design company Houston that will be skilled enough to help you place CTAs on your website to attract visitors.

Too Much or Too Little Going On

As a new business owner, you might get over-enthusiastic and create a website with so much content, resulting in a cluttered user interface with so much information. It leads to overwhelmed and confused customers.

Visitors who can't understand what's going on your side will leave within a few seconds. Moreover, a website with tons of images and information causes it to lag, and it takes a while before loading.

Websites with nothing or too little information are the other end of the spectrum. Minimalism is a huge trend, and it works magically when done correctly. However, some new business owners develop too cryptic sites, leaving too much to the imagination — another big mistake.

Your site should be clear and easy to navigate without any clutter, but it should also tell visitors what your business will do and who you are. Keep the web design minimal with all important details, and you will be good to go.

Long Loading Time

As mentioned earlier, the average user attention span is 8 seconds. Customers usually follow up on an ad by clicking to see the products/services you are offering. Following the CTA, visitors click on the link, and if it takes them to a page that takes too much time to load, they get annoyed and leave it.

It can be terrible for your business, especially if you have an ecommerce business with no app or physical store. To make loading faster, upload pictures within 300 KB or background images within 1 MB.

Don’t forget to read our guide 7 Ways to Improve Google PageSpeed on WordPress

Irrelevant and Not updated Content

Imagine you find an NGO website filled with Hollywood information; what would be your reaction? You'll be puzzled. The same happens with customers when you put irrelevant content or images on your site. Feed the content that is aligned with your main purpose.

The same goes for the images — images must blend well with your content. Similarly, updating and refreshing your content is also necessary because it indirectly impacts your client's responses. You can even lose important data by having your website crash because of outdated themes and plug-ins.

You might also experience auto-redirects to other sites, hurting your SEO ranking and being backlogged by Google.

Complex and Dysfunctional Websites

The domain name is the first thing you decide, so it should be easy to navigate. However, if your website is difficult to navigate, has problems with coding, broken internal links, and expired or mismatched domain names, it will be a dysfunctional site.

Another reason behind a dysfunctional site could be an insecure HTML site, and the visitors will doubt the security of your site. Resulting in a frustrated audience and a bad user experience.

No Backlinks, Internal Links, or Social Media Links

In layman's terms, backlinking is directing a visitor towards your site from another website, and your site's credibility depends on backlinks, especially for SEO and Google PageRank.

Backlinking confirms that your site has relevant content related to the linked site. It also ensures quality. It is one of the most crucial elements in your SEO.

Internal linking is when the visitor is guided from one page to another within your site. It is, again, an important element of your site. Moreover, adding social media links to your sites is an important integration strategy.

Linking helps your customers connect to you on other platforms and make it simpler for them to learn more about you and reach out to you.

If your site doesn't have proper linking, you might miss out on many favorable actions.

Read Also: 5 Tips on How To Improve Your SEO Rankings With Email Marketing

Wrapping Up

We have covered many things that can badly impact your website's performance. But as we have concluded, there are a few mistakes that you should strictly avoid to create a well-performing website, such as having a clear domain name, a well-placed and functioning CTA (Call-to-Action) button, to-the-point information with relevant images, internal & backlinks, and fast loading site.

However, you can make your life a lot easier by contacting web services such as a Web development company and letting their professional and highly-skilled team design your site.