The Most Common Web Design Mistakes That People Are Still Making

Design is largely a subjective matter and we all have different opinions on what works and what looks good. That said though, there are also some rules when it comes to good design and layout, and breaking these can result in a design being universally unpopular. If your website is intended to earn your business money, then ultimately this is the wrong approach, whether or not you personally like the look of it.

And there are plenty of mistakes that you still see all the time when browsing the web that ultimately are costing businesses a lot of money. Read on then and let’s look at some of the most common of these mistakes so that you can avoid them in your own web design work.

Ugly Fonts

We’ve gone over typography on this blog before, but people are still regularly making mistakes in this area. If you missed those posts then it’s worth going back to have a read, or look at this great guide to get inspired on typography.

Typography is a huge part of your design and it not only impacts the feel and perceived tone of your site, but also the legibility and readability. If your font is just whatever ‘default’ that came with your WordPress theme, then your site won’t look custom built and won’t look professional – and it may be hard to read.

No Sense of Flow

When you land on a website, it’s important that you should know precisely where to look and that your eyes should be led around the page naturally. This means that all the various elements on your page should be in agreement as to where the content starts, what the focal point is and which direction you should be reading in. Here’s a good guide on how to achieve good flow.

Too Much Clutter

Minimalism done well is beautiful. Not only is it incredibly efficient and almost utilitarian, but it also makes it easy for you to direct attention and avoids overwhelming your visitors. If your site is a mess of things clamoring for attention, it’s time to do a rethink.

Too Much Ambition

A website that has too many animations, a funky navigation and a bizarre color scheme might get you an ‘A+’ at college, but it isn’t going to do the job it’s meant to do in the real world. Remember that good design should be subtle and serve a higher purpose. It shouldn’t draw attention to itself and certainly not at the expense of usability.

This is perhaps the mother of all common mistakes you see in web design. To put it simply, a huge number of websites look boring. That is to say, that they look like every other website and have nothing unique in order to set them apart. Thus, visitors will land on your website from Google, but they’ll have no way of knowing if they’ve been there before or what your site is about. They’ll read the content and then just leave, because to them, it is just another run-of-the-mill website.

You don’t need your site to be a masterpiece, but if there’s nothing setting it apart or making it different or interesting, then you’re not fulfilling your site’s potential and you won’t be memorable as a result. If you want web design to work for you and stay unique but you have no idea how to achieve that, work with a website design specialist today.