Don't Make these Common Design Mistakes

BLOG

by Sophie Ross

on September 26,2016

Sometimes you stumble upon a website that is so awful your reflexes hit the back button immediately. Other times a bad web design is more subtle, but it could still be turning visitors off and ruining your business reputation in the process. Let’s take a look at some of the most frequent blunders small businesses make when designing their websites.

Colors and Fonts

Many websites make the mistake of slapping on colors as they go. But really, an overarching branding strategy should be what drives all business design, from the logo to business cards to the website and social media profiles. Branding is important to all businesses, not just the Fortune 500, and that importance only grows as the company matures.

A quick search will provide several color palette generators that will tell you which ones go together – there’s no need to guess.

Branding standards should apply to your fonts too. Navigating from page to page should not leave the visitor feeling like he happened upon a crazy person’s diary, or a ransom note.In the case of a second, mobile version of your main site you not only have to build 2 websites, but maintain, update, and optimize 2 websites! And that means twice as many opportunities to make mistakes. More cost + more hassle + a lesser experience = no thank you!

Missing CTA

What do you consider a “conversion” or goal for your website, pertaining to visitors? Make it easy for the people who land on your site to understand what to do next. Calls-to-Action like “Get your free quote!”, “Shop now”, or “Download your How-To Guide” all direct your visitors to do something. Thoroughly review your web copy and make sure there are no obstacles to people to becoming your customers.

And on this subject make sure the basics like your business phone number and address are visible, and in places where your prospective customers are accustomed to look, like headers and footers.

Themes

Running with one of the free themes offered by WordPress or another platform can be a life-sentence to obscurity. Not only do they generally lack in appeal and functionality, they tend to break. Many businesses and bloggers don’t customize their themes at all so in the best of circumstances they’re stuck with a really boring website. Blockity themes allow for a tremendous amount of customization so there’s no reason to look like everyone else if you use the platform.

Low-quality images

It’s your business for crying out loud, so why not invest in a little custom photography? A bit of cash will go far and provide you with high-resolution, unique images that will set your site apart from the crowd. Don’t forget, these images can be used in your ad copy and on social media to further establish your branding. This is money well spent.

Missing social icons & Navigation woes

Make it easy for your website visitors to find your social profiles. Most prospective customers want to know that your business has a presence elsewhere online, and insight into what kind of information you share and how you engage with others in social media has become very important. If you make your site traffic hunt for your Facebook page, they’ll probably lose interest and move on.

Broken links on your pages should be corrected, and make sure the navigation is intuitive and always allows a way back to the home page.

Put these ideas to use whether you’re just starting to build your website, or if you feel your existing design falls short of amazing.

TRY IT FREE

Future is Now. Try Blockity for Free

Affiliates Features Themes Blog Pricing Help Terms

2018 Blockity

Facebook

Twitter