Common Mistakes: Where is Your Website Design Lacking?

You don't have the option of putting out a dull, run-of-the-mill website anymore. An ugly site will hurt on-site user behavior and search rankings, resulting in fewer conversions and reduced traffic. Many small business owners design their website because they want to save some money and exercise more control over the site design process.

A website is the cornerstone of your brand’s online presence. Websites help you to “create brand message unity across all platforms and spread it directly to your customers” (Active). Web designers work to create websites that are navigable, enjoyable, usable, and attractive. If you're not a web design professional, you won't know the rules that make sites beautiful. This blog post will give you some of the top mistakes that small business owners make when they design their business sites.

A Website With Too Much Going On​

Pages rich in visual content are good, but there’s a wrong way to do it. In the realm of design, less is more. According to Leadgenix, your site should highlight what you want your customers to know and it should be easy for them to find. You never want to have a crowded website. If you have a website with a lot of images, text, and annoying music, it will take a while to load. All this input will also confuse anyone who visits your website. Always stay away from busy designs if you design your site.

A Website With Too Little Information​​

You have on the other end of the spectrum websites that have far too little information on them. According to Donald Miller, a home page should contain a concise statement about what you do, who you do it for, and how that’s going to change the game for your audience. While minimalism is a popular web design trend, it can wreak havoc on your business prospects if you don't know what you're doing. A good home page answers the question “What do we do?”

In the example above, I think the design of the site is all fine and good, but I have absolutely no idea what it is that they do. Sure there’s a link that says “what we do,” but your users shouldn’t have to click on to a second page to find that out! Visitors need to know about your business and what it can do for them. Too little information on your business website will leave most of your visitors to guess about your company identity. This guessing game is never a good thing for conversions.

Bad Use of Whitespace

Content acts as a vital part of your marketing strategy. It tells visitors about your products and services. If you design your website, pay close attention to the fonts and the layout.
Take great care to pick out an attractive font for your website. Use whitespace to make your blocks of text less intimidating for your viewer. Many people put too much text on their web pages. Break your text up, then use high-quality images whenever you can. Also, update your content as much as you can. You don't want a potential customer to think that you went out of business.
Contrast these bad examples with some of our work. If you don't design websites professionally, then you should refrain from creating your business website yourself. Your online business presence is way too crucial to mess up with an ugly, muddled website. You shouldn’t trust your brand and online presence to just anyone. Use only experienced web design experts to help you attract, convert, and monetize web traffic.