Because it takes the average visitor under 1 second to form his/her opinion about a website, it is very important to make sure that your site looks as great as it should. Web design is so much more important than what many business owners believe right now. If you have a site, you have to be sure you offer the best possible user experience.
A web designer needs to keep learning. This is a profession in which you simply cannot afford not to be aware of graphic design and marketing trends. Obviously, when you do this you also have to know the worst mistakes that designers make and that should be avoided, like the way too common ones highlighted below.
Using Homepage Sliders
It is incredibly common to see homepage sliders these days. They often show multiple messages to the visitors and can only create confusion.
When these sliders appeared, they were incredibly popular. This is just because they looked great and added a very useful animation to a page. However, now, in 2020, these sliders are outdated. The best designers in the world hate them and they add them because clients want them.
From the business’ point of view, sliders are great. The reality though is that they do not work and are not actually effective. People just ignore them in the vast majority of cases.
Using Too Many CTAs
Call-to-Actions (CTAs) are often used in business but in so many cases they are overused. The purpose of a CTA is to take the visitor to another page or to convince him/her to perform an action. When there are too many CTAs on the page, conversion rates drop considerably.
In modern web design, you just need one CTA. It does not have to be red, feature bold letters or be flashy. You want to incorporate it as the lowest part of the sales funnel. Also, do not be afraid to use in-text links inside the CTAs. Links do not necessarily need buttons. Sometimes, a smart message is much more effective than a flashy button.
Putting Too Much Above The Fold
Digital marketers literally became obsessed with putting content above the fold. They simply added so much to this part of the site that everything started to look overcrowded.
We have to understand that nowadays there are countless devices with various screen sizes. They are used to browse the internet on the go so this above the fold practice is simply useless. As a visitor comes, he/she starts to scroll. This is almost instant.
A much better design solution for adding the most important message you want to highlight is to use an area where there are no distractions and that instantly stands out. Embrace white space and remove the elements that you do not need.
Very Cheesy Stock Images
When stock photography initially appeared, it was a good solution that was legal and that helped design great business sites. The problem is that these images were overused. Nowadays, stock photography is simply way too noticeable. It looks fake and visitors realize the fact that you bought some images to use.
Unfortunately, most businesses do not have the budget needed to arrange professional photoshoots. In such cases, stock images look like a great solution.
Fortunately, there is a way to use stock images. You have to avoid the collections and the very common ones. Choose images that properly represent the brand. When you take this approach, it is easier to create an authentic design.
Highly Confusing Navigation
Every single one of us landed on several websites that were very confusing. We just did not know where to go in order to find what we want. Oftentimes, this is simply because the navigation system is very confusing. If we look at the sites that have really high bounce rates, they often have confusing navigation.
Visitors should not guess how the website should be used. The navigation has to be as intuitive as possible. You need a visible navigation menu and it needs to be simple. Avoid the temptation of trying to impress visitors. They want to see your information, not your flashy graphics.
The best main menus only include a maximum of 5 to 7 elements. Then, dropdown menus have to be very easy to understand and highly organized.
Improper Use Of Chatbots And CTAs (Pop-Up Versions)
When you create a website, you need to help visitors. This is very important but you can so easily become annoying when you use chatbots and many pop-up CTAs, especially when the CTAs or the chatbots keep popping up over and over again.
The solution to this is very simple. There is no problem with letting the visitors know that assistance is available if it is needed. However, after the visitor declines your offer, the messages should never appear again. The user has to decide if this happens or not.
Using Too Much Animation
Last but not least, video and animation are trending right now. Designers are actively experimenting with animations. Out of all, it is the video animations that are the most successful. The problem is that these elements are not properly used in most cases.
It is so easy to be tempted by the moving elements and to add many on one page. This only distracts visitors. When you want to attract the attention of the visitor with animation, you have to place it strategically. Also, use these elements to move the attention of the visitor to the more important elements, like live chat, contact forms, CPAs, and similar.
Final Thoughts
The web design mistakes highlighted above are very easy to avoid and there is no reason why they should still be present. Designers have to make their voices heard because most of them are already aware of the inefficiency of these practices.
