Web Design No-Nos: Avoid These Mistakes at All Costs

You don’t get it.  

You’ve spent a couple of months designing your website. You’ve chosen a theme that you’re sure will capture everyone’s attention, added beautiful images that are of high quality, and crafted compelling content to keep your visitors engaged.

You’re more than confident anyone who lands on your site will love it.  

The problem is, nobody is going there. You aren't getting any visitors at all.

So, you tried searching for your site on Google using your target keywords. That's when you discovered it, it's nowhere to be found on the first page. No luck finding it on pages two and three, either.

"Where did I go wrong?" you might wonder.  

Well, if you want an answer from a top Miami web design agency, we can say that it has something to do with your web design. It might be the reason why your website is ranking poorly in search engines.

No need to worry, however, as we’ll be exploring the most common web design mistakes businesses (including our clients) have made in the past. These are the same mistakes that have hurt their SEO efforts and rankings. Chances are, you’re also applying any of them, hence the reason your site fails to rank high.  

Read on to find out the six biggest web design no-nos that could be stopping your website from success, and what you can do to fix each of them.

What Are The Web Design Mistakes You Should Avoid?

Mistake #1: Clutter Is Everywhere

Let's be honest, no one likes seeing a website that has elements all over the place. A highly cluttered site can only overwhelm visitors, causing them to leave within seconds.  

Websites with tons of text, images, animations, especially irrelevant ones, will confuse people. Not only that, but they’ll cause pages to load really slowly, which is another reason affecting your SEO.  

Especially now that most web design software offers a vast range of tools - such as animated logos, embedded video, and pop-up ads - amateur designers find themselves getting carried away and using these features without realizing that doing so can overwhelm their audience.

If you're guilty of such, you should stop now and design your website the Marie Kondo way. Focus on building a solid, simple structure to provide your visitors the most pleasant and seamless online experience possible.

Mistake #2:  Poor Use of Content

One of the things we’ve noticed as a Miami web design company with years of experience in the field is that sites with bad content can spell disaster in the world of digital marketing.  

Content is king. It’s basically what tells your visitors about your business and the products or services you offer. That’s why creating quality and valuable content should be a top priority.

Pay attention to the fonts you pick, as they convey your brand image along with the words you write. See to it that you choose an attractive and legible font.  

Avoid incorporating too much text. Instead, break up text whenever possible, and add visual elements to represent concepts where you can.  

A handy tip is to use white space properly to make your content easily scannable by everyone. White space helps guide readers through interactive content, directing their attention to the focus area and making it more convenient for them to comprehend the entire content.

Also, keep your content fresh and up-to-date. Any website with outdated articles or a neglected blog section is never a good look.  

Mistake #3: Lack of Relevant Information

People go to your site to learn more about your business. They’re eager to find out further details about your brand, as well as the products or services you offer.  

If your website doesn’t provide the information users are looking for, then don’t be surprised to lose out on quality traffic. Besides, what’s the point of building a site if there’s little to no information available?  

Make sure to include your location, business hours, and contact info. You might want to integrate Google Maps into your location section as well, especially if you’re trying to attract visitors to your physical location.  

Double-check all the information you're listing. All contact details you've provided should be valid and free of errors.  

And, if you’ve included your email address, ensure that it’s an attended mailbox that you have access to. That way, you’ll be able to respond as quickly as you can to those who have inquiries about your business.  

Mistake #4: Not Optimized for Mobile

Any website that’s not mobile-friendly is a candidate for low traffic. Why? Put it this way, billions of people are browsing online every day using their smartphones.  

As soon as mobile users come across a website that doesn't scale well to their screens, or perhaps one that's not responsive enough, they'll leave and move on to another site. This is something you don't want happening to you!

In a world where the majority are now using their phones to buy products or avail of services, optimizing your site for mobile has become more crucial than ever. Here are some tips to help get you started:

• Choose a responsive design for a better user experience and SEO value.
• Simplify your navigation menu and keep it as short as simple as possible to make it easier for mobile users to figure out your website and know where to go.
• Simplify your forms, too. Ask only for the necessary information and minimize the number of fields that require text entry. Consider using checkboxes and dropdowns.
• Keep content short and sweet so your visitors don’t have to scroll to read everything. Focus on using more concise statements.  

• Stay away from pop-ups if you can. Instead of pop-ups, use CTAs (calls to action) that will direct your visitors to your landing page. If you really need to use a pop-up, perform user testing multiple times to make sure it's easy for everyone to close it from any device.  

If you're having a hard time designing your website for mobile responsiveness, don't hesitate to hire a Miami web design company to do the work for you. Investing in one will be a decision you'll never regret your business.

Mistake #5: Weak Visual Hierarchy

Many digital marketers often overlook the importance of visual hierarchy. What they don't know is that having a strong visual hierarchy can actually generate conversions.

In case you’re not aware, visual hierarchy refers to the orderly arrangement of elements according to their significance. If you do it incorrectly, you might bombard your visitors with different features that are vying for their attention. Rather than driving them to your CTA, you’ll do the exact opposite, resulting in zero conversions.

When creating a good visual hierarchy, be sure to keep these things in mind:

• Our eyes follow predictable reading patterns, which are culturally influenced. Since your target audience is comprised of Western users, you should use an F- or a Z-pattern. You can either reinforce these natural patterns and lead readers along a path to the desired goal, or break them to highlight a focal point.
• People prefer recognition over recall, which is why it’s essential they can just scan through your website, rather than wasting time reading and remembering things.  
• Size matters. People pay attention to bigger things first. Anything you want to emphasize should always be in larger fonts.  
• People react extremely fast when they encounter an interface. By extremely fast, we mean milliseconds fast. Users who don’t like how a website looks the first time they lay their eyes on it will leave right away.  

Mistake #6: Bad CTAs

Think of your calls to action as the gateway to your business. They drive your visitors to complete an action - whether it’s to buy a product, subscribe to your newsletter, or download an eBook.  

An effective CTA is one that’s clear and straightforward. It should be able to tell your visitors what they’re getting from taking that action, as well as what information they need to provide. Plus, it has to create a sense of urgency so that visitors will feel more compelled due to the fear of missing out (FOMO).

Below are a few other quick tips:

• Place your CTAs somewhere visible to all.  
• Use command words like “download,” “buy,” or “subscribe.”

• Keep character count low, preferably within the range of 90-120 characters.
• Focus on practical language instead of confusing jargon.
• Be transparent.

Need Professional Help? We Got You!

Think you can’t do the fixing on your own? Or perhaps, you’re just starting to design a website and you feel like you could use the guidance of a Miami web design agency?

Whichever it is, know that Digital Resource is here to serve your online marketing needs.  

We have a dedicated team of web design and SEO experts who are more than willing to help take your website to the top of search results. Having worked with hundreds of businesses from different industries for years now, we know our way of bringing success to you.  

Contact us today to learn how we can turn your brand into one of the top dogs in your industry.  

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