You have created a visually stunning website but fail to engage users or users complain about navigation. There are likely to be a few web design mistakes. In the same manner, the website is pretty useful and easy to use but most users think that it looks drab and dull. In this case, too, the design requires a boost. Whether it is visual aesthetics, ease of use or optimized buttons, in every respect your web design needs to be perfect. But there are few mistakes that no web designer can afford at any cost. Let us have s look at them.
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Not taking your business objectives into account
There are many instances where the web designer just forgot about his main objective, that is to create a website that helps business conversion. The result is obviously a web design that is not equipped for the business. The design should focus on the business objectives you want to achieve through the website. When you forgot the goal and get diverted from your objectives, your website underperforming making loss of investment and business value. Keep the below-mentioned things in mind.
- You need to have a design approach thoroughly based on the business objectives you want to achieve.
- Ensure eye catchy and impressive design but not at the cost of usability and ease.
- Focus at every step how a design element can help the website engaging users, generate leads and convert business.
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Not making the design enough responsive for contents
There are certain websites that still do not provide unperturbed access to the whole website contents when the users view them on a mobile device. In spite of claiming that the site has been designed responsively neither the contents of the pages properly fit the screen nor their accompanying images. This happens because the mobile viewport has not been properly maintained to display the contents. There are other websites in which contents lack readability when accessed from mobile. There are still others that do not provide buttons and on-page links friendly for finger taps. Keep the below-mentioned principles in mind when making your website responsive.
- Ensure perfect and uncensored visibility of contents through the mobile viewport.
- Optimize fonts for mobile reading and viewing.
- Make the buttons and on-page links big enough and ensure enough space around them for easy finger tap.
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Lack of balance in layout
What a website is primary meant to do? Well, the purpose of a website is to present information. But if the visitor does not find the information easily, it would lead to frustration and he would leave. So, to reduce bounce rate you have to present your contents in an organized, easy to find manner. This requires structuring the web page allowing the user to find every bit of information with least effort. In web design, a well-balanced layout can only achieve this. Thanks to a balanced layout users can find anything just by looking over the pages. Let us share some effective tips gif creating a balanced layout.
- Using grids is always advisable since it allows splitting the entire layout into visually accessible sections.
- Implementing 2/3 rule can also solve many problems. According to this rule, you can split an image equally into 9 parts and thereafter in each intersection place the important object. This will help in enhancing visibility.
- Finally when dividing a page into two parts comprising bigger and smaller one just maintain the right proportion. The most prescribed rule of proportion between two parts goes like (a+b): a = a:b.
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Absence of a search box
Any website provides volumes of relevant information but the relevance varies as per the users. In the same website, hundred different users may look for hundred different things at the same time. But your contents are often presented with the latest content being displayed first. So, how can users can access the contents that they need? Well, this is precisely why a search function is inevitable.
- If you want to offer an efficient search tool Google Custom Search will be an ideal one, to begin with.
- The search box should be easily visible and accessible. The most tested and tried position of the search box is on the upper right corner.
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Navigation lacking ease of use
These days users are terribly frantic and inattentive. They just don’t bother giving the extra labor to find anything. So, if they cannot find anything they will readily decide that you do not have that section and will leave. Ease of navigation is the single most important thing to reduce bounce rate and you cannot just ignore this. Here are some tips for a user optimized, easy to use navigation.
- Don’t use the drop down menu that quickly drops and with the movement of cursor vanishes. This adds to the frustration in clicking on a navigation menu button.
- On mobile using hamburger menu is a great option if you can let users open a visually optimized small menu page by clicking on it. This easily makes the buttons prominent and usable.
- When offering horizontal menu buttons follow the widely accepted convention of placing them on top and in the case of vertical menu place them on the left-hand side.
- If you are a business website expecting your customers to call or contact provide the contact details in a visually prominent spot on top of the page.
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Optimize loading speed
Slow page speed is a punishable offense now in the view of Google and other search engines. Often too many JS libraries slow down a page and hinder fast loading. Actually, these libraries just because of making too many requests make loading the UI challenging. There are also other ways to boost the page speed.
- Minimize the number of JavaScript libraries.
- Utilize a CDN to speed up the website.
- Optimize the image and visual file sizes for faster loading.
- Lazy scrolling is a new and effective way to boost quicker page load on the basis of user priority.
Apart from all the important design mistakes and their remedies mentioned above, you should also ensure enough white or negative space surrounding contents and other clickable areas. White space relieves the clutter from the design and enhances readability as well as usability.