Starting a business can be one of the scariest and most challenging things you may go through. With so many things to consider, it's more than possible to overlook some do's and don'ts regarding simple things such as marketing your business online and website design.
That being said, you don't have to worry if this sounds like something you're struggling with. This article will give you a rundown of twenty-one top website design mistakes to avoid at all costs.
Accessibility Mistakes
Under this category are simple but deadly mistakes business owners often make when creating websites themselves.
#1 When Your Website Doesn't Support Mobile Devices
When creating a website, it's essential to consider all possible scenarios. These include the device from where clients would be potentially viewing your website. You will lose out on many visitors if your website is not flexible, mobile-friendly, and scaled smoothly to a smaller screen.
This is because users of mobile devices will abandon your web page if they cannot access it or adequately read its content. 
Mobile accounts for approximately half of web traffic worldwide. In the fourth quarter of 2021, mobile devices (excluding tablets) generated 54.4 percent of global website traffic, consistently hovering around the 50 percent mark since the beginning of 2017 before consistently surpassing it in 2020.
(Source: Statistica)
That suggests that more than half of your clients expect you to give quality service to their mobile devices. Therefore, if you want to keep this significant portion of prospects interested in your services, you should ensure that you can meet their standards.
#2 Lack of Contrast Between Background Color and Text
This is one of the common web design mistakes I see in so many creators, including designers. Although light gray may appear fantastic in your color scheme, several people find it difficult to read. Contrast is a crucial component of your website's accessibility, something that more and more users realize as the years go by.
For example, if you are to reach the WCAG 2.0 level AA, it “requires a contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text (14 point and bold or larger, or 18 point or larger).” (Source: WebAim Color Contrast Checker)
Since this is one of the prevalent web design problems out there, it's crucial that they should always be considered. There are plenty of websites and tools you can use to verify that the color scheme of your website is easy on the eyes of all of your clients.
Such as:
#3 Utilizing a Small Font Size
Similar to the second item, having a font size too small is probably one of the common website design mistakes you can make. Deciding on a simple task such as this may be easy, but many overlook this crucial aspect.
Many website users cannot see the paragraph font well if it is too small. And chances are, if they are too small, they won't zoom in. The smallest font size you should use is 16px to 18px. Going even bigger is preferable, especially on copy-intensive websites like blog articles.
I advise making your web page's headers and lead information font bigger than most of your website. Although it may seem unusual, site visitors will find it much simpler to read.
Here are several examples of color and text size combinations that do and do not pass:
#4 Hard-to-Find Navigation
Problems with navigation will quickly kill the popularity of your website. Everything is supplied to us instantly these days; any delay will cause visitors to leave your website. One typical web design error has a navigation menu that's difficult to find.
Have you ever encountered a website and couldn't locate the navigation menu or search bar? It can be unpleasant. Make sure your website's navigation is simple to use and even simpler to notice.
#5 Not Creating Voice-Enabled Multilingual Web Page Designs
Today, it is possible to create websites with voice interface-based functionality and different language support. However, only a few site owners and designers use these web features. You can create websites in the original language if a company has clients in multiple countries to better appeal to target clients.
You can incorporate a voice-based dashboard to the website to improve accessibility. Google searches performed on mobile devices frequently use voice input. Consumers can book hotels, cars, and other services with voice technology. Not including the multilingual and voice features in the website design strategy would be an error on your end.
Content Mistakes
In this section, I'll focus more on the information your website has and why it sometimes doesn't gain the attention of your consumers.
#6 No Use of Analytics or SEO
A diagnosis is necessary before you can treat a condition. The best diagnostic methods for gauging the publicity of your web page are SEO and analytics. They are there to inform you of how good your website is performing in terms of consistency and standings.
Since the second or third pages of a search engine results listing are much less likely to be noticed, SEO will ensure that the site ranks and shows considerably further up on the search results.
Analytics may also tell you the typical length of a view to your website and provide information on what consumers have been doing there. This is an effective technique to monitor how the most recent additions to your site are functioning and whether or not people are using them as you hoped.
Danny Goodwin of the Search Engine Journal said that a consumer's decision to press on your search result or not could determine whether your company survives or fails. So in a way, SEO is what makes a website valuable.
#7 Having Non-Scannable Website Content
People don't read websites in a similar way they read books. Website visitors will scan your web page for pertinent information rather than digesting every word there. To make your text simple to highlight and skim, utilize things such as bullet points, headings, and illustrations.
Additionally, since Google prioritizes headlines over paragraphs, keyword-rich headlines will also improve your search engine ranking.
#8 Outdated Content
Many people can easily recognize how an old website appears to visitors if they've ever been to one. That being said, people are less likely to engage with websites that can't answer their questions. More often than not, if they encounter out-of-date websites, they'll look elsewhere for news and content. Congratulations! You have just lost one potential client.
I’m kidding! But, to ensure that the same thing doesn't happen to your business website, you must constantly update it and add relevant changes. If your web page isn't updated, then the chances of people seeing and sticking with your outdated content are slim to none.
#9 Lack of/ No Contact Information
Oddly enough, omitting contact information is yet another frequent error. It’s vital that you know when clients choose to buy from you or use your services. When they decide you’re the right business for them, it’s critical that they have access to the important contact details.
Visitors will probably become impatient and leave if they have to browse through your website for contact information. Your information should be at the bottom of every page, or your “Contact Us” page should always be easily accessible.
#10 Undesirable CTA
Your CTA serves as the entrance to your company. It demands action from your guests: Click here! Obtain a voucher! Check out this product! Naturally, your CTA must show visitors what they must do. Visitors should have access to plenty of information to understand what they will gain from participating and what data they must submit.
However, there is a blurry line between being friendly and irritating. Ensure your CTA is clear and informs consumers precisely what to do. Limit the amount of form-filling and wait a few moments before displaying the CTA.
#11 Using All Caps
It can be challenging to read if there are more than a few words in an all-caps text. Even while uppercase text makes it easier for users to peruse your site by making titles and headlines stand out, you should only use it for one sort of headline. A headline shouldn’t be in all caps if it’s going to be more than seven to ten words.
#12 Missing Key Pages/ Too Many Pages
It's simple to get sucked into trying to fill up every page when building a website. However, the finest websites keep things simple by concentrating on the most crucial elements and removing everything else.
Are you unsure of the pages you need for your website? Create a sitemap first. Draw up a checklist of the pages your website needs so that guests can move from your homepage to taking action. Some pages you could add would be the about page, contact, resources, home, policies, services, and shop.
Imaging Mistakes
In this part, I’ll discuss many business mistakes regarding photos, such as sizing, resolution, etc.
#13 Low-Quality or Irrelevant Photos
Incorporating images and visuals into a website is essential. Without actually having to read text, images may quickly communicate complicated ideas. That being said, a lot of companies use seemingly unrelated or subpar pictures.
Insufficiently high-quality images will ruin your website and repel guests. Similar to unnecessary text, useless graphics will just perplex your readers and leave them wondering what you are trying to say.
#14 Ads in the Wrong Places
Inside the realm of web design, advertisements are a necessary thing. It is one of the primary sources of cash for some websites. However, having too many loud, flashing ads will annoy your guests and cost you sales.
Keep a close eye on your advertisements; if they irritate you even a little, they'll definitely do the exact things to your consumers. Keep an eye out for pop-ups. Even though they are making a return, make sure they can be closed quickly and are not full-screen.
#15 There Are Too Many Activities Going On
Display important business information as soon as possible on your web page. If a visitor cannot quickly understand the purpose of your website after coming, they will leave. Though it's crucial to remember this, it frequently prompts business owners to place far too much above the fold.
Furthermore, a busy web page is never a positive thing. Websites containing a lot of content, graphics, and other elements can take a long time to load and will be confusing to your visitors. Avoid cluttered designs at all costs.
#16 Unappealing 404-Page Design
Web design is more than just creating layouts and user interfaces. The concept of web design in Wikipedia is expanded to include content and SEO. You can avoid numerous typical website design problems from an SEO perspective.
A specialized custom 404-page template is a must-have for SEO-critical web design. You can use 301 or 302 redirects to point guests to another web page or create a customized 404 page for your site to show users something pertinent. A website's broken links are bad for a company's reputation. Users think the website is fraudulent, and the goods/services won't be high quality.
#17 Having Blurry Pictures
Your website instantly seems amateurish when the images are blurry. No matter what photographs you use, check to see that they don’t blur when enlarged. Make sure your website looks good at the biggest screen size possible, and review your photos there.
#18 Leaving Insufficient Whitespace
The secret to effective design is whitespace, the space around your text. The finest websites you’ve seen all contain a lot of whitespaces. They also make good use of it to create distinction, draw attention to what’s most crucial on a web page, and provide users some space to breathe.
Your website’s content shouldn’t fill its entire width. While specific photos will be full-width, your site’s copy should never be that wide. You should strive for 12–17 words per line, with space between them and below and above each chunk of material.
One of its benefits when making your website is that it includes built-in whitespace. They provide you with a solid foundation. However, you can still make your site congested.
#19 Poor Multimedia Web Design
Autoplay videos can be pretty annoying, especially when they have sound. Moreover, it causes websites to load rather slowly. It's frequently preferable to delay the automatic playback of videos and wait for user activity instead—for instance, the client scrolls to a place on your page where the video is located.
Another distracting thing in your webpage would be carousels. If your website has carousels that auto-forward, your guests may have a hard time trying to read your content before the next slide shows up. This can make them frustrated and lead to the visitor leaving your website.
Security Mistakes
Here are some security mistakes you should avoid to ensure you gain your audience's trust and increase engagement and business sales.
#20 Absence of Security-First, Flexible Design Principles
Web page security is essentially a technological architecture-dependent issue, although it is also somewhat influenced by user journeys and website design. The way designers portray client journeys has a significant impact on how developers apply the concepts.
You can prevent many security flaws if web page security is considered from the beginning of the design process. Put the data essential to the business, for instance, behind barriers for payment and authentication.
#21 Using Features With Known Security Holes
It is exactly what it reads. This is more of a deployment/maintenance issue. It’s essential that you perform some research and possibly some audits before implementing a new code. Although it may be incredibly convenient, using a code you found on well-known websites or a random person’s blog still carries the danger of a significant web security flaw.
For example, there have been numerous cases where websites have been “owned.” This means an outsider has gained administrator control of the system. This was not because the developers were ignorant but because a third-party software package was left in use for years without being repaired.
So before incorporating any new code to your web page, always do enough research and background check because the lack of it increases the possibility of a breach being there to hurt your clients.
Conclusion
While starting a business isn’t always a walk in the park, it can be easier to handle so long as you have an idea of the things you should and shouldn’t do. That being said, I hope I was able to give you an idea of the common website mistakes you must avoid to increase your client engagement.
If you need more help in finishing your website design, then feel free to contact us for a free consultation!
