Whether you are a web designer or a business owner, you should know by now that website design and content go hand in hand. How you can combine the two has a massive impact on your customers’ experience and conversion rate.
Knowing how to design your website to enhance the content is of crucial importance for business success. That is why you should take a look at the following most common website design mistakes that can have a negative effect on your content.
1. Disregarding whitespace
That empty space between text, graphics, or margins can be fundamental for good web design.
If you overcrowd the website, the users won’t be able to recognize what they should focus on and will quickly lose interest.
Some of the benefits of using whitespace are:
- Increasing interaction by eliminating distractions
- Highlighting call to actions
- Improving legibility
- Separating unrelated elements
- Adding a sense of elegance to the website
The next time you think of overlooking whitespace, just remember all these benefits.
2. Making typography mistakes
You may think that this should go without saying, but it is surprising how many times I have come across typography mistakes on active websites.
Here is what you shouldn’t do when it comes to typography:
- Overusing capitals – Capitals are often used for emphasizing certain information. However, if you abuse them it will signify shouting and anger to the reader.
- Using illegible font – Even you love how a certain font looks if it’s hard to read, forget about it. You should never sacrifice readability for aesthetics.
- Mixing fonts – If you use more than one or two fonts it will distract the readers from the message. Consistency is the key to clear content.
- Forgetting to proofread and edit – No one should even upload any type of content before checking it first. With the help of some online tools such as WowGrade, you can get this done quickly and professionally.
Now that you are aware of these “typography gone wrong” cases, you’ll know what to pay attention to.
3. Using the same size for all elements
Applying the same size font, images, and photo boxes for each website element will kill the users’ interest.
Consistency should have its limits and this is where the line should be drawn.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that you should go overboard with different sizes but you don’t want to lose the users because of content monotony.
Different size fonts or images help the user to determine what is more important and it emphasizes visual hierarchy.
When it comes to images, you don’t even have to change the website template if you want to play with their sizes. All you need to do is to zoom in or zoom out the image in the picture box and that will create different effects.
4. Applying a confusing color scheme
Colors can be the design’s best friend of its biggest enemy. The color scheme is a vital factor in visual processing.
Just think about how many times you have made a decision based on the color of the product? People gravitate towards visually pleasing things and the website design is no exception.
Avoid chaotic color schemes, as well as too many neon or bright colors if you don’t want to chase the users away.
When picking the color combo, think about what will enhance the content and make it easier to understand.
For inspiration, take a look at these color schemes from award-winning websites.
5. Not paying attention to the navigation
There is more to a website than how it looks. It needs to be usable as well.
Users want to have a certain type of experience once they come across a website. Without clear navigation, they will quickly give up on their pursuit.
You’ll know that the website’s navigation is good if it’s easy for user’s to find what they need. They should also be able to go through the website’s pages without being misled or distracted.
Do a navigation test by asking someone to try out the website. Give them a task to find something on it and watch how much time they’ll need.
6. Adding low-resolution, irrelevant images
The images should complement the content. If they don’t, they are not suitable for your website.
Don’t add images just for the sake of having some visuals. Their use is to clarify and enhance the text. You won’t be able to accomplish that with low-resolution or irrelevant images.
A random, poor resolution image will send the message that you aren’t credible and you don’t care about providing quality.
What can also negatively affect the site’s performance is too many images. Crowding the website with symbols, images, or graphs can confuse the users.
7. Using a non-responsive website design
If your website isn’t responsive, the users will get discouraged from the very start and leave the site.
Take into consideration that up to 70% of web traffic happens on a mobile device. Not to mention that 89% of people are likely to recommend a brand after a positive brand experience on mobile.
As you can tell, a mobile-friendly experience plays a huge role when it comes to user experience.
Without responsive design, your content won’t be presentable and you won’t be able to show the users what you have to offer.
Conclusion
Even if you are guilty of making some of these mistakes, don’t beat yourself up. The important thing is that you want to learn and improve your website design.
With a few simple changes such as these, you can remove all the bad and keep all the good elements. Keep in mind that the content and design should always complement each other.
Adriana Veasey is a content writer and editor at Study Ton. She has years of experience in different writing niches. Adriana uses her knowledge to help web designers and business owners to perfect their website content.
