Effective website design is not easy, however it is necessary for any business. The fact that it is a necessity is the reason that many individuals opt to use a web design agency in order to get the very best website possible. However, this can be costly depending on the complexity of work required, which is why many CMS platforms give users all of the tools available to create their very own exciting website. Of course, the designs, the colours, the layout and the content is all up to you, but if you want your site to be a success, there are some things which you must avoid.
No Information Given
Within seconds of landing on your homepage, a visitor should know exactly who you are, what you do and why they would be interested in your product or service. We live in a world where there is more choice than ever before, and this has made people far less patient. If you want people to stay on your site once they get there, you have to give them the exact information they are after.
Overwhelming
A common mistake that so many people make is overwhelming the visitor with an abundance of information, content, calls to action and pop-ups. The key to keeping your visitor on-site is to keep things succinct and simple. If you do this then your bounce rate (which measures how often a person almost immediately left your page after clicking on it), will drop drastically.
Poor Navigation
You may think that it’s quirky and cool to have menus with submenus and a plethora of information on your header, but the truth is that people want to be able to easily navigate to what they want with ease. Keep your menus simple and get plenty of internal hyperlinks on your site so that users can easily skip from place to place on the site in a logical and efficient manner.
Wrong Colours
Colours are going to play a key role for your site, and it is important that you get the mixture of colours right, and that you understand what feelings different colours invoke. For example, a green website is usually associated with money, therefore it is important to choose colours that are linked with images/feelings that you want to associate with your company. Play around with different colours and styles until you get it right.
Computer Only
Mobile browsing levels are at the highest levels that they have ever been and therefore you can’t avoid optimizing your website for mobile use. A failure to do so will lose you a massive number of potential visitors who are using their phones to browse the web.
Poor Speed
As aforementioned, people have very little patience these days and that is why you must ensure that your website loads quickly, no matter which page has been clicked on. If potential customers have to wait more than 3 seconds for a page to load, then it is more than likely that people will be leaving your page. Plugins, large media or issues with your internal server are the key culprits for slowing a site down, and if you are suffering from this you should make sure to act as soon as possible.
Avoiding these mistakes will make sure you have an effective website design, as well as effective website performance.