Common Web Design Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Many business owners have long realized the importance of their website. But a good site is literally more important right now than it has ever been before. And with many businesses forced to close their doors in response to the coronavirus, companies are depending upon a strong online presence to stay afloat in this unique and unprecedented time. 

While people are spending more time online than ever before, their level of patience hasn’t necessarily followed that trend. If you aren’t greeting visitors with a well-designed website, you could be losing leads or potential customers. As you’re evaluating your current website, here some common web design mistakes you want to make sure you avoid. 

5 Common Web Design Mistakes

A well designed website is a work of art, and it will more than pay for itself over time. But it’s critical to get the design right to keep your audience from clicking away from your homepage. Here are some of the most common web design mistakes we’ve seen.

Mistake #1: All form, no function

Just because your website has a beautiful design doesn’t mean it’s easy to use. It’s easy to focus so much on how your website looks that you forget it also needs to be simple and intuitive to use. Is it easy for users to navigate your site, read all of the print, and find what they’re looking for quickly? If not, why would you expect visitors to stay for very long?

Mistake #2: Lack of white space

Less can be more, and this is always true with your website. Sufficient white space makes your site easier to read and use. It also allows you to focus your visitors’ eyes exactly where you want them to look. If your site doesn’t use white space well, you could be missing opportunities to help users find exactly what they need.

Mistake #3: Slow load times

This one is pretty self explanatory, but if your website takes forever to load, you are going to lose visitors. There are too many other websites available on the internet that people aren’t going to wait around on a slow website. 

Mistake #4: Unresponsive design

Your audience is going to be coming to your website from a variety of devices: a mobile phone, a laptop, or a tablet. Part of a successful web design includes responsive design. This means your website can respond to any screen your audience is using. You also want to test your website on many different screens to make sure it looks good and is easy to use and navigate.

Mistake #5: No plan for lead generation

The entire purpose of your website (and of your site’s design) is to convert visitors into leads that could then become customers. Your website needs to be designed with this purpose in mind. Make it easy for users to follow the path you want them to follow. For example, if a visitor comes to your pricing page, include a clear CTA for them to see a demo, get more detailed pricing information, or see a personalized quote. 

How Growth-Driven Design Eliminates These Mistakes

The traditional web design model is broken. It takes far too long, is cumbersome, and rarely ends with customers getting the exact website they want for their business. And by the time the web design process is complete, it’s likely the finished product no longer meets the exact needs and requirements of the business and its customers. In short, the process isn’t as agile or streamlined as it should be, and it leaves everyone wishing there was a better way. 

Enter growth-driven design, a web design process that involves building out pages of your website in much less time. Basically, each month is devoted to building a new page or adapting, changing, or developing your website to make sure it is running and performing as well as possible. 

The growth-driven design process addresses many of the issues that come with traditional web design. Because you are working with a web design and development team on a monthly basis, they are much more able to know what your site needs in real time. You have the ability to test and analyze the performance of certain pages or CTAs and keep making measured adjustments to convert on a regular basis. This process also keeps you from adding pages or features that you later realized are cumbersome, unnecessary, or a hindrance to your load time. 

Growth-Driven Design and Your Business’s Website

With growth-driven design, you’re able to build a robust, intentional website that is quick to meet your customers’ needs without any unnecessary fluff — it allows you to have form and function. Are you interested in building a site that works for your business? We’d love to talk with you.