Web design is a skill that nearly everyone can learn, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is good at it. People often learn web design in order to design their own websites, or to make money on the side; but unfortunately people don’t always take the time to master the skill. Here are some amateur web design mistakes that should be avoided.
Long Paragraphs
Web readers have short attention spans, and it is difficult to read long chunks of text while sitting at a computer. Websites should make use of short paragraphs, bullet points, and headlines in order to make the reading experience more enjoyable.
Music on Websites
This fad was popular in the mid-90’s but now it is just seen as unprofessional when a site loads up with music blasting and there is no way to turn it off. People often browse the web at work, while watching TV, or listening to their own music so it can be quite the turn off to have music start as soon as the page loads.
Blinking Text and Animations
Blinking text and animations are another throw back to the 90’s. New web designers may be impressed by their animation skills, but in reality this can make a site look extremely amateur. Additionally, animated advertisements can be a distraction and make users want to leave the site.
Tiny and Colored Fonts
Tiny fonts sometimes look really good on the screen but unfortunately people can’t always read it. If a user can’t read the site, they will click off and go somewhere else. Using colored fonts can also make it hard to read especially if the web designer uses a light font on a light background or a dark font on a dark background.
New Browser Windows
Opening new browser windows for every page on the site is quite annoying for the user. When users browse a site, they don’t need to have ten windows open. Instead, new windows should only be used for links that take the user off to an external site.
Doorway Pages
Doorway pages are sometimes used for unscrupulous SEO tactics called blackhat SEO, or by people who want to show off their Flash design skills. Unfortunately doorway pages don’t add any value to the user, it just adds one more step to the process of getting to the actual site. In most cases, doorway pages should be avoided.
Undisclosed PDF Files
PDF files can make a great addition to a website, especially for marketing purposes, but there needs to be text to tell the user they are about to click on a PDF. PDF files can often freeze computer screens so it’s best to disclose it before the user clicks and finds out.
Unreadable CAPTCHA’s
CAPTCHA’s are necessary in this day and age to avoid spam, but sometimes they are nearly impossible for the average human being to read. Do not use any CAPTCHA’s that will frustrate the average user.
Avoiding these web design mistakes, as well as getting feedback from professionals can help avoid designing an ugly website.
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