To survive today’s online competition, you need an awesome website. Many business owners make the same common mistakes when it comes to designing their websites, and this can lead to online obscurity!
Read on to find out the top 5 mistakes to avoid in your web design mockup.
Mistake #1: Overcomplicating
When designing your website, and especially when you are trying to do it yourself, it is very easy to overcomplicate the design.
Complex websites are fine, but if you overdo it during web design mockup, you might end up with something that can’t be implemented or that it’s just plain ugly. Thankfully, you can fix all that by using a website design system or teaming up with a web design firm.
For a comprehensive website planning system, check out Slickplan. It’s an intuitive app that empowers users to focus on creating awesome websites for all purposes.
Mistake #2: Relying on Heavy Images and Videos
During web design mockup, you may be tempted to fill your site with tons of videos and attractive images. These would certainly look good, right?
Well, the problem is that heavy images eat up bandwidth, which can burden your servers and slow down the experience of your visitors. What’s even worse is that if you overdo it, you can build a site that is virtually inaccessible if more than a handful of people visit it at any given time!
Mistake #3: Focusing on Form Over Substance
Yes, your site must be attractive, but never at the expense of functionality. Many amateur designers omit essential things like search boxes, H1 tags, metadata and even sitemaps, while focusing on fancy visuals.
Needless to say, this leads to a very poor user experience, and it’s not always apparent during web design mockup phase.
When in doubt, try to think of the best and the worst sites you have visited. Which features made them be the worst and the best respectively? Does your site have these as well?
Mistake #4: Not Being Consistent
Usability goes hand in hand with consistency. Your web interface should be consistent across all pages, as well as your content and the overall site functionality.
Moreover, screen resolution, font size and almost every other design parameter should also be consistent from page to page. This must hold true even when your site is accessed from smartphones and other mobile devices.
Mistake #5: Utilizing Popups (and Other Obtrusive Features)
While popups have always been undesirable, modern mobile-friendly guidelines make them essentially a no-go for a web design mockup. Virtually every interstitial advertisement should be avoided as it interferes with the user experience.
Other obtrusive features are automatic music in the background (even worse if there is no obvious way to stop it), automatic videos, unskippable introductions and ad blocker blockers.
Need Professional Web Design?
Finally, remember that you don’t have to handle web design yourself. Team up with a reputable digital publication firm such as Crazyleaf Design to ensure your website is up to scratch.
Contact us today to find out how you can leverage decades of experience to make your website as usable and as attractive as it can truly be!
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