Top 10 Web Design Mistakes

Designing a website is more of an art and hobby for many than a technical challenge. For starters, there is no requirement for advanced computer expertise, and even children can create their own sites. There are many free web hosting services that can be availed of, with helpful tools that give amateurs the ability to personalize their website. If you have decided to design your own website, here are some mistakes you can avoid doing.

1. Overdoing the background design. Though creating a website should stimulate the digital artist in everyone, there should be moderation in the selection of design elements. Backgrounds are a great addition to place on a site, but complex ones, such as tiled repetitions of photos, are not recommended for use.

2. Wrong choice of colors. Most sites use plain backgrounds, in neutral colors, to avoid being too gaudy and simpler to read. The font color should be appropriate for the type of background. Avoid using neon colors.

3. Selecting the wrong fonts. If your website contains a lot of text information, you should choose the appropriate fonts for them. Larger fonts should be used for titles and headings, and other properly-sized fonts can follow for the body of the text. Usually, Times New Roman, Verdana, or Arial are used for sites as they are simpler and easier to read.

4. Not having structure or flow. Websites should be properly planned and thought of. Each page should have a corresponding link that appears on every page connected on the site. Whenever a visitor clicks to transfer to another page on your site, he or she should have the option of going back to the home page. Pages are not haphazardly placed, as they need a flow in which relevant information can easily be understood by the visitor.

5. Being too flashy. Avoid using scrolling marquees or moving fonts unless necessary. Text effects such as blinking and flashing may be annoying to most visitors, so they will be unable to read important things on your site.

6. Improperly used frames. Frames are supposed to make a website easier to navigate through, but in many cases, when frames are misused, they tend to display no information at all. Some browsers don’t support frames, so a visitor may end up not being able to open your website.

7. Lack of authority. When displaying information on your site, avoid putting negative comments about it, such as stating how useless or stupid the stuff is. As the publisher and owner of the site, you should be confident about posting your content, so visitors will want to read more.

8. Problems with links. Since links are used to direct visitors to the right pages to find the stuff they need, make sure your links are properly tagged and point to somewhere. Nobody wants to click on a link only to get a “This page cannot be displayed” sign.

9. Excessive advertising. Many web masters use advertisements to make their sites more popular, or to generate income from the advertisers. However, it is unethical to bombard a site with too many banners and links to advertisers. The visitor may lose interest in reading what you have to offer.

10. Outdated websites. As a web master, be sure to regularly update your site, as information may tend to change from time to time. Most visitors may not think your site is reliable if they see that the content is not updated.

Creating a website is a task that many people can do. Given the right information and techniques, anyone can make a site that visitors will want to keep coming back to. These are only a few of the no-no’s to remember about web design, and there are actually more. Check out as many resources as you can, and get started on making a website that clicks.

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