Top 10 Web Design Mistakes (Part 2)
The World Wide Web is a wide-open virtual geography. And that cyberspace is filled with countless hundreds of million of websites. Some of those websites represent cutting edge website design and common-sense structure. Unfortunately, many more websites represent less than impressive web template design. The thing is, because it’s so easy to put up a website, many companies, churches and organizations don’t take the time to really consider publishing a website that stands out online.
The Web is full of websites that offer less than stellar webpage design. These are the websites featuring cookie-cutter design you see over and over again in the Web. And some websites opt for design schemes that are nothing less than atrocious. And this is a shame; because in this day and age, web templates represent a very affordable way to make your website design into something truly outstanding. And best of all, you can preview these pre-formatted web templates, whether they be church templates, business templates, or personal templates long before you purchase them. So, unlike custom website design, you see what you’re getting before you purchase it. And of course, with a web template you also get an attractive, well-structured website template for thousands less than it would cost you to have a site custom developed from scratch.
So perhaps you feel it’s “in you” to design a website of your own. Or maybe you want to know what to look for, and what to “look out” for when choosing amongst web templates available online. Well this, the second half of our top 10 web design gaffs will certainly help. Continuing from our earlier piece on top 10 mistakes in web template design, we’re putting forward our list of the most common errors we find online. With this list we hope you’ll be warned and informed- all in one shot.
6.) Poor Website Structure
When someone comes across a website they do so with certain pre-established expectations for how things are going to be laid out. It’s generally a good idea not to mess with this expectation to too great a degree. If you do you’re going to frustrate your surfing visitor. And that’s just not good business practice. People will only put up with having to hunt for the site navigation for so long. After a few minutes they will vacate the virtual premises- guaranteed. So help yourself help them- aim for web template navigation that is “common-sensical”. And if you really do want to try something unique, keep it simple. People will put up with an original idea because it may be interesting. But they still need to figure out how to get around a site within a finite amount of time.
7.) Scroll That’s Out of Control
One of the tricks to good website design come early on- when a designer picks the dimensions of a new website template. As a general rule, as time goes on people’s computer screens are getting larger. That being said, you still have to pick dimensions that are going to render well in a variety of screen sizes. Many web template design companies opt for a “breathing space” technique to deal with the issue of screen and resolution proportions. What this refers to is the practice of leaving room on either side of a centered template that will allow the central template to still land front and center in a variety of screens. The breathing space prevents “scroll that’s out of control”.
Its one thing to expect vertical scrolling. This is a convention people expect. Even here though, it’s good to remember that there’s nothing wrong with continuing on a second page, rather than scrolling ad infinitum. Besides, search engines will only scroll through so much data per page. So keep that in mind. That’s for vertical scrolling. But when it comes to horizontal scrolling one should really try and avoid it all together. It can be SO TEDIOUS to have to scroll rightward on every single line, just to read an article or to view a collection of images.
8.) Poor Contrast Between Text and Background
You notice here that I haven’t specifically indicated too much contrast, or too little. Why? Well because both can be a problem. We’re certainly all familiar with the experience of coming across a webpage that displays blue font, or blue links against an already bluish page. This is not fun. You can feel your eyes straining to make out the writing almost immediately. This isn’t just true for blue on blue, it’s also true whenever you lack sufficient contrast between the font color and the background color. Even a dark blue against a dark red is going to be horrendous for reading.
But what’s true for too little contrast is also true for too much contrast. This may seem counter-intuitive at first. Why? Well because stark contrast helps text to stand out from a background. True. But the thing is, too much contrast can also strain your eyes- because your vision has a hard time finding a middle ground. Your eyes will constantly try and adjust between, for example, a dark background and light foreground text. Your best advised to aim for middle ground. For example, try white text against a dark grey, rather than midnight black background. Believe me, your website audience or customers will be much happier if you follow this general guideline.
9.) Lack of a Consistent Web Template Theme
While poor design is a crime all its own. Another problem with website design, even when its done relatively well, is when various pages of a website don’t share a common web template these. You know what I’m talking about? Those websites where you scroll around and actually have to look at the URL window just to confirm that you’re still on the same website. Why? Well, because the overall layout and color schemes of the site change from page to page. This is a major no-no. Really. Please try and avoid this. You see, web templates are great not just for efficient website management, but also for website visitation. Templates hold everything together- even for sites offering very diverse collections of products, services, or information.
10.) Excessive Pop-ups
Thankfully, this is a practice that is diminishing over time. But its still surprising you come across it. Even some pretty mainstream news organizations still opt for pop-up advertisements. To me, this is poor website management. You’re much better off displaying ads along with your content in static fashion. This puts your website visitor in the driver’s seat. You let them make the decision as to whether or not they want to investigate your advertisers’ products and services.
The thing is, in the latest iterations of most web browsers people can disable pop-ups altogether. Why is this? Well, because in previous years this was a major problem. Particularly spammy sites would effectively “lock” you on a page by throwing pop-up after pop-up your way. These pop-ups would come so fast that they’d overwhelm your computer- forcing you to control, alt, delete. Remember those days? Thankfully, times have changed. But please, when possible, stay clear of pop-ups. The come across as invasive at the best of times. If you want to capture you audience’s attention do so with well-placed, well-designed portions of your webpage; that’s plenty to catch their eye.
Concluding Thoughts
So there you have it! This concludes our collection of top 10 web design gaffs found online. Steer clear of these common mistakes and you’ll be well on your way to offering a website design that works for you, rather than against you. But remember, even website design tips such as these are just the tip of the iceberg. If website design really isn’t your strong suit, why suffer only to create something that you yourself would confess is mediocre. Pre-formatted web templates serve as the ideal option for people looking to create impressive, well-structured websites at costs that are more than reasonable. So that gives you plenty to chew on. Happy site-building to you! |
