I thought after I was reading a few websites that I would address some common mistakes I see in web design layouts. I am not too much of a stickler about being valid, but more on the design issues as those are what people catch.
1. Margins. I cannot express the times I have been to websites and the margins between images, the browser itself, or other elements within the layout are either too far apart, over lapping, or way too close. Whitespacing is obviously an art in itself.
2. Bulky site. Too many graphics or too many large graphics.
3. Colors. Some sites, the colors are absolutely atrocious. For those who are unsure of what looks great together, try Colourlovers.com for some great palettes.
4. Too Simple of a design. Sometimes simplicity is great, but too simple and it can detract from the reader’s experience. Remember, a website is like a business card. Sometimes having an interesting one will stick in your reader’s mind more than others that they have gone to.
5. Inability to navigate easily. Some type of navigation should be clearly placed. With WordPress users, WP-PageNavi and Yoast Breadcrumbs are great tools to incorporate into layouts. They allow people to always know where they are on the site and can find a way back.
6. Too many scripts. Like images, too many scripts operating at the same time can be a real drag on load time. Make sure to choose ones you believe are really necessary. This goes for plugins as well.
7. Too many advertisements. Monetizing a site is a great way to make some cash, but too many ads, and your visitors might feel spammed. Your visitors are on your site for the content, not to be blasted by your advertisements.
8. Inconsistent fonts. While making different sections have different fonts, too many can detract from the layout. Keep it consistent and to no more than a couple choices.
9. Header tags are wonky. There are times when I have gone to websites and h1 tags are huge as well as h2, h3, and so on. Keep these varied and tasteful. Also, try not to vary the, no text tranform, uppercase and lowercase on text transforming in your CSS. Plan to choose one.
10. Not a memorable main graphic. Whether it is a logo or a special image, if it is too small, too plain, or sub par on design, you might not be putting your best foot forward. You do not want your logo too small or where next to it is a huge banner. Your visitors may get the idea that your banner is more important than you trying to brand yourself properly.
What mistakes do you often see when you visit websites?
Yes I agree with this, before downloading themes for your site, you have things to consider first, so that your site will not look too boring or too much.. this post really help those who are on their way publishing their first blog.. keep it up and more power!
Rally great and basic suggestions. My question is should I look for every post from these point of view ?
Since you ask, most of the time I encounter problem with bulky website in the sense that it has a lot of graphics on it. Most of the time when I check it in pingdom usually it took more than 10 seconds to load which is really bad for SERP and also for the readers.
Great post! I didn’t know that scripts can effect loading time.
I believe a good design should be simple and attractive at the same time with easily accessible layouts. Thank God, there are so many places to get great themes nowadays!
Weldone, keep it up
Joseph
You provide us really good techniques of Web Design. This was a clear and concise explanation of a topic that is pretty hot right now. Thanks for a great article which shines a light on an interesting subject. I’ll be staying tuned for more articles just like this one in the future.
I’ve been trying to extract more information on this topic. I think its very important to be well informed and try not to commit these mistakes while creating a blog. As far as advertisements are concerned new blogs will take time to have ads pasted all over the page. Its actually annoying to browse a page which doesn’t give importance to the content/article, how do we differentiate the post when the whole page is pasted with advertisements? The other factors mentioned in the post are also equally important.
Of all the items on your list, items 2, 5, and 7 are my pet peeves, with item 7 the worst among them. Overloading a page with advertisements simply spells “The author is desperate for cash.” Putting too many graphic elements on a page spells “The author doesn’t know that I’m hear to read, not to look at eye candy.” And, poor navigability simply spells “The author is too lazy to make it easy for me to find the information that I’m looking for on her/his site.”
This is totally useless for me cuz I dont use Genesis but I LOVE these kinds of posts.This is the kind of thing I write up just in case some poor schlub after me is trying to do this very same thing.
great, i found http://www.colourlovers.com particularly useful
Excellent list. One of my pet hates is sites that use small (hard to read) text. White print on dark backgrounds and flashing banners are also turn offs.
Most visitors will arrive at a post on your site that hopefully matched their search query so content is key. If the post title and first paragraph don’t answer the question they will probably leave.
Awesome post, mostly designer make these mistake while designing a website. I suggest designer to read this post.
Thanks
Hello Nile I liked your great blog post on 10 Mistakes In Web Design To Look Out For. Exactly what I was looking for.
I disagree with simplistic websites. I find that if done correctly, a simple website can be far more effective than even the most elaborate (though beautiful!) websites.
beautiful things comes in creative mind people that’s the rare facts and figured.
nice suggestion. me, i prefer black and white theme. so clean.
Make sure to include contact details: there is nothing worse than a website that has no contact details. This is not bad only for the visitors, but also for yourself. You might lose important feedback along the way.
Depends on contact details… if you use a form, this is better than outright placing your email address, especially when it comes to spam. However… this is a content issue, not a web design issue.