In simple words your website is your virtual home. That’s where you live on the web-world. That’s how people reach you. Hence, making mistakes with your home details, dÈcor or location isn’t a good idea, right? Here are 10 website design mistakes that you must avoid:

1. Your Logo

If you already have a website, then it’s important to have your own logo as well. The logo explains your brand identity and is a must. In a bid to cluster websites with content, web designers often omit the presence of a Logo on the site. But this is important. Try placing it at the top of your website, and it does make a good impression on the user.

2. Simple – Light Pages

The other design problem is this message ‘Download this tool – xyz – to view this website’. No one likes to be interrupted in a conversation and the same case is seen while a user is browsing your website. The user – website interaction is something like a conversation and hence, asking him to download this or download that JUST to view your website content is not going to go down well with your user. I know of many sites that say ‘download the latest Java updates to view the website’ – and you know what – the user simply leaves.

3. Too Much Content Together

Break up your content into parts; make bullets or small drafts of information with interesting titles that make it easier for the user to read and enjoy your content.

Again, what you say and how you say it counts a lot. You should not be verbose and at the same time, you should be able provide valuable information and hence, content writing becomes an important segment of your entire website development.

4. Inappropriate Font Size

Let’s look at points 3 and 4 together. First, look at this image:

This is exactly how the user feels when the website design does not support a good font size and throws just about too much content on the poor user. He feels confused, lost, irritated and simply leaves the site to find answers elsewhere.

It’s important for us to have the right font size and the right break up of content on our website for the user to be able to read properly and comprehend the valuable information that you want to send out to him.

5. Advertisement ‘Type’ Content

We are not averse to marketing and advertising – neither your own, nor those placed for commercial benefits. The problem is in content that is displayed like an ad!

Research shows that people are so accustomed to looking at advertisements that they easily turn a blind eye to them. Hence, the way you display your content is of prime importance. If you are putting important information like ‘Contact us here’, on the top right corner like an advertisement, then chances are that people WILL overlook the information.

So, advertising is fine – just don’t let it affect the way you think and display your content!

6. What’s Your Color?

The color is again very, very important. The website design has to take utmost care of the colors that are used to because they reflect various factors like professionalism and your brand identity. People associate the brands with your colors and website color scheme. While making your website, try not neglect the importance of the colors you chose. Be specific, not random!

7. No Images

A website with no images is something utterly boring. Trust us on that! Because it has lesser visual appeal; this doesn’t go down very positively with the user. If yours is a university website showcasing only ‘exam results’, then it’s a different scenario! But if yours is a website that is trying to communicate more than textual information and is trying to build a relationship with the user, then there has to be more to it.

Images are needed but that doesn’t mean you stuff your site with a list of blinky – flashy images. The point is the awaken interest and not to irritate the user. You are the best judge at the end of the day; see what you can do with images!

8. Navigation On Your Site

We’re putting this down as the 8th point not because it’s less important, but because it’s pretty evident that we all MUST be aware of the importance of navigation. Either use the regular vertical navigation tools on the left hand side corner, or use it as a horizontal tab on the top of your site. This makes it easy for the website to be explored.

Moreover, your navigation should lead the user to all the relevant information that they should be aware of. Things like who you are (about page), how to get in touch with you (contact page), latest updates (or the news page), etc. Navigation should therefore bridge all the gaps between the user and the website, helping to build the bond.

9. and 10. The Search Options – on your site and on the search engine

There are two ways in which search influences the website design:

• Searching On Your Website
• Searching For Your Website

In both these cases, your website design should be supportive. Your website design should not have the flaw of poor search. People should be easily able to find things on your site. Information, tags, past records, content, terms, and any other form of communication. Try using the search yourself and experience if, if you have a doubt. But be sure to give your user the best search experience.

The other aspect is searching for your site. That’s something a user or a prospective user will do and hence, your titles and pages should be search engine friendly. Starting with something like ‘The Ö.’ Or ‘WelcomeÖ.’ Will have you listed in ‘T’ and ‘W’ pages. Instead of that, be relevant to your own work and your keywords.

And that completes are 10 points on web design mistakes that you mustn’t make. There are still many more because there certainly no rule that says ‘these are the mistakes’ :D With website designing you also need to take care of coding factors, layout and various nuances. Simply keep it ‘simple’, with clarity that explains your virtual identity.