When it comes to establishing an online presence, avoiding web design mistakes is crucial. A staggering 75% of users form their opinion of a company’s credibility based on the website’s design alone.
This means that your website, often the initial point of interaction with customers, needs to project professionalism to distinguish your business as a trusted authority rather than a questionable entity. If you are looking to design a website, be sure to follow these tips from experts.
1. Julia McCoy
President of Content at Scale
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliaemccoy
Using the right AI can tremendously change and improve a content marketing team’s efficiency. In Content at Scale, one of the early tasks I did with our founder was change up our content marketing process to go from a lot of human work to as AI-driven as possible. We’re an AI company, after all, so it made sense for us to be a case study of the product we sell. In the end, we completely switched up our content marketing production process to be nearly 25x more efficient, which is absolutely insane–I used to run a high-volume production content agency, and it would take 25x the people to create 80-100 pieces of high quality content which is the output we’re experiencing today with just two people driving the AI (Content at Scale). Because our AI tool does all the real-time research, crawls Google, finds the best content for any given topic, writes the meta description and title, FAQ schema, and even automates the process of publishing to our website, we have removed the need for a ton of human work while still publishing a ton of humanlike content. It’s amazing to see content going out so consistently at quality levels without the need for human burnout or pushing creative writers past their limits.
2. Alex Meyerhans
CEO at GetMeLinks
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alejandro-meyerhans/
The most painful web design mistake I see is compromising performance for the sake of aesthetics. Is that little parallax thing there so important and does that box really need to behave that way and do we need these 17 plugins to do this function or can we live with a slightly simpler alternative that’s 20 times faster?
When we audit sites for SEO performance, it’s clear as day any site answering under 200ms for the TTFB and loading in 1 second 1) ranks better and 2) converts more.
Keep it light, keep it tight, and the site will do the job better.
Which, after all, is why we do design in the first place.
3. Omar Elshiltawi
Founder of IdeaApe
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omar-elshiltawi/
Having won multiple web design and web development awards, the biggest mistake I see is not aligning the web design with the web development – designing things that can’t be developed, or if they can be developed, they will heavily impact performance. Aesthetics are important, but the website’s goal is to convert.
4. Daniel Stanica
Founder of Competico.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielstn/
From a digital marketing perspective, a website should have a well-established place in the marketing funnel. I’ve seen many websites that look awesome, take advantage of the latest web design trends, and are easy to navigate but lack their main purpose: to make visitors take action: make a purchase, call, send an inquiry, or leave their contact details.
That’s why I recommend everyone have a strong call to action on their website that invites users to take the next step after visiting the website. Microsoft Clarity is a free tool that helps you analyze how users interact with your website. It creates heatmaps and records user sessions so you can ‘look over the shoulder’ of your visitors and analyze their behavior so you can tweak your website according to their needs and expectations.
5. Ffion Wright
Owner: ffionwright.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ffionwright/
Mistake: Spending too much of your time on your design
As an aspiring entrepreneur starting her own blog – I’ve spent countless hours on my website design, mistakenly thinking every aspect of the website had to be perfect before I could start anything else. This meant I wasted a lot of time messing about with animations and colours when I could have been building connections, getting backlinks, and most importantly – writing content.
Of course, we all know design is important; your website needs to be visually appealing and optimized for SEO. However, if you’re a perfectionist like me, you need to realize that you’ll never be fully satisfied with the design. It’s better to hit the checklist of what needs to be on your website, move on to more important tasks, and come back to your design later on. You may even have a completely different visual for it once you’ve started to really build your brand, so it’s important not to spend too much time on it at the beginning.
6. Praveen Kumar
Chief Decision Maker at Wild Creek Web Studio
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/spk100
Mistake: Not putting the users in the front.
I have worked with a lot of clients who want the design as per their likes and preferences but they do not think about how the end user will perceive the layout. This often results in a page that does not help with conversions or leads. After a few months, it’s back to square one and the page is once again re-designed. Putting the user experience at the forefront of any design not only saves development time and cost, it is also eliminates the need for going back and forth and at the same time ensures the business goals are also met quickly and fairly easily, because the users are able to get the right information with minimal effort.
7. Kristian Larsen
Digital Marketing Specialist at Kristian Larsen
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristianlarsen0/
Think about how users will navigate your site. A great tip is to ask 2-3 friends to use your website without any guidance. Give them a specific task to complete and watch how they move through the site. Have them “voice” their thoughts and actions as they go.
This will give you valuable feedback on what works and what doesn’t. It’s a simple way to see your site from a user’s perspective and make necessary improvements.
8. Dhruv Shah
SEO Manager at Forge Digital Marketing
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhruv-shah-68b837152/
Avoid common web design mistakes to ensure a seamless user experience. A cluttered layout can overwhelm visitors, so keep your design clean and prioritize essential elements, utilizing whitespace effectively. Intuitive and consistent navigation is crucial, allowing users to find what they’re looking for without frustration. Additionally, slow load times can drive users away; optimize images and use efficient coding practices to speed up your site.
Ensuring your website is fully responsive is essential, as users access sites on various devices, including smartphones and tablets. Consistent branding across fonts, colors, and styles builds trust and enhances brand recognition. Lastly, don’t neglect accessibility; design with all users in mind, including those with disabilities, to create an inclusive and user-friendly experience.
9. Bogdan Krstic
Founder at Krstic SEO
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bogdan-krstic-9882591b5/
When building their websites, many business owners, whether they hire out or DIY, compromise on some of the most critical elements of marketing for the sake of the site “looking good”:
- Looks matter, but so does speed. If the site is bloated with code, it will be slow. Most internet users do not wait past 3 seconds for a website to load. Think about it, why should they wait for a website that loads forever when there are dozens of alternatives out there available? If the site is on WordPress, free plugin like Airlift can help push the load time under 2 seconds for most sites.
- Tons of bloated, unnecessary code makes the site harder to read by Google. Google likes when a site is easy to read. That’s why there are examples of HTML-only sites ranking much faster than WordPress site. Reading sites’ code is consuming for Google. It takes resources and money. The easier you make it for them to accomplish this, the better off you’ll be.
- Most people begin their “buyer’s journey” on a mobile device. Over half of all internet traffic is on mobile phones. Yet, even in 2024, most sites are poorly optimized for mobile phones. Elements go off screen; text is too big or small. Load time is terrible. This is probably the biggest, yet most common, mistake on this entire list.
- Not following AIDA model. Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. Yes, looks matter, but all of the content, from your heading to the last sentence at the bottom of the page, needs to follow AIDA. This means a big, bold headline that calls out the customers’ problems right away and provides an instant solution: “Need More Calls on a Budget? Get Our FREE SEO Audit!” And then a CTA button would be left below. Then, throughout the page, getting them interested is the first part. Call out all of their problems and how they can find a solution with numerous benefits on that page. Then comes the Desire section – how the existing customers benefited and changed their lives. Action should be just one big CTA at the end.
10. Abhinav Puri
SEO Analyst at Dreamcast
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinav-puri-/
Don’t sabotage your website: 2 web design mistakes you should fix now
Is your website a work of art… that no one visits? Don’t let these common design mistakes put you off:
- Navigation nightmare: Imagine getting lost in a maze – that’s what a confusing website feels like. Keep menus simple, use clear labelling and make sure visitors can easily find what they need.
- The speed demon became a snail: nobody likes to wait! Optimise images and code to make sure your website loads lightning-fast. Remember that impatient visitors won’t hesitate to click away.
By prioritizing usability with clear navigation and fast performance, you can turn your website from a desert island into a thriving online destination.
11. Glenn Broome
Founder – glennbroome.com
Linkedin – https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenn-broome-584a8317/
Mistake: Poor Mobile Responsiveness
With the increasing use of smartphones and tablets, a website that doesn’t adapt to various screen sizes can frustrate users and drive them away. Mobile users expect a seamless experience, and if they encounter issues such as tiny text, unclickable buttons, or misaligned elements, they’re likely to leave and never return.
To avoid this mistake, implement a responsive design approach. Use flexible grids, layouts and scalable images, to ensure your site adjusts smoothly to different screen sizes. Most web design tools and design review software allow you to easily test and switch between modes so ensure you use this feature and test your design on multiple devices to catch and correct any issues. This not only improves user experience but also boosts your site’s SEO, as search engines favor mobile-friendly websites. Instead of a rigid, desktop-only design, embrace a flexible, user-centric approach to accommodate all visitors.
