Last updated on February 6th, 2024
Business websites aren’t for fancy. They exist to attract and engage prospective as well as existing customers. And that’s why you need to tackle the web design flaws that are rubbishing your digital marketing efforts. How? Here, we’ve shared the top 14 ways to rectify your web design flaws in the best possible way.
Research published in the Journal of Systems and Information Technology confirmed that web design has a positive influence on online consumer’s perceptions and behaviors.
Unfortunately, many business owners overlook the website design component of their digital marketing strategies.
Although it is vital to have good content on your website, people notice your website design before they see the content.
People are less likely to check out your content if they’re put off by your website’s design. In that case, your website should help rather than hurt your business.
For Your Website To Increase In Profitability, It Must:
- Attract traffic
- Generate leads
- Increase sales
Hence, let’s figure out what can be done to overcome web design problems affecting your digital marketing strategies.
Some Web Design Flaws Affecting Your Digital Marketing Include:
01. Slow Loading Website
People have little patience for a slow-loading website page when there are other options available to them.
Also, the speed of your website affects your search engine rankings. When your website takes forever to load, your visitors leave, which increases your bounce rate and lowers your search engine rankings.
Fortunately, there are many tools to help you check and increase the loading speed of your website. Any website that takes over four seconds to load is slow.
Below Are The Ways To Increase The Loading Speed Of Your Website:
i. Deactivate Unused Plugins
Although plugins make websites operate smoothly, they can slow down the loading speed of pages. Locating and deactivating some plugins will speed up your site.
ii. Use External Hosts For Your Extensive Files
You can use external hosting platforms if your website cannot conveniently handle extensive files. For example, large video files occupy valuable space and slow down your website. In that case, you can use external hosts and create a video website.
iii. Enable Compression
One website design strategy is to enable file compression to help reduce load time.
iv. Choose The Right Host
Many hosting platforms offer different packages for websites. These web hosting platforms and their packages operate at different speeds. You, therefore, need to do your homework and select the best one for you.
v. Minify And Combine Files
The number of requests your websites make adds up and slows down your pages. Combining and minifying your files can create space by removing unnecessary codes and formatting.
vi. Enable Browser Caching
You can increase the speed of your website by enabling browser caching so your pages load faster the next time people visit your site.
Various web browsers use distinct caching mechanisms. So, you must compare different options, such as Brave and Firefox, when optimizing your website’s performance. Compare Brave vs. Firefox and other leading browsers to make an informed decision depending on your website’s needs and users’ preferences.
People need more time and loads of information to find online. The longer your site takes to display that information, the more likely your visitors will bounce.
02. Large Media Files
One thing that affects the speed of your website is the size of the media files.
But can you imagine a website without a media file? That website will contain only text guaranteed to bore people to death.
Not having media files on your website is out of the question. So, what can you find the balance between having media files on your website and improving the speed?
One way to use media files without affecting your website’s loading speed is to reduce their sizes and use external hosts.
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03. Poor Navigation
Some of the best-performing websites are those designed with tools to help users find answers to their questions.
When people visit a website, they cannot find every information they have on one page. They must use navigational tools on your site to move around.
Curiously, some businesses make it difficult for users to navigate their websites. Not being able to navigate a website frustrates users.
To Prevent Poor Navigation On Your Website, Note The Following:
- Avoid long forms
- Present fewer choices
- Employ civil language
- Be consistent
04. Mobile Unfriendly Website
All statistics show that mobile online users have taken over the internet. Any business website not accessed with a mobile device is missing out.
With all these statistics, many business owners still emphasize the desktop while designing a website. Bad mistake!
A website designed for mobile users will give your visitors a good customer experience, and this will help you rank higher on the search engines.
Mobiles differ from desktops. The information displayed on a large desktop screen takes on a much smaller shape on a mobile.
When you, therefore, design a website that is not optimized for mobile users, you are alienating millions of potential customers from seeing your content.
05. Too Much Content
There is a temptation for many website owners to create content all over their websites. But this is sometimes a bad idea.
Don’t get it wrong. There is no limit and no penalty to the number of content you can have on your website. Websites with more pages stand a better chance regarding landing pages for targeted keywords.
Try to find a balance between having too little content and having too much, which may end up overwhelming your audience.
It is vital to have a scalable website design, so it becomes easier to organize and manage all the pages.
06. No Headings
Headings are the titles that describe the content on a website. There are many kinds of headers depending on their use.
On a website, you categorize headers into six different classes: H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6. We consider the H1 the most important while the H6 is the least.
You must have noticed some websites with content containing no headers. It is a design flaw for a website to show content without headings.
One of the first things visitors to your website notice on your website is your headers. Headers tell your audience what the pages contain.
Headers help your users navigate your website. A heading lets a user know whether the entire article is worth reading.
The search engines also use headers to locate your content and rank your website pages according to people’s search intent.
So, Headers Are Great In A Website Design Because:
- Makes your website accessible.
- Great for mobile users.
- Helps identify your content.
- Makes your content easier to read.
- Helps in SEO.
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07. Too Many Pop-Ups
Most content marketers will tell you a million and one reasons pop-ups can help generate leads and increase sales.
While pop-ups are great digital marketing tools, abusing them can disrupt your users’ experience and hurt your business.
The best way to design your pop-ups is to use them at the right time to ensure that they do not interfere with your users’ experience.
When Designing Pop-Ups, You Must Note:
- Do not let the pop-ups appear too early for a recent visit to your site.
- Your pop-ups should not cover the main content.
- Do not use pop-ups that are hard to dismiss.
- Do not use pop-ups that make the chief articles non-responsive.
08. Putting Important Texts In Images
Texts and images play different roles on a website. But putting important text inside your images is a poor combination.
Images grab the attention of your readers, while texts are for the search engines and your audience.
For your pages to rank in search engines and people to find your content – separate the texts from the images.
For search engines to read your images, you must optimize them by using the alt text tools. This way, the search engines can identify your images and rank them accordingly.
09. Using Bad Images and Texts
Poor images and wrong texts can make your website appear amateurish. With many websites competing for attention, few people will want to stick with a site that looks unprofessional.
A recent survey found that 38 percent of visitors will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive.
A bad image can be too large for your website. Large images slow down the load time of your website and affect your search engine rankings.
To get the best out of your images, use image optimizing tools to reduce their sizes and put them in the correct formats.
There are different image formats used in a website designing. Selecting the correct format depends on the image you want to use.
Some Popular Image Formats Used In Website Design Include:
- PNG — The PNG format is used when you want high-quality transparent web pages in small files.
- TIFF — Although people use TIFF for their web designs, it is optimized for high-quality prints.
- EPS — The EPS format works best when you want to create a logo with the correct resolution. It is not ideal for website images.
- JPEG — The JPEG format is used when you want to reduce your images into small sizes. JPEG works mainly with online photos.
Wrong formats are a common web design flaw that results in bad-looking images or slow loading pages.
Like images, using the wrong fonts can be counter-productive. Always use legible fonts that can let your visitors communicate with your site.
10. Improper 404 Pages
I bet you didn’t like it the last time you clicked on a link, and it took you to a 404 page. A 404 page is an error message from the server to the user of inability to display the information sought.
Sometimes a 404 page is inevitable when you move, delete, or rename. The trick, therefore, is designing your website to manage the error message so the user will not get frustrated and leave.
A correct 404 error page should not be a dead-end but must contain a link redirecting the user to the right page.
11. Dull colors
Many experts believe that color is a vital communication tool used to influence our actions and reactions.
Colors Affect:
- Eye pressure
- Mood
- Concentration
- Metabolism
- Blood pressure
People will, therefore, instinctively leave a site with colors that produce negative psychological and physiological reactions from them.
Apart from affecting us directly, dull colors can make it difficult for users to see and read the information displayed on your website.
If you are not sure of the correct color combination for your website, contact a graphic designer. There are also web design courses that can help you create a site that will inspire potential customers.
12. Too Many Ads and Banners
You are more likely to chase website visitors away if you place too many ads and banners all over your internet page.
Do not sacrifice your need to make a quick buck for sustainable lead generation and brand growth.
The best way to use ads and banners is to confine them to a conspicuous area of your website where they do not interfere with your users’ experience.
Note, however, that the best ads and banners are those related to your field and will help users find solutions to their problems.
13. No Call-To-Action Buttons
Many businesses have lost potential customers who couldn’t find call-to-action buttons to help them take the next step in their buyer’s journey.
Call-to-Action (CTA’s) buttons inspire users to take action when using a website.
CTA’s May Come In Different Forms Like:
- Learn more buttons
- Contact form buttons
- A hyperlink
- Download buttons
- Subscription buttons
- Buying buttons
- Social sharing buttons
A website design without enough call-to-action buttons will find it hard to generate leads and convert potential customers.
14. Unsecured Website
All secured websites have the (HTTPS) certificate. Any website that does not show the (HTTPS) certificate is unsecured and drives away potential prospects.
Data security is a big deal in today’s world. People will not want to risk having their data stolen by interacting with an unsecured website.
Not getting an SSL certificate leaves your website and the information it contains vulnerable to attacks from hackers.
Apart from securing your data, the search engines prioritize websites with the SSL certificate over those without it.
To get a proper idea you have to check different website designs by checking out different websites, which you can easily find on the internet today. Also, you can increase websites Conversion Rates with the help of the best Digital Marketing Companies.
The best way to get traffic for your website is to make the website more attractive and informative so that more people can come to your website and they will try to check different pages in the website and you will get a lot of clicks with that.
You can also check the website of different agencies to make a perfect website or to improve your website and get an idea about it.
The Final Word
The design of your website matters and will affect all your other digital marketing efforts. The mistakes pointed out in this article are some common web design flaws preventing many business owners from meeting their marketing goals.
While having an attractive website is vital, making it functional and easy to use by your prospects is even better. A lot goes into the design of a website, but the bottom line is to create one that generates traffic and boosts conversion.
Many people who have flawed websites did not consult a professional website designer or web design company when building their site. If you avoid the same mistakes above, you’ll give your digital marketing a boost.