Web design can be very subjective. Some people believe super sleek modern designs are the best way to grab attention. Others, like Craigslist, focus on simplicity and functionality for visitors to find what they are looking for. Depending on your business or industry, different aspects of web design may work best for you. However, there are still mistakes that no website should make no matter what their purpose is. Below we present the seven deadly sins for web design curated from Entrepreneur.com.
- Using fonts that are too small. In the birth of the Internet and websites, the standard for font size was 12 px. Now days when people only read 28% of the words on a page, having large fonts is even more important. Using big fonts to grab attention along with great headlines and interesting content will benefit your website. Make sure you keep body fonts big enough (14-18px) so readers can easily stay focused.
- Rotating sliders. A study from the University of Notre Dame found that 1% of people clicked on a slider and 84% of the clicks were on the first image. This space is prime real estate on a website and should be an area where visitors have a higher likelihood of clicking through. Slider images can easily be missed and if the one with your call-to-action or special promotion isn’t being seen, then the less likely it is to convert.
- Using low contrast fonts. Do not use lighter fonts on a light background or darker fonts on a dark background. As people grow older, the amount of light that gets through their eyes decreases. To make your text easily viewable by all ages use only high contrast fonts. There is a reason books have a white background and black text.
- Poor line height for text. Line height can have a significant impact on the design and appeal of a website. Making sure the line height is aesthetically pleasing on all parts of your website can increase the chances of conversions.
- Line length that is too long. Long lines of text are intimidating to read and are often overlooked for that reason. Don’t be a victim to long lines of text and keep them in the range of 50-60 characters. If the line length is too short then readers might be annoyed with having to start and stop lines frequently.
- No accent color for calls to action. Draw the readers eye to your call to action with a colorful button. Choose a color that is bright, complementary to the other colors on the site and one that is not already frequently used on the website. If you use the same accent color for all call to action buttons, then they will stand out to the visitor no matter where they are on the site.
- Not following common design principles. People are used to seeing a logo and tagline in the top left, a menu along the top and an About Us page and Contact page. When designers have crazy fancy ways of putting these key elements elsewhere on a website, it usually doesn’t work. For most websites it is best to stick to the common design principles to not confuse visitors.
Looking to make changes to your website? Contact the web design specialists at Off The Wall Media to help grow your business. Call 503-452-1082