31 Web Design Mistakes That Will Ruin Your Chances of Success

It’s not possible to completely avoid mistakes. Whether you are designing a blog or a website, you can easily commit a wide range of design errors. Making mistakes may be common. But rectifying those errors is very uncommon. Many times, people don’t even have an idea where they are going wrong.

What’s important is that you identify the slips in time, so that it doesn’t ruin your chances of online success.

Let’s have a look at thirty-one potential website designing mistakes. And be ready to check out whether you blog or site has these errors. Fix them up before they start taking a toll on your business.

#1. The homepage looks cluttered (every visual element tries to attract attention).
#2. Text is not easily readable (absence of lists, subheads, short paragraphs).
#3. Navigation is inappropriate (users can’t find what they want).
#4. There are excessive advertisements (loss of trust, poor quality website).
#5. Search box is missing (it works when navigation is bad).
#6. Links open in a new window (browser already has that command).
#7. The about us page is lame (doesn’t tell who you are).
#8. Design contains too many flash-based elements (it creates technical issues).
#9. Web pages are too long (Visitors might skip them altogether).
#10. Site design is browser incompatible (visitors have technical limitations).
#11. The online form has too many fields (unnecessary questions annoy users).
#12. Contact information is missing (they won’t buy from you).
#13. Font style is not suitable (most common mistake in terms of readability).
#14. Links don’t tell where they lead (a major accessibility issue).
#15. Videos are auto-play (immediately irritates users).
#16. The URL structure is complex (bad both for people and search engines).
#17. White space is inadequate (visitors will feel uncomfortable).
#18. Meta Tags are not unique (bad for both people and search engines).
#19. Images are devoid of alt attributes (many people use text browsers).
#20. Graphics are multiple slices (each slice means an additional server call).
#21. Clicking links opens too many windows (extremely annoying, bad manners).
#22. Page titles are non-descriptive (bad both for people and search engines).
#23. Pages don’t have navigation (users won’t always hit the ‘back’ button).
#24. Website uses horizontal scrolling (visitors aren’t used to this).
#25. Links don’t change colors when visited (a major usability mistake).
#26. Visitors can’t find flagship content (they won’t search for it).
#27. Registration is required at every step (it’s a pain in the a**).
#28. The design is HTML table-based (CSS is quick and easy).
#29. Reaching a page takes multiple clicks (visitors are in a hurry).
#30. The privacy policy is missing (you won’t convert).
#31. Smartphone users can’t access the site (Lots of people use iPhone, Blackberry, Droid phone to surf the web).

Are you making these mistakes? You can immediately create a web design checklist with the help of the above mentioned tips. If you don’t want to drive customers away, you need to take action right now.