- As a beginner web designer,
it's easy to not know what you're doing all the time.
Heck, I still don't.
But when it comes to your work,
big website design mistakes could cost your business,
giving site visitors a reason to bounce
before they've even begun.
So, how do you not make mistakes?
Well, you can either invent a time machine
or just watch this video.
Whether you're just designing your own website
or websites for clients,
here are our seven tips to avoid amateur mistakes.
- So the first amateur mistake to avoid
is all around above-the-fold.
What does that mean?
Well, think about this,
is the name of the business
and purpose of the website immediately obvious to visitors?
When visitors land on your website,
they expect to quickly see who you are and what you offer.
And anything that isn't visible at a first glance,
that requires scrolling to get to,
is considered below the fold.
So while it is true,
there are no hard and fast rules
for above-the-fold placement.
The basic idea is that you put
the most engaging content above the fold.
So, make sure the name of the business and the products,
and/or services that you offer
are prominently displayed on your homepage.
- Then you need to think about speed and responsiveness.
So does the website load in three seconds or less
on desktop, tablet and mobile?
Does the website look good and perform well on all devices?
A responsive website works equally well on desktop
as it does on mobile.
So for example, people who visit your website
on their smartphones should not have to pinch, zoom
or swipe just to view the content.
When the user clicks on a menu or selects an action,
the site should respond instantly.
A responsive layout adjusts according to the screen size,
no matter how big or how small.
And offering an optimized browsing experience
is the key to success.
- Now let's talk about intuitiveness of your website.
Is it obvious what the user should do on the website?
Make a list of five to 10 things
the user might wanna do on each page.
And if it's not obvious
how to easily accomplish each action item,
well, then fix it.
Is it easy for users to get lost in your website?
Not in a cute romantic way, more like a matrix way.
They shouldn't have to think too hard
about how to get from here to there and back.
Make sure the main navigation appears on every page
and always gives a way for the user to return
from the path they've taken
to reach any part of the website.
- Next step, branding.
Do the website's colors align
with your brand's personality?
Your website is the go-to place
to showcase key branding elements,
including your logo, fonts and color scheme.
These are the visual cues
to help anchor your online presence
across multiple platforms,
like your website and various social media channels.
And while it might not be obvious to everyone,
but using different fonts and colors on every page
disrupts your brand identity
and should be avoided at all costs.
- Now let's talk about your contact info.
Ask yourself, is it easy for prospective customers
or business partners to reach out to you?
Your contact page is one of the most important sections
of your website.
It's basically a portal
for turning prospects into customers.
Cha-ching, right?
And the 'Contact Us' page
can be a little underrated in website design,
but these pages should be a priority.
And a well designed 'Contact Us' page has the right balance
between making it easy to reach the company,
and sharing resources that users can use
to answer their questions right away.
- Next, let's talk about search.
How well does your website search feature work?
Googling is now a verb.
Siri and Alexa are BFFs,
typing into a search bar is an everyday behavior.
And for some of us, an every five minute thing.
Website visitors expect working search functionality
when they browse a site
and search bars help users find information quickly
and efficiently.
They are particularly useful on sites
that have more than a hundred pages.
So, if you have a smaller site with fewer pages,
a search bar might not be required,
but it still doesn't hurt to have it
- Next up, error handling.
What happens when someone goes to an invalid URL
or a moved or missing page.
If they see a nice error prompt
that leads them to the right place.
Hey, give yourself a pat on the back.
Good job.
Next best, a customized 404 page, not found message.
Not so good, a default 404 page, not found message.
In that case, stop whatever you're doing
and get that fixed immediately.
- And now I like to say your website
is your hardest working employee.
It's working 24/7, never takes a sick day
and never complains.
Make the investment into avoiding
these website design mistakes
so your work puts its best foot forward on the web,
but that is a wrap.
Your journey doesn't have to end here though.
We have over 300 videos for you to keep watching.
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Thanks for watching, this is The Journey.