In this article we will talk about four specific design mistakes I see website designers and business owners make time and time again. I also provide tips and how to avoid these mistakes in your next website design project.
Website Design Mistake #1: Incorrect Logo Placement
The first common mistake is not placing the website logo in the most prominent spot, i.e the top left corner.
The best place for the logo is always the top left corner of the website header. The reason for this is because when we in the English-speaking world is reading an piece of text our eyes always start at the top left and move to the right.
The logo is part of the company’s brand and the goal is to imprint it in the readers sub-consciousness.
Website Design Tip #1
Always put the logo in the top left corner because this is what we want the reader to see first.
Website Design Mistake #2: Hard To Find Contact Info
Have you ever been to a website and you had like there’s no phone number or social media links and you’re looking and you’re looking and then you have to go to the footer and it’s like in 6 point font?
That’s not very easy for people to find you and call you. And at the end of the day isn’t that why we’re doing this is to get phone calls. So, make sure you have a phone number and social media links that are easy to find.
Website Design Tip #2
A good place for a phone number is to the right of the logo, so as our eyes are moving left to right we see the logo, the we see the phone number. Make sure the font used is large enough to be easily seen by users.
Website Design Mistake #3: Missing Social Profile links
Having business social profiles on the biggest social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn in a great way for your existing and new customers to get know about and communicate with your business. Not having your social media profiles linked on your website is an missed opportunity to get your brand seen my thousands, if not millions, of people.
Website Design Tip #3
Use social media icons to link to business social profile. Place these icon where they can be easy found. Ideally they should be placed right next to the phone number because it is another way for customers to message you or follow you so make it easy for social media icons to be found.
Website Design Mistake #4: Not Mobile Friendly
A vast number of older websites were built long before mobile devices were in common use. Even today some websites are being built without any thought give to make them work in a “mobile friendly” way.
Nowadays, over 50% of all searchers are coming to Google via mobile devices so it is imperative that those users are able to use a website that is mobile responsive. So what is Mobile friend or mobile responsive?
Website Design Tip #4
A website is said to be “mobile friendly” or “mobile responsive” when all the text and images can be clearly viewed on most screen sizes without the user have to scroll left or right. The webpage should not shrink to fit the screen, instead the layout of the page should reposition itself and the content should still be legible.
Use a template or theme that is responsive from the get-go because this will save you the hassle of fiddling with coding to make the content flow on page according to the screen size.
Test your web design on different device sizes, there an several device emulators that you can use to give you a pretty good feel for how they will look on the real thing. You can also use the Google Mobile Friendly Test tool to check you website. Simply put your domain name in there and it will tell you if your website is friendly and if there’s any improvements you can make. Just Google.
Summary of Website Design Mistakes And Tips To Fix Them
So, when you’re thinking about redesigning your website or you’re sitting down and you’re talking with the web designer about how you’re going to reiterate and refresh your website, don’t break the rules.
- Put the logo in the top left corner so it will be seen immediately.
- Make phone number visible and prominent
- Put links to social media profiles on the website in a highly visible spot
- Make sure the content is clearly visible on mobile devices, users should not have to scroll right or left.
- Use the Google Mobile friendly test tool to check if your site is mobile friendly
Stick to those essential design tips that every visitor to your website is going to expect. Don’t break those rules or it breaks our brain and then we just go to the next competitor in Google search.
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