Web Design: 10 Common Mistakes You Need to Avoid

Here are the 10 most common web design mistakes you need to know how to avoid during the process of creating a better website

By Claudio Pires
Updated on January 18, 2023
Web Design: 10 Common Mistakes You Need to Avoid

Your website design is one of the most important factors you should think about. If your site’s design isn’t adequate or provides a negative user experience, you’ll lose out on traffic that can affect sales and ad revenue. While there are many mistakes you can make or overlook when designing a website, this doesn’t have to be the case. Today, we’re going to explore the 10 most common web design mistakes you need to know how to avoid during the process of creating a better website.

10 Web Design Common Mistakes

1 – Use a Balanced Design

There are so many designs and ways you can balance the interface of your website that your choices are endless. However, the important thing here is to make sure you’re using one at all. Look at your favorite websites, and you’ll see them using a grid format, a 2/3 rule, or the golden ratio.

Whichever you want to use, make sure you’re using one.

2 – Common Web Design Mistakes in Choosing Fonts

When choosing the fonts to use on your website, make sure you’re using a clear and easy-to-read font that’s a good size that everybody can read. This is for obvious reasons.

3 – Implement User-Friendly Forms

If you have any forms on your website, you’ll need to make sure they’re quick and easy to fill out. Avoid asking users to fill in more information than you need. The lengthy registration processes are a quick turn-off because nobody wants to waste time filling them out.

4 – Optimize Navigation Avoid Common Web Design Mistakes

When someone lands on your site, they want to be sure they can find what they’re looking for quickly. What it means to make navigating your site as easy as possible. The best way to do this is to create easy, professionally laid-out menus.

5 – Use a User-Friendly Colour Scheme

One of the biggest mistakes that web designers make is not using an appropriate color scheme. Although you’ve got to think about branding. If you’re using weak colors that aren’t eye-catching, your users won’t be engaged with what you’re presenting them, and they’ll quickly lose interest.

“It’s important to think about what image you’re trying to create, what message you’re trying to send, and what your target audience is. Answer these questions should be able to help you choose the colors that are best for you,” shares Tina Harper, a web usability analyst for 1Day2Write and Academic Brits.

Web Design 10 Common Mistakes You Need to Avoid
Web Design 10 Common Mistakes You Need to Avoid

6 – Consistency Across the Website

When users come to your website, it’s important for ease of use to use the same design and functionality across the board on all your pages. If your homepage operates differently from your product pages or blog pages. It’s going to be too much for someone to try and learn, and they’ll go elsewhere.

“Some of the things you’ll want to include here is using the same fonts, same header sizes, same icons, and keeping all your navigation features in the same places,” explains Tom Jefferson, a web developer for WriteMYX.

7 – Clearly Display Contact Information

Regardless of what kind of website or business you’re running, an important thing to think about is letting people get hold of you quickly. Whether they’re a new customer or a returning customer, some people are only going to your website to get hold of you to ask or query something.

This means you need to put your contact information in a place where everybody can access it quickly. As a general rule of thumb, to avoid common web design mistakes, have a contact page link in your menu, display your information at the top of the site, and have another link in the footer, as these are the main places people will think to look.

8 – Implement White Space

You may feel that having white space on your website is a waste. But it helps keep everything clean and minimal, ensuring your users don’t feel overwhelmed and confused when using your site.

When it comes to website design, the phrase ‘less is more’ can never be overstated.

9 – Fast Loading Times

While you like to have lots of high-quality resources and images on your site, you have to be careful. Studies show that if your site takes longer than 3 seconds to load, your customers will leave.

People expect information and data instantly these days. You must give it to them as quickly as they click the link. This Is one of the common web design mistakes.

10 – Have a Mobile-Friendly Website

This is a point that should go without saying. We now live in an age where over 50% of all internet traffic takes place through mobile devices, so you need to make sure you’re catering to this demographic.

This means having a responsive website that looks good and operates well on all mobile devices. This includes both smartphones and tablets. If a mobile user has a bad experience, they’ll take their business elsewhere. So you will lose customers.

Concluding About Web Design Common Mistakes

We hope we helped you understand the 10 most common web design mistakes you need to know how to avoid during the process of creating a better website. If you know of some common mistakes related to website design, let us know in the comments section below.

Claudio Pires

Claudio Pires is the co-founder of Visualmodo, a renowned company in web development and design. With over 15 years of experience, Claudio has honed his skills in content creation, web development support, and senior web designer. A trilingual expert fluent in English, Portuguese, and Spanish, he brings a global perspective to his work. Beyond his professional endeavors, Claudio is an active YouTuber, sharing his insights and expertise with a broader audience. Based in Brazil, Claudio continues to push the boundaries of web design and digital content, making him a pivotal figure in the industry.