6 Common Website Mistakes, That Should Be Avoided

Applying the term “less is more” to design can be crucial to the outcome and success of a project. A cluttered design is rarely welcomed, especially when it comes to web design. This is often forgotten by companies when they are developing a website, simple mistakes are made within the design and content development, creating issues for users when shopping.

Here are six website mistakes that companies are making, and some tips to avoid making them yourself: 

Cut the clutter

Have you ever landed on a site with all the intentions of shopping, but sadly faced with an overwhelming and slightly confusing interface? Annoying right? The whole purpose of an eCommerce site is for users to find the information and products they are looking for with ease. If your basic navigation design is complicated you’ll start to see high bounce rates, which isn’t good. Design for what your customers want and need, not to show off your design skills with overcrowded layouts and complex animations.

Make it responsive

All websites need to be responsive. The average user browses on at least 2 devices when shopping online. When websites aren’t responsive, they can look insecure, unappealing and unusable. Just think, customers today tend to shop on the go, maybe of their daily commute or on a lunch break.

Don’t be thoughtless

Every element on your site needs to be considered. From your header to your footer and everything in between, all content is important in aiding your customer’s journey. Don’t be lazy and fill empty spaces with pointless popups and ads, utilise your space to maximise brand awareness.

Lose the interruptions

Don’t scare your users away! There is nothing more frustrating than landing on a site looking for something in particular and being bombarded with obstructive content. Create content that’s relevant, based on your user’s interests, leave the intrusive ads and popups in ‘ideas’ locker. 

Clean up your nav

Your website navigation should be clean, clear and simple, users don’t want to be entering a maze when they land on your site. Be direct when planning your nav, your navigation extends further than your menu, think about the overall user journey on multiple devices, what do you want the end goal of your navigation to be? 

Keep it fresh

It’s important to make regular checks on your site content. Check for irrelevant content, alongside dead links and duplicate content. This will not only aid users in their shopping experience but also help maintain and improve your Google rankings, as Google will penalise for poor quality/empty content. Be original, if your website contains content that has been directly pulled from somewhere else on the internet, Google will pick this up as doppelganger content. This will not benefit your site in any way, it will result in a loss of traffic and lower domain authority.