Your website is an online business card. It directly reflects on your business. In many areas of our lives we say appearance is not important. However, when it comes to developing a website, appearance is everything. If your site does not look professional and easy to navigate, your business will be viewed as mediocre or just a small mom and pop setup that may not provide all the products/services needed. At the other extreme, your website might be so over the top that pages load slowly or are too complicated to navigate.

So which problem is worse, having a rudimentary or over complicated site? It may seem easy and most would answer rudimentary. But think about the problems users will have with each site. As a whole, both sites are equally problematic and business owners should address those issues before traffic to their site dramatically decreases. What are the top website design mistakes made today?

After looking through many websites the following are the most frequent mistakes made by businesses:

Slow Load Time: Nothing is worse than trying to open a website and waiting for it to load. Many times, business owners feel they need glitzy graphics and animated images to attract customers. However, this greatly slows load times and actually annoys users especially if they have a dial-up connection.

Tip: Keep load heavy items like video and flash animations to a minimum. They make a site slow loading and often appear cheesy and unprofessional.

Spelling/Grammar: How many times have you read through a website and caught spelling, or worse yet, grammar mistakes? With the invention of spell and grammar check this should never happen. When I find these mistakes, even on large corporate websites I am put off by their oversight as are most users. When I find these errors I also wonder what other mistakes this company will make and am leery of doing business with them.

Tip: Always check spelling and grammar. I suggest using Microsoft Word and then having another person proof your work. The more people that proof your work the less chance you have of errors making it live on you site.

No Contact Information: I am always surprised at the number of businesses that make it impossible to find their contact information. They either don’t include it on their site or hide it in an obscure page. If a potential customer can’t contact you then how can they buy your products or services?

Tip: Always put contact information on your homepage. I would suggest putting it at the top and bottom of the page so it is visible for all users.

Complicated Navigation: How frustrating is it to wonder around a website looking for information but never finding it. Many websites have difficult if not impossible navigation. There are too many options, sub options, and links that you are not sure where they will go. If I can’t find what I’m looking for in a couple of seconds I go on to the next site.

Tip: Keep navigation simple. Don’t load your page with too many links. Keep your navigation bar to the left of the page and don’t overload users with too many options.

Broken Links/Graphics: One of the most unprofessional mistakes I see are websites with broken links and graphics. It makes the site look like it is never updated or visited by the owner. Imagine if you are trying to buy a product, but the picture of it doesn’t work. Would you buy from that company? I know I wouldn’t.

Tip: Go in each week and check your website for broken links and graphics. This will make your site look maintained and will not cost you any potential sales.

After reading these tips take some time to review your website. Remember the simple site will ultimately make the sales.

Web Design Definition

• appearance
• design mistakes
• online business card
• first impression
• do's and don'ts