“The vast majority of small business owners want nothing to do with figuring out a website. They are neck-deep in their business trying to keep it going.” – Andrew Yang – American Businessman and Author

The above quote describes the dilemma of small business owners. Even though they are aware of the importance of web design, it is usually left as an after-thought. A run-of-the-mill design will not get them the eyeballs they need, resulting in low traffic on their website or a high bounce rate. To turn their website into a lead-magnet, all they need is cutting-edge website designing from a professional. 

Web design is not something that you can master overnight; work and play with it like a pro. To master this aspect, businesses may need much time and effort so that everything can fall into place. In addition, managing and maintaining the design of a website can often leave individuals clueless as they do not have much experience in this regard.  There are some common deadly sins to avoid when designing a website. Many businessmen, especially those dealing with small businesses and startups, tend to ignore. And when this problem balloons into something big, they start looking for a solution. It is never too late to amend a problem, and this blog deals with this issue. Please go through the following five factors that can wreak havoc on your website design and what you can do about it.

1. Not Paying Attention to Images 

Most of my readers must have browsed several websites that use images just for the sake of it. Images must complement the product and the overall philosophy of the website rather than just used as fillers for the website real estate. This is why using high-quality, authentic, and relevant images can do wonders for your business. 

Filter out any irrelevant images from your website and replace them with pertinent images. For instance, suppose you are selling a leather jacket. In this case, the picture of denim jeans underneath a description of the leather jacket doesn’t fit the bill. Similarly, dig deep through your website and only use images that can highlight your product. 

Another important aspect before putting up images on your website is the use of copyrighted images also make your image properly.  Some websites crop random images so that the original watermark is not included. Most people can identify this fraud as the image looks totally out of sorts and is not a pretty sight. Even if you have to include somebody’s image, you must give proper credit to the owner after obtaining permission and use the image as it is. Also after selecting and uploading your image do proper optimization of your image by using the right size, name and image type as proper image optimization is one of the key to success in getting rank your content.

2. Videos That Fail to Load

Video are indisputably the most used medium and design element on websites nowadays. Video can be directly embedded on a website, sourced from another website such as YouTube, or can even be downloaded. Either way, videos offer great viewing for anyone looking for quick information, but here I want to discuss some glaring mistakes that website owners ignore.

Videos and photos not loading properly is a common issue that is prevalent on most websites. The following image is often seen on websites when there is an error.

This error usually stems from a file that is too big to be loaded properly. Similarly, you will also see this error if the file was not saved in the right type or extension, in case of non-compliance with the naming convention, or even due to Internet connectivity issues. The use of an ideal image size and a compression tool can fit the bill. Another solution is to properly link the video from any server, YouTube, or any other website. To solve this or other similar issues you can think of integrating BigCommerce apps to your eCommerce website.

The use of the most common file extensions is recommended so that it can load without any error. JPG, GIF and PNG are the best examples.

3. Loose UI and UX Elements  

The user interface and user experience are two aspects that can make any website look and feel amazing. Therefore, UI and UX elements must be considered critical in web design. Businesses must always think about the visitors’ experience on their website rather than what looks pleasing to them. Pleasing the customers first is the best strategy here, and apt UI and UX is the real deal. So, what can go wrong here? Read on as I discuss these aspects in detail now. 

A lack of clear focus on UI and UX can make a website look dull and unexciting to browse through. Also always try to use the most useful tools in UI/UX for designers. Instead, focus on making your website organized to the core. You need to prioritize your content, CTAs and social media links that can get you the leads. This is why UI and UX must revolve around these aspects for achieving the best results. 

4. Performance Issues 

The performance of your website must always be right on the money. Any lag in performance will result in less usability of your website and will be the catalyst in increasing bounce rate. There can be several performance issues affecting any website, so let us start with speed.

Your website’s loading speed must be impeccable as no one is going to wait for more than a few seconds. Yes, that is all it takes for a person to switch to another tab as your website keeps loading.

If people using smartphones and other handheld devices cannot use your website to the optimum, this will be one of the biggest mistakes in your design. Nowadays, over 50% of people shop online for true handheld devices, including smartphones. And if your website is unable to facilitate them, consider your business a failure.

Several other bugs and errors can make your website’s performance and speed very slow. Or even make it not completely accessible to the visitors. Some of them are broken links, 403, 404, 500, 502 errors, syntax errors, etc. The remedy is not that difficult; first you need to get a decent host to host your site; then you need to regularly assess the performance of your website by checking all the aspects and some more.

These errors can also pave the way for several security threats. DDoS attacks or any other types of cyber attacks may risk your website’s security. The use of SSL (Secure Socket Layers) develops a secure connection between the visitor’s browser and your website’s server. Any information that goes through this connection is secure and cannot be tapped in. HTTPS, another secure connection, makes your website secure in sending information to and from different servers. As important as website security is your domain security when sending emails to your customers. That’s why integrating SPF flattening in your strategy will guarantee your domain security and reputation.

5. SEO Mistakes

Some of my readers may not term these mistakes as web design problems, but this can impact your design much. Aspects like meta tags, H1 tags and the use of other headlines not only ruin your website but also make it look less pleasing. Take a look at the following stats from SEMrush and see the impact yourself.