One of the most basic aspects of a business in today’s age is to have a fully-functional website. Merely having one, however, won’t assure success in the online world—it must be properly developed, designed, and optimized for it to be properly experienced by potential consumers.
In order to streamline this effort, a certain emphasis must be placed on the development of your web design from the onset. While it may be tempting to scrimp out on “mere aesthetics,” web design holds much more gravitas to your website’s success and functionality than you would think. In fact, having an amateur handle your website could be possibly perilous for your efforts in the online world.
To cement that point further, here are three of the most common web design mistakes that amateurs make which could potentially ruin your website’s efficiency.
Jumping into web design immediately
While many things in life can be resolved with a little excitement and gusto, merely jumping ahead into web design isn’t a particularly good idea. In fact, it could be a huge waste of time, effort, and money—especially if you keep getting handed designs you’re not comfortable with. In this case, trial and error simply won’t cut it, it must have a little bit of brainstorming and planning before you start designing.
As with most strategies, your web design needs to start with the basics, such as identifying your goal, your target audience, and the details of your brand. Answering these beforehand can help guide your design process, thus allowing your web designer to first envision the website you want to come up with.
If possible, then your web designer should show you a paper-and-pencil sketch of your intended web design. While it might sound like a waste of time, this is much easier and quicker than developing and redeveloping websites.
Downplaying the layout and visual hierarchy
Understandably, the entire point of hiring a web designer is to make your website aesthetically pleasing. What most people don’t understand, however, is that it goes so much more than simple looks—it’s directly related to functionality and use.
Every element on your website has a particular place, which is why moving something simply because “it looks better” can disrupt the visual harmony of your website. Grids and white space are included in this too—these aren’t empty spaces to fill up, it allows your design to “breathe.”
By focusing on your visual hierarchy, you aren’t just making it better for your eyes, but you’re also making it easier for your users to find particular elements and details. This makes for good navigability of your website, thus making it ultimately more user-friendly.
Not factoring in accessibility
With the prevalence of the internet, more and more people from different backgrounds are becoming regular users. As such, it’s only apt to make it more accessible to as much audience demographics as you can, especially for the differently-abled. Failing to do so could lease potential customers—which could be a big loss for your business in the long run.
Conclusion
Your website’s design is one of the most crucial points to consider when having it created. By failing to place some emphasis on its creation, you could fall into some of the more basic mistakes that could cause your website to fail.
Are you looking for
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in Massachusetts or near you? At The Stack Group, we are a web design and digital marketing agency that specializes in bringing small businesses the influence they need to succeed. Get in touch with us today and get your website audited by one of our specialists.