It is perfectly possible to design a creative website for your business. There are, however, a few basic rules to follow for effective web design. You need to create a personalized website that reflects the image and personality of your business but is careful with how you get it.
What are the 8 mistakes to avoid in web design? What are the best practices in web creation? We offer you our list of mistakes not to make.
Layout
The layout of your web pages is a bit like your store window (if you have one): crowded or messy, it will not make you want to enter. Airy and strategically composed, it will arouse interest and make you want to continue the visit.
You need to organize what is above the waterline as best as possible (which is visible without scrolling). You need to send a clear message as simply as possible.
Feel free to use separate content bands to help your visitors navigate intuitively to the information that interests them on the rest of the site. Vertical bands structure information and make your content more readable.
Do not be afraid to leave white spaces around the key elements of your page (transformation button …), they will be all the more identifiable for your visitors.
Fonts
There are millions of fonts you can use on your website. One of the mistakes to avoid, even if the temptation is strong, is to multiply them to vary the styles. By misusing the fonts, you risk losing visitors who will have difficulty reading.
The fonts are to be consumed in moderation for the creation of your site. It is recommended that you do not use more than 3 across your site and there are rules for learning how to match them well.
Then you need to ensure that the fonts you are going to use match your business image. Because police convey a visual message.
Lastly, your texts must be legible without effort, and on all screen sizes. Take care to create a sufficiently large contrast between the background and the font color. Keep the size large enough (at least 12 pixels).
Colors
Your site must of course respect your graphic charter and use the colors of your brand. However, you should not try to harmonize everything. Two areas, in particular, can stand out: menu areas and buttons.
Instead, we will use complementary colors on the buttons to strategically orient their gaze. As for the navigation area, we will favor neutral colors.
Images
There are two categories of sites on the Internet, those that use good quality, beautiful images and those that do not. If you don’t want to end up in the second category, you shouldn’t use pixelated images for your web project. This is especially true if the image is used in a large format. A poor quality image will give the Internet using an impression of a lack of professionalism.
The second common mistake with images is not optimizing them for the web. There is no point in having a magnificent photographer’s image if it takes long seconds to load and therefore displays. Patience is not the main characteristic of Internet users.
Spelling
Did he really explain to you the phrase that you were reading during the probleme break?
So yes, of course, this example is very exaggerated but the fact remains that too many spelling mistakes will cause your visitors to leave your site before doing anything interesting there. you, and it will not maintain the better image of your company.
Your content is your in-store salesperson, it must showcase your product or service.
Navigation
The creativity and originality of your web design should never go against the principles of usability and ergonomics.
The same goes with web design trends, before going back to the navigation menu of your favorite site on your website, check that it is well suited to the content you offer. What is the use of opting for a mega menu for a site of ten pages or, on the contrary, refusing the use of submenus for a site rich in content?
The absence of call-to-action
You have created your website for a very specific purpose: to buy your products (for an online store), to obtain registrations, to be contacted (for a showcase site) … If you do not have a button on your site visible to perform this action, you destroy its performance. But be careful, you should not offer too many either, otherwise, you will lose your visitors with too many choices.
If the presence of a call-to-action is essential on each page of your site, its positioning and its appearance are just as strategic. It should be immediately visible from the rest of your site.
The mobile experience
Having a magnificent sight when you browse on a computer but completely unreadable on mobile will mean you lose many opportunities ( 34 million French people use their cellphones to surf the Internet every day – Médiamétrie 2018 study ).
The easiest way is to create a responsive site that will automatically adapt to different screen sizes. You can also create a version of your site specially optimized for mobile.
You now know the rules of ergonomics and design that govern the creation of a website. You can therefore avoid falling into the most common web design traps or try to remedy them if your site is already online.
