Web design is not all about asthetics. There needs to be an underlying architecture that aids good navigation and makes it easy for site visitors to find their way around as well as just looking good.

But looks do matter. Poor web design that looks like something that the cat dragged in will get the “Back” button click immediately. You can tell instantly if the person who did the web design is an amateur or not. Unfortunately, they also kill off any chance of making sales, and the worst part of all is that they will never know why.

Here are a few mistakes that are common on sites that suffer from bad overall web design.

• The site looks different or even breaks when viewed in different browsers. This means that it was not tested properly.
• The site, or just the navigation bar, is Flash based. This may look good to those who have or use Flash. But if not…
• A sound file plays as soon as you land on the page - and there’s no controls to turn it off!
• Viewers have to scroll sideways to read all of the page text.
• The site uses unusual fonts and assumes that everyone else will have them on their computer. They usually don’t, so the font defaults to Courier.
• The site uses very large font sizes that scream at the visitor. The site also seems to think that text in all italics and bold will look really cool.
• The site uses centered text on ALL the text - not just the headline.
• The site is a mesmerizing array of flashing, blinking, jumping elements that simply irritate and confuse.

I could go on for weeks, but I won’t bore you further. These mistakes are not in any particular order. They are just things that popped into my head, There are probably more serious mistakes that should have been mentioned, but you get the idea.

If you must do your own web design, find out some basics first. Look at some quality sites like the major search engines, or popular Web 2.0 sites, and emulate certain elements you find and like there. It can only be better than having a bad site.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, September 30th, 2007 at 10:42 pm and is filed under Web Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.