Well, it was really tough, but I’ve finally managed to trim the list of web design mistakes down to a “Top 10″ list for websites intended for viewing on a desk or laptop computer.

If your website isn’t performing the way you want it to, you might find the reason(s) why in this list.

Remember: Most people spend most of their online time on other websites, not on yours. So if your website isn’t following current web design best practices, your confusing your visitors…and a confused visitor quickly leaves, and rarely comes back. And you can guess what they tell their friends about your site.

 #10 – Not “Web 2.0″

Clear – Simple – Focused

Those are the guidelines for websites designed to Web 2.0 standards.

If you want an excellent example of what Web 2.0 web design is all about, check out Apple’s site.

#9 – Bad “Search” Capability

If your site is large and you have a search function, don’t frustrate or waste your searcher’s time.

I needed a specific Goodyear tire for my car. I knew the exact model and size. I put “Goodyear” along with the model and size in the search box…and was “rewarded” with page after page of articles that mentioned that tire,  but NOTHING about the specs on that particular tire or the price.

If you’re selling tires, and someone puts a specific make, model and size in the search box…TIP…Take them to the page for that tire so they can BUY it!

Moral of this story: Don’t waste your searcher’s time. They will hate you for it. (and no, I did not buy the tires from that site – I got them at a much friendlier site)

 Your search function should recognize common misspellings, too, since the majority of people today can’t spell (just look at “comments” any where on the Internet – actually, everywhere on the Internet).

#8 – Text

 This is one of the areas that will turn visitors off faster than…well, let’s put it this way…they’ll be gone in a lot less than 60 seconds. A whole lot less.

Nothing causes a visitor’s eyes to glaze over faster than seeing big blocks of text in a tiny font.

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to use 6 pt, or even 8 pt fonts with today’s big monitors.  And besides, 8 pt fonts can only be easily read by people under the age of 30.

If you want people to even consider reading your text, never use anything smaller than 10 pt (12 pt if your target market is over the age of 40).

If you want to make your text inviting to read and reader-friendly, use either Arial or Verdana fonts.

If you use Arial, you can use it for titles and body text.

If you use Verdana, use it only for body text. Use Arial for all titles and sub-heads.

Verdana was specifically designed to be easy to read on a computer screen.

If you want your text to be easy to read, avoid all other font styles.

 People on the Internet don’t read a page the same way they do on paper.

Web pages are scanned in an F-shaped eye travel pattern.

This is why the use of sub-heads, in bold, at key points draws the reader’s attention. They mainly scan down the left side of the page which is where sub-heads are located.

Sub-heads also allow the scanner to jump to the topic area that interests them most.

 To assist scanners, use bold and/or italics to emphasize key words…but use bold SPARINGLY.

Too much bold is the same as not using any bold.

Sometimes more isn’t better. It’s just more.

TIP: When using bold for important words, the trick is to still convey the main point(s) of the text to the reader even if they ONLY read the bold words.

Use standard article writing format:

• Tell them what you’re going to tell them.
• Tell them.
• Tell them what you just told them.

Another way to break-up large blocks of text is to use bulleted lists.

Bulleted lists draw a scanner’s attention just like bold words.

People will read a bulleted list before they will read a paragraph, even a short paragraph, of text.

Use short sentences and short words.

Never use a 4-syllable word when a 3 will get the job done.

Write to the “6th grade” level for the Internet. All word processing programs can tell you what grade level you’re writing to.

Yes, I know most people have graduated from high school and many from college, but a high school graduate today barely reads and writes at the 6th grade level. I’m not alone on this point. Do a Google search and you’ll find the majority recommend writing to the 6th grade level.

This policy will help you avoid one of the Cardinal Sins of writing…Never make your reader feel stupid because you just sent them running to the dictionary.

#7 – Visual Impact

 When your website first loads, and before any scrolling…What image does your website project?

• Too busy?
• Too plain?
• Unprofessional?

If you have a Flash intro page…your site is definitely too busy, and also annoying to many.

Ditch the animation, too. No bouncing icons, waving flags, flashing arrows, etc.. These are so 1990′s.

What your prospect should see is…a brief, compelling message on a non-distracting background.

#6 – Colors

Do not use more than 3 colors on a page (black and white are not colors for this purpose).

More than 3 colors makes the page look too busy.

Be consistent throughout your site…choose 3 colors and stick with them.

#5 – Navigation

Your navigation must be…

• Obvious
• Simple
• Clear

If your visitor has decided to stay check you out, they will quickly change their mind if your navigation isn’t obvious, simple, and clear.

Avoid “mouser over” nav buttons like the plague.

Avoid long drop-down menus – very confusing and, therefore, annoying. 4 or 5 items in a drop-down menu is about the most anybody wants to look through.

TIP: “Award Winning” websites are rarely the most successful websites in their field. They just “cute” or “artsy” or…whatever. There’s no cute trick to make up for bad web design.

 #4 – Stale Content

Like milk past it’s “use by” date…stale content just plain stinks. Search engines hate it. Visitors hate it. And you should, too.

On November 3rd Google stated that not only is “original content king”, but “fresh original content” is the top of the heap…the “king of kings”, if you will (no religious slight intended).

 So how do you keep adding fresh original content?

The easiest, and best way is to have a blog and make frequent posts related to the topic of your website.

If you allow comments on your blog…you MUST screen (moderate) ALL comments. Just look at the comments on just about any major news article that allows comments and doesn’t moderate them,, and  any where else on the Internet where comments are not screened…garbage. Pure garbage. 90% are off-topic, and most contain off-color languge or are downright vile in their tone. Personal attacks on the writer and other commenters abound. Remember – ANY comment that appears in your blog reflects directly on you.

Yes, screening comments takes a LOT of time…which we don’t have here. Therefore, we don’t allow comments in this blog.

Another way to have fresh content often is to have a forum.

Unfortunately, a forum requires even more time to screen posts and comments than a blog. So don’t even think about a forum unless you have a ton of time on your hands.

A third way is to post articles to your site.

Of these 3 ways, a blog takes the least amount of time and is easiest to write. Articles will take the longest time. And forums will bleed you dry of time.

Getting current topics to write blog posts and articles on is easy. Just subscribe to the top blogs in your field and see what they’re writing about. Then put your own spin on it. Remember – A blog is very personal. Readers want to know what you think.

 #3 – Ignoring “Above The Fold”

“Above the Fold” is a newspaper term. It means that part of the front page from the top of the page down to the fold. This is the prime real estate on a newspaper…and a website.

“Above the Fold” for a website refers to that part of your page (home page, or any other page) that first appears on a viewer’s screen before they do any scrolling.

Whatever impression they get from your “Above the Fold” area is what they assume your entire site is like.

Pay particular attention to this area of your page, on every page.

#2 – Ignoring the “5-Second Rule”

The interent is all about speed.

If you page takes longer than about 5 seconds to load, on a high speed connection, they’re probably gone. They won’t wait around.

Keep images to a minimum, and keep the file sizes small. Images are a major drain on page-load times.

Remember: You can’t show them anything, if they don’t stick around for your page to load.

#1 – Ignoring the “4-Second Rule”

This is the biggest mistake most websites make.

The “4-Second Rule” states that after your page loads…you have 4 seconds to convince a visitor to stay.

4 Seconds

That means no time for scolling or playing a video.

Just the way your page loads…in 4 seconds you have to make it clear to them…

• What your site is about
• And why they should care

4 Seconds

Make every word count.

SUMMARY

Avoid these Top 10 Website Mistakes and your site will go a long way toward being successful.

Watch for future blog posts on tablet and mobile website design mistakes.

For help with any aspect of your website design or development, call us at 877.280.2424