Remember when it was o.k. to get your neighbor's kid to design a website for you. Remember that? A page with a bunch of square pictures from Google, fonts of all different shapes and, and colors that looked like they came from a box of lucky charms. WOW! We thought that was something!
15 years ago this was acceptable; however, today you would be the laughingstock of the community. Don't let that be your company, others use to show designers what they don't want their site to look like. Below are three common mistakes people make when designing a website, which you should avoid at all costs.
1.) Consistency - A site should be consistent throughout. Using the same header, footer, fonts, menu locations colors and other key design aspects. When a user lands on the main page of a site, and click a button they have a subconscious expectation of what should happen. The content of the page will changes, while the structure will remain intact, By changing this structure, the user does not know what to expect when they press a button, and find it difficult to relearn the page layout every time they make a click, Causing them to lose interest quickly.
2.) Components- DO NOT use free web tools, such as message boards, comment sections and other systems that make a user leave your site to make a comment. When you do this, you are making your user and potential customer leave your site, with no guarantee that they will return. There are hundreds of applications now a day's such as word press, mod-x and joomla that will allow you to incorporate these functions directly into your own site. They are called CMS's or "content Management Systems" and are very easy to download and install on your server. With a little reading you can avoid this mistake easily.
3.) Compatibility- Did you ever go to a site, where it seemed like the person just slapped the site together, and everything is all over the place. Chances are it's because you have a different browser than the original designer. This is a very common mistake people make when designing a site. They think that because it looks great on their screen everyone will see it as they do. The problem is not everyone use that same browser, or for that matter, screen resolution. So when designing a site, you should install several browsers and test your site in each. You can also use internet tools such as browsershots to take screen shots of your site it a wide variety of browsers, for you can see how it will look in each, and make adjustments accordingly.
If you're going to take the time to design a website, you MUST adhere to these common design principles if you want your site to be a success. After reading this article, I'm sure you will browse the net later, looking at sites, and be able to point out these mistakes, and know not to let it happen on your site!
If you are looking for a website design firm to take your company to the next level then why not start with a company that listens BEFORE they design?
ModDish Designs is a full-service website design firm that creates professional sites that not only have appeal, but also convert your prospects into customers.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Evan_Mugford
