There are several lists of web design mistakes around the Internet.
Most of them, however, are the “Most common” or “Top 10” mistakes.
Every time I crossed one of those lists I would think to myself: “Come
on, there must be more than 10 mistakes…”. Then I decided to write down
all the web design mistakes that would come into my head; within half an
hour I had over thirty of them listed. Afterwards I did some research
around the web and the list grew to 43 points.
The next step was to write a short description for each one, and the
result is the collection of mistakes that you will find below. Some of
the points are common sense, others are quite polemic. Most of them
apply to any website though, whether we talk about a business entity or a
blog. Enjoy!
1. The user must know what the site is about in seconds:
attention is one the most valuable currencies on the Internet. If a
visitor can not figure what your site is about in a couple of seconds,
he will probably just go somewhere else. Your site must communicate why I
should spend my time there, and FAST!
2. Make the content scannable: this is the Internet,
not a book, so forget large blocks of text. Probably I will be visiting
your site while I work on other stuff so make sure that I can scan
through the entire content. Bullet points, headers, subheaders, lists.
Anything that will help the reader filter what he is looking for.
3. Do not use fancy fonts that are unreadable: sure
there are some fonts that will give a sophisticated look to your
website. But are they readable? If your main objective is to deliver a
message and get the visitors reading your stuff, then you should make
the process comfortable for them.
4. Do not use tiny fonts: the previous point applies
here, you want to make sure that readers are comfortable reading your
content. My Firefox does have a zooming feature, but if I need to use on
your website it will probably be the last time I visit it.
5. Do not open new browser windows: I used to do
that on my first websites. The logic was simple, if I open new browser
windows for external links the user will never leave my site. WRONG! Let
the user control where he wants the links to open. There is a reason
why browsers have a huge “Back” button. Do not worry about sending the
visitor to another website, he will get back if he wants to (even porn
sites are starting to get conscious regarding this point lately…).
6. Do not resize the user’s browser windows: the
user should be in control of his browser. If you resize it you will risk
to mess things up on his side, and what is worse you might lose your
credibility in front of him.
7. Do not require a registration unless it is necessary:
lets put this straight, when I browse around the Internet I want to get
information, not the other way around. Do not force me to register up
and leave my email address and other details unless it is absolutely
necessary (i.e. unless what you offer is so good that I will bear with
the registration).
8. Never subscribe the visitor for something without his consent:
do not automatically subscribe a visitor to newsletters when he
registers up on your site. Sending unsolicited emails around is not the
best way to make friends.
9. Do not overuse Flash: apart from increasing the
load time of your website, excessive usage of Flash might also annoy the
visitors. Use it only if you must offer features that are not supported
by static pages.
10. Do not play music: on the early years of the
Internet web developers always tried to successfully integrate music
into websites. Guess what, they failed miserably. Do not use music,
period.
11. If you MUST play an audio file let the user start it:
some situations might require an audio file. You might need to deliver a
speech to the user or your guided tour might have an audio component.
That is fine. Just make sure that the user is in control, let him push
the “Play” button as opposed to jamming the music on his face right
after he enters the website.
12. Do not clutter your website with badges: first
of all, badges of networks and communities make a site look very
unprofessional. Even if we are talking about awards and recognition
badges you should place them on the “About Us” page.
13. Do not use a homepage that just launches the “real” website: the smaller the number of steps required for the user to access your content, the better.
14. Make sure to include contact details: there is
nothing worse than a website that has no contact details. This is not
bad only for the visitors, but also for yourself. You might lose
important feedback along the way.
15. Do not break the “Back” button: this is a very
basic principle of usability. Do not break the “Back” button under any
circumstance. Opening new browser windows will break it, for instance,
and some Javascript links might also break them.
16. Do not use blinking text: unless your visitors are coming straight from 1996, that is.
17. Avoid complex URL structures: a simple,
keyword-based URL structure will not only improve your search engine
rankings, but it will also make it easier for the reader to identify the
content of your pages before visiting them.
18. Use CSS over HTML tables: HTML tables were used
to create page layouts. With the advent of CSS, however, there is no
reason to stick to them. CSS is faster, more reliable and it offers many
more features.
19. Make sure users can search the whole website:
there is a reason why search engines revolutionized the Internet. You
probably guessed it, because they make it very easy to find the
information we are looking for. Do not neglect this on your site.
20. Avoid “drop down” menus: the user should be able
to see all the navigation options straight way. Using “drop down” menus
might confuse things and hide the information the reader was actually
looking for.
21. Use text navigation: text navigation is not only
faster but it is also more reliable. Some users, for instance, browse
the Internet with images turned off.
22. If you are linking to PDF files disclose it:
ever clicked on a link only to see your browser freezing while Acrobat
Reader launches to open that (unrequested) PDF file? That is pretty
annoying so make sure to explicit links pointing to PDF files so that
users can handle them properly.
23. Do not confuse the visitor with many versions:
avoid confusing the visitor with too many versions of your website. What
bandwidth do I prefer? 56Kbps? 128Kbps? Flash or HTML? Man, just give
me the content!
24. Do not blend advertising inside the content:
blending advertising like Adsense units inside your content might
increase your click-through rate on the short term. Over the long run,
however, this will reduce your readership base. An annoyed visitor is a
lost visitor.
25. Use a simple navigation structure: sometimes
less is more. This rule usually applies to people and choices. Make sure
that your website has a single, clear navigation structure. The last
thing you want is to confuse the reader regarding where he should go to
find the information he is looking for.
26. Avoid “intros”: do not force the user to watch
or read something before he can access to the real content. This is
plain annoying, and he will stay only if what you have to offer is
really unique.
27. Do not use FrontPage: this point extends to
other cheap HTML editors. While they appear to make web design easier,
the output will be a poorly crafted code, incompatible with different
browsers and with several bugs.
28. Make sure your website is cross-browser compatible:
not all browsers are created equal, and not all of them interpret CSS
and other languages on the same way. Like it or not, you will need to
make your website compatible with the most used browsers on the market,
else you will lose readers over the long term.
29. Make sure to include anchor text on links: I
confess I used to do that mistake until some time ago. It is easier to
tell people to “click here”. But this is not efficient. Make sure to
include a relevant anchor text on your links. It will ensure that the
reader knows where he is going to if he clicks the link, and it will
also create SEO benefits for the external site where the link is
pointing.
30. Do not cloak links: apart from having a clear
anchor text, the user must also be able to see where the link is
pointing on the status bar of his browser. If you cloak your links
(either because they are affiliate ones or due to other reasons) your
site will lose credibility.
31. Make links visible: the visitor should be able
to recognize what is clickable and what is not, easily. Make sure that
your links have a contrasting color (the standard blue color is the
optimal most of the times). Possibly also make them underlined.
32. Do not underline or color normal text: do not
underline normal text unless absolutely necessary. Just as users need to
recognize links easily, they should not get the idea that something is
clickable when in reality it is not.
33. Make clicked links change color: this point is
very important for the usability of your website. Clicked links that
change color help the user to locate himself more easily around your
site, making sure that he will not end up visiting the same pages
unintentionally.
34. Do not use animated GIFs: unless you have
advertising banners that require animation, avoid animated GIFs. They
make a site look unprofessional and detract the attention from the
content.
35. Make sure to use the ALT and TITLE attributes for images: apart from having SEO benefits the ALT and TITLE attributes for images will play an important role for blind users.
36. Do not use harsh colors: if the user is getting a
headache after visiting your site for 10 consecutive minutes, you
probably should pick a better color scheme. Design the color palette
around your objectives (i.e. deliver a mood, let the user focus on the
content, etc.).
37. Do not use pop ups: this point refers to pop ups
of any kind. Even user requested pop ups are a bad idea given the
increasing amount of pop blockers out there.
38. Avoid Javascript links: those links execute a
small Javascript when the user clicks on them. Stay away from them since
they often create problems for the user.
39. Include functional links on your footer: people
are used to scrolling down to the footer of a website if they are not
finding a specific information. At the very least you want to include a
link to the Homepage and possibly a link to the “Contact Us” page.
40. Avoid long pages: guess what, if the user needs
to scroll down forever in order to read your content he will probably
just skip it altogether. If that is the case with your website make it
shorter and improve the navigation structure.
41. No horizontal scrolling: while some vertical
scrolling is tolerable, the same can not be said about horizontal
scrolling. The most used screen resolution nowadays is 1024 x 768
pixels, so make sure that your website fits inside it.
42. No spelling or grammatical mistakes: this is
not a web design mistake, but it is one of the most important factors
affecting the overall quality of a website. Make sure that your links
and texts do not contain spelling or grammatical mistakes.
43. If you use CAPTCHA make sure the letters are readable:
several sites use CAPTCHA filters as a method of reducing spam on
comments or on registration forms. There is just one problem with it,
most of the times the user needs to call his whole family to decipher
the letters.
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