Eye-Catching Website

Web design can be fun. Web design can be rewarding. Most importantly, designing a website can give your business an extremely effective online presence – if done right.

It is important to note that if you are trying to design your own business website, you have to do it right. You want it to be eye-catching, engaging, and interesting for everyone who visits it. What you don’t want is a confusing interface which makes it hard for people to get the most out of your site. If you do, you will lose customers, your reputation will suffer, and it really won’t be worth having a website at all.

With this in mind, you need to avoid the following common mistakes – at all costs – when designing your own website:

Don’t clutter your homepage!

Generally, your homepage is the first part of the website that your visitors get to see. Your homepage will make them decide whether to continue browsing your site, or to simply hit the back button on their browser and visit a competitor’s site.

Keeping your homepage simple and interesting will increase your lead conversion rate, and will lead to a greater percentage of visitors engaging with your site. Don’t include irrelevant content on your homepage. Stick to the absolute essentials – when it comes to website design, less is really more.

Don’t use inconsistent design!

Many web designers – especially amateur ones – feel that excessive creativity is an absolute must when it comes to building a new website. They sometimes feel the need to create new designs for every page inside a website, and they might even change the design within a page (in the worst case scenario).

You do not want to do this! I repeat, you do not want to fall into this trap! Once again, less is more. Simpler is better. Keeping things consistent will help your visitors engage with you and your brand. It will reduce confusion, and should lead to you having a highly successful, effective website.

Don’t be afraid of using negative space:

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you have to use every centimetre of space on your website. This is an extremely amateur mistake, and can become extremely frustrating for your users. Highlight important parts of a page by placing them on their own. Whatever you do, make sure that you don’t put important links close together – this will annoy everyone, and will drive people away from your website.

Using no call to action:

This is a huge mistake which amateur web designers often make. Ultimately, your website’s aim is to make potential clients or customers engage with your content. The best way to do this is with a call to action of some sort. Encourage people to sign up to your email list. Offer a freebie if they connect with you further. You can even point them towards your online store or contact form. Whatever you do, make sure you include a call to action!