Ten Web Design Mistakes Small Businesses Should Avoid

Nathan Mckinley
Product Coalition
Published in
7 min readJan 19, 2022

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Photo by UX Store on Unsplash

Web design is a crucial part of any web-based business. According to PPCexpo, about 70–80% of people do their research online before they make a purchase decision. In fact, web design is what actually brings in potential customers. 79% of businesses with websites expect a 25% growth in 3–5 years’ time compared to 64% that lack a website.

However, it is not enough to have just a website. Its web design that makes the difference between a successful web-based business and one that fails to achieve its aims. Therefore, it is very important for web designers to keep up with the latest trends in web design so they can help their clients get more web traffic and also convert these visitors into paying customers.

What is Web Design?

There are about 1.18 billion websites in the world today. Every day about 252,000 websites is created. Web design is the process of designing web pages to be viewed on a web browser. Web designers are responsible for laying out web pages so that they are visually appealing to the eye and easy to navigate. They also provide text, graphics, audio, video content and interactive features like social media integration or contact forms.

Why is good web design important and why do we need it?

Good web design is necessary for the success of your business. The web is the fastest growing advertising media today. This leads to web design being extremely competitive. If it does not look good, people will just go somewhere else

  • Web design increases online sales
  • The web is the fastest growing advertising media today, which means that it is very competitive. If your website does not look good, people will just go somewhere else.
  • People remember websites that are well designed more easily than those that are not like IrnPost.com.
  • Good web design can help you stand out from the competition.
  • A well-designed website will make your business look professional and credible
  • We need good web design to increase our web traffic, conversion rates, and ultimately profit.
  • Good web design is a web design that makes web browsing easy for visitors so they can find what they are looking for quickly and easily.
  • Web design builds trust and authority.
  • Businesses with a web presence are better off reaching out to their target audience, especially when looking for new leads or business opportunities.

Most Common Web Design Mistakes

1. Hiring an amateur web designer

Small business owners often are looking to save money in these economic times. This is understandable, but web design is a complicated task that requires a web designer with experience.

If you choose to hire an amateur web designer, it can cost you more in the long run. You will end up having to fix a lot of mistakes on your web pages and website afterward. You will also need someone who has at least basic web design knowledge whenever you make a web page update.

2. Not taking advantage of mobile-friendly websites

The majority of internet users browse with their mobile devices rather than computers these days. This means web pages need to be made with mobile web browsing in mind. You should have web pages that are easy to read on mobile devices.

It is ideal if web designers provide web design services that automatically adapt web pages for viewing on different screens without losing any original content or page layout.

3. Ignoring basic SEO principles

Search engine optimization is vital to small businesses because web surfers use search engines to look for products or services online. If your website does not have a good ranking on Google, you’re missing out on potential clients and customers.

So, how do you get your website to rank higher? The answer is simple: SEO. A great SEO strategy is in line with your business objectives.

To keep your business in front of the competition, you need to show up for every search query. We all know that Google is one of the most important factors for SEO and getting a good ranking.

There are some basic SEO principles web designers should follow when designing web pages. These principles include writing web page titles and web pages that are clear and concise. They should also include keywords that web surfers are likely to use when searching for what you’re offering.

4. Creating a cluttered and confusing navigation system

Your web page navigation system is extremely important to web page usability. One of the worst web design mistakes small business owners make, is creating a web page navigation system that is too cluttered and confusing.

People do not like to spend time trying to figure out how your web pages work — it wastes their time and hurts web conversions.

Your web design needs to be simple and easy to use. People will not want to visit web pages that are complicated or hard to navigate — they’ll just leave the website.

5. Creating a website without considering the target audience

If web designers create web pages without considering the target audience, it can hurt web conversions. Your web pages should have a clear purpose and be written in a way that appeals to your target audience. It is essential to know what your niche market wants to see when visiting web pages or viewing ads.

Your web pages may be visually stunning, but if they do not appeal to your target audience or contain content that is relevant to their needs — you will see meager web conversion rates.

6. Failing to take into account accessibility issues

It is a web design that makes web pages accessible to web visitors. This means web designers should be aware of web accessibility standards and create web pages according to these standards.

If web designers fail to make web pages accessible, it hurts their search engine rankings because Google favors sites with high accessibility standards. It can also hurt your web page visitor experience because web pages with poor accessibility are harder to read or use.

If you are not making your site accessible, you could be losing a lot of potential customers.

7. Ignoring web analytics

Web designers must know web analytics and be able to measure web page performance. They should also provide web owners with relevant web metrics that can help them understand how visitors are using their sites.

Without web analytics, web developers are flying blind when it comes to web design. It can be challenging for them to improve the site or make any changes unless they have data on what web pages are working well and which ones aren’t working.

Utilize the available web analytics tools to understand web visitor behavior and web page usability. These tools can help web designers and web owners to understand how web visitors are using their web pages, which web pages they like the most, etc.

8. Making it difficult for people to contact them

Small business owners who want web pages that promote web conversions need web pages that make it easy to contact them. If web visitors can’t quickly reach you, they will not bother visiting your web pages.

They will leave and start browsing somewhere else — potentially costing you web traffic and web conversions. You should make it easy for web visitors to contact you from web pages, especially pages that offer a product or service.

If your website doesn’t include an “About Us” page, then you should create one with all the information about who you are, what you do, and where you do it. Make sure you have a way for people to contact you, whether through a phone number, an email address, or both.

9. Use of improper images

Images are one of the most crucial web design elements. Poor web page images can hurt web conversions or cause web visitors to leave your web pages quickly. However, appropriate web images used in web design can help web designers achieve their desired results when capturing web traffic and promoting web conversions.

You want web visitors to pay attention to web page images and feel motivated to read web content. Business owners should use the right web images for their web pages. For example, web pages that sell an online product should have web images of the actual products being sold.

10. Allowing web pages to become obsolete

Following web design best practices is important because up-to-date web pages look more professional. People expect web pages to be current and relevant at all times, especially if they contain information related to web products or services.

Web design trends often change, which means web designers need to keep web pages up-to-date as web design trends evolve. If web pages become obsolete, it can hurt conversion rates and web traffic.

Conclusion:

Overall, web design requires creativity, knowledge of web standards, and an understanding of web design history. You need to be aware of web design trends and web usability, and web accessibility issues.

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It is impossible for web designers to achieve the results they want with web design if they do not stay up-to-date on web development. Additionally, they could design websites that are ineffective or even counterproductive in terms of the goals of web design.

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I’m Business Development Manager at Cerdonis Technologies LLC - Mobile App Development Company in Chicago, USA. I do have accumulated knowledge of Latest Tech.