Cringe Material: The 6 Pitfalls of Web Design Projects

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When it comes to designing and building a website the process never seems to happen quick enough, but good things do take time. There’s a fast-paced environment that surrounds a website’s development and because of this many of the smaller details are often forgotten about.

In the grand scheme of things, these details can seem somewhat minuscule but eventually, they are required to build a website and can be what makes yours a good one, to one that is truly amazing.

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SEE ALSO: Mobile Web – The Best Practices to Adopt and Utilize

Failure to Plan and Not Allowing Enough Time Failure to plan is the key reason why web design projects fall into a messy and expensive heap. In most cases, the demanding nature of running a business is to blame and projects such as web design get pushed aside.
It’s not uncommon for businesses to simply fail to recognise the importance of planning a website is just as essential as any other planning in the business – think of it like a completely new rebrand. Make sure you incorporate an adequate amount of time into your plan – trying to finish the project by an unreasonable date is not going to get it done any quicker.

As part of these preparation stages, it’s even more crucial to generate an accurate proposal to speed up the communication between you and the designer. Failing to have a detailed plan leaves the designer and developer to make assumptions about how the content
will appear on the web which creates confusion, produces extra costs and causes
client dissatisfaction.

2. Not Determining the Website’s Purpose and Content

First and foremost the website’s purpose should be clearly defined. Is it a branding strategy? It is for clients to purchase your goods and services? Or is it to lead them to simply contact you and you can close the deal over the phone? Writing content is one of the most challenging parts of a web design agency.

Whilst there is a temptation to write it internally, it can be extremely time-consuming to generate large amounts of content within an existing role so be realistic – hiring a person specifically for the role can save you more time and money down the line. Content should be more than just plain text, unless you want the dullest website around.

Use a variety including photos, videos and social media platforms to meet the needs of your clients and entice them to your website with appeal and usefulness. If you website fails to captivate uses within five seconds, your content may never be noticed.

3. The Arrangement of Information Is Disorganised

It’s all very well having great content, but it also needs to be arranged in an appealing and easy to find manner – worthy design and attention to detail can easily be overlooked.
The experience users have when they visit your website is all part of the overall branding and reflection of who you are. A bad or frustrating experience such as a website taking ages to load or the information they want is too hard to find, can leave a terrible impression and loose potential clients.

4. Font and Colour Schemes

Tying into the way your content is presented is the font and colour schemes of your website. Rule of thumb is to not use more than three different font types and making sure it’s at a decent size, clear and easy to read is essential. Remember though, fonts that may look good on paper don’t necessarily look good on your phone or computer screen. The use of headings and white space is important to break up the text – an overload of writing can look overwhelming and cause users to leave the website. With both font and colour, understand your company’s branding theme and stick to a consistent style, you want people to recognise your brand at a quick glance.

5. Broken Links

Error 404 – look familiar? This indicates a broken link and they are a notorious pitfall in web design. Broken links can say two things about your business, your either too lazy to check your website’s links regularly or you’re providing a substandard service or product.

6. Failing to Remember the Importance of SmartPhone Optimisation

With technology constantly advancing websites that don’t accommodate its development are forgotten about very quickly.

Most people these days have either a smartphone or tablet and access majority of their internet usage from it so optimising your website for these considerations is significant.

Building a website is much more complex than building something physical like your outdoor deck or fencing. In comparison to physical structures that can be built in stages and its progress seen to the visible eye, websites have technical steps that are built in the background – and most of them, you will never really see but they all contribute to the overall package.

Rizwan Ahmad
Rizwan Ahmad

Rizwan is an avid mobile geek and a gaming lover. He loves to keep a tab on new tech and loves to share the latest tech news and reviews on Smartphones, Gadgets, Apps, and more.

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