While your web developer will try his or her very best to provide you with the design and functionality that you desire for your website, don't be guilty of insisting that your designer commit one of these web design sins in the name of good customer service.
1. Does your website need a Search Box?
The web is like a big store of information. Whether it’s a business website or merely a blog, a search box might be necessary. The visitor might be in need of some information that is hidden within the website that is not easily found on the navigation bar. If a search box is included with the website, visitors will be able to access the information they want by typing in keywords in the search box.
2. Is your website cross browser compatible?
Having a website that can be browsed only with Internet Explorer is not a good business decision. Today, users are switching to different web browsers like Firefox and Chrome. And if your website design limits your pages to work only with IE, you’re more likely to lose your market share. It is also a bad idea to place a banner at the top of your page that carries the message that the page is best viewed with a specific browser. Visitors would like to choose from a set of options and don’t like to be restricted.
3. No meaningful or recognizable URLs
If your website has pages with meaningless URLs, it is difficult for users to understand what the page is about. The same holds true for Google, Bing and Yahoo. They too find it difficult to understand, and make your website SEO UNfriendly. Each page should contain an URL that is relevant to the keywords or titles of the page. For example instead of having a url like http:// www.company.com/index.php? you can use http://www.amazon.com/ best-sports-equipment, which is more meaningful and SEO friendly.
4. Using latest technology for no good reason
Any website owner would like their designer to implement the latest technology. But if you are using advanced technology on your website that doesn’t work well with all the browsers that are used to visit your site, you’re likely to lose your potential customers rather than attract them. If you want to use the newest technology, it should only be applied to those elements that are not vital to the page as a whole.
5. Sound or video that starts automatically
Although people appreciate the use of sound on websites, they don’t want it to run automatically. They may be engaged with their own music or may be in a place where the sound from their computer is disturbing others. If your website puts someone in trouble with their higher authorities, they will never come back to your site.
6. Poor readability and legibility
Readability and legibility are crucial elements of web design. Easy readability will draw the visitor’s attention to your content; visitors should be able to read the text in order to access the required information. Some owners request that their designers use strange fonts styles and sizes in their websites which make reading very difficult and frustrate visitors.
7. Poor Navigation
Navigation within a website should be smooth and easy. Users should be able to explore your website easily. If text is used for navigation, it should be short and to the point. If hyperlinks are used, they should be differentiated from the other elements of the content and in standard "link" colors. Visitors will be frustrated by links they can only find by mouseover. Dead links should never remain on any web page. This makes the user confused and wastes their time.
