Common Pet Peeves of Web Designers
Ah, the life of a web designer… It’s an often thankless position; a behind the scenes role that strives to inject their own visual and functional preferences into their projects, but ultimately needs to abide by whatever their clients’ demands may be.
In today’s landscape of professional web design, the wrong look, aesthetic, or functionality can cost you dearly in terms of website traffic and lead conversion rates. So, when approaching your website redesign, perhaps it's in your best interest to take whatever notes, suggestions, or choices your web designer has into consideration to ensure your website is as dazzling and accessible as possible.
There are well over 1 billion websites currently operating on the internet, so needless to say, web designers have seen it all when it comes to what works and what doesn’t when it comes to successful web design. On this episode of “Near Me”, our team of experienced web designers dish the dirt on their biggest pet peeves when it comes to the wonderful world of web design!
Visual Bombardment
Have you ever been waiting for a website to load, when all of the sudden… BOOM! Your laptop or smartphone screen explodes with an overload of graphic design visuals that nearly make your mobile device explode while processing!
Banner videos, auto-play videos, a rainbow’s-worth of colors, multiple logos; the more visuals websites try to cram into their web pages, the more hair a web designer will pull out! Overwhelming your website visitors with a variety of graphic design tricks not only can give the reader a headache; it can drastically slow down your loading times and page speeds, which will ultimately hurt your SEO rankings.
Don’t be afraid to utilize white space with your web design, spacing out your content and graphics to let their messages sink in and emphasize what your business is all about.
Stock Imagery
One hand shaking another hand. Smiling faces in a boardroom. A random cyclist biking through nature. WHAT DO THESE PHOTOGRAPHS EVEN MEAN???
Stock imagery is arguably the BIGGEST pet peeve web designers have, and it’s not just due to lack of originality. Your website visitors will be able to immediately sniff out cliche images or irrelevant photos, which in turn can weaken their trust in your business and most likely increase your website’s bounce rate.
Not only does stock imagery reduce engagement, but it can also damage your SEO reputation too. Google’s algorithms are always on the lookout for stock imagery, which they associate as irrelevant with specific search engine inquiries.
The bottom line: Take the time to utilize custom photography in your website redesign, as it will only establish more credibility for your business and give your website visitors a face to recognize if they ultimately visit your place of business.
Clunky and Dated Features
Hamburger-style menu bars, generic slogans, aggressive pop-ups, live chat windows; WHAT IS THIS, Y2K???
The whole point of a website redesign is to modernize your website, so if your new site features any of these clunk, dated features or more, then what’s the point of the redesign?! Anything that makes your website look at least a decade old, deters mobile users, or distracts visitors from your brand’s message and goals needs to be thrown out of your website and chucked in the trash bin!
Appalling Fonts and Colors
Okay, last gripe, we promise! But… If your website looks like you’re reading a Hallmark birthday card for your grandmother, then… It’s probably time for a redesign!
Cursive fonts and bleeding colors are surefire ways to get web designers all riled up! For starters, be as consistent with your branding as possible. That means don’t overuse a variety of fonts, and don’t stray away from the primary colors of your brand, logo, etc. Second, your fonts need to be as legible as possible. Any squirting that takes place while reading your website will guarantee a skyrocketing bounce rate.
Failure to Convert
Okay, we lied. ONE MORE GRIPE!
Lastly, the overall goal of any website is to engage, inform, and influence your target audience. That means the structure of your content, graphic design, and site features should be clear, concise, and conclude in a manner that makes it as easy as possible for your website visitors to contact you, enlist your services, or make a purchase.
If someone needs to click several times or visit several pages to find a contact form, then you can rest assured you’re pushing their patience to the max. Call-to-Action buttons should be apparent and visible all throughout your web pages, because at the end of the day, a well-structured, accessible website will do more for your business than a beautiful, poorly functioning website.
Perfect Your Web Design With Team Triton!
At Triton Commerce, we work with businesses of all sizes and industries, taking their branding goals and needs into account while offering our expertise when it comes to striking, high-performance web design.
When you need web design services that are optimized to help you achieve the results you’re looking for, contact Triton Commerce today to get in touch with our web design specialists. Also be sure to check out our “Near Me” podcast for all the latest tips and tricks in innovative digital marketing tactics!