Top 25 Web Design Faux Pas

By Author: Gary Klingsheim
Total Articles: 4762
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A list of "Web site mistakes" could go on forever, actually. When it comes right down to it, it's all "design" now, since we are talking about a (hopefully) cohesive unit, a well-crafted Web site. If it works well, you will do well. If not, you won't. That's simple, and keeping things simple really is the best kind of design.

Among these examples are tips for cosmetics, content and functionality. Even if you've already built your site, you can use this list as a means of "tweaking" and "refining" your approach.

Only if you have broken every conceivable rule of design and Web strategy would you need to dump your entire site and start from scratch. It is likely you could just start cleaning things up a bit, and work your way from 1 to 25 in no timeâ€then find the list that takes you from 26 to 1,001, or perhaps a million. There are a lot of ways to commit faux pas in a virtual workplace!

1. Don't create a Home page that actually just launches the "real" Home page. The fewer steps it takes the user to get to your content, the better.
2. If visitors don't know what your site is all about in a ...
... few seconds, they'll probably leave (at the speed of a mouse click). A site must communicate why people should spend time there, and immediately.
3. Everyone's a speed-reader on the Internet. Use small text blocks, bullet points, lists, headers and subheadersâ€help readers "find and filter" your content.
4. Easy on the Flash: It increases the load time of the page, and gratuitous use annoys people. Use it sparingly, and for good reasons.
5. Everything counts, so no spelling or grammatical mistakes. If your language skills are poor, get help.
6. Do not use "wild ‘n' crazy" or mismatched colors. Just "deliver a mood" (hopefully the right one) and allow users to focus on the content.
7. Do not use fancy fonts, five different type families or 4-point (that's tiny) type. Sure, browsers have zoom tools, but if you make people use it, say, "Bye bye!"
8. Can the canned music. Do not use "auto play" and if you think you must, make sure the volume control is front and center.
9. Do not fill your Web site full of logos, certifications and badges. If they matter to you, put them on the About page.
10. Always include your contact details. This information is left out of many sites.
11. Do not play "silly text tricks" with blinking or scrolling.
12. Minimize or eliminate the "drop down" menus. Navigation options should be easily spotted and out in the open.
13. Text navigation is faster and more reliable, so use it.
14. Use simple navigation schemes (you know, "less is more"). You need a single, unambiguous navigation structure.
15. Don't use FrontPage or other "beginner" or "point ‘n' click" Web page "makers." They seem to offer easier Web design, but you'll get spotty code that may not be fully compatible with all browsersâ€and could have serious bugs.
16. Make sure your Web site works with all the most popular browsers.
17. Make sure to have anchor text on links to let visitors know where they're going. There are also SEO benefits.
18. Do not "cloak" your links and prevent the user from seeing where the link is pointed (on the browser status bar). You and your site will lose credibility.
19. Skip the pop ups, of any kind. Even user-requested ones can be a bad idea with all of the "pop blockers" in all of the popular browsers.
20. Warn people if you link to PDF files. Some browsers, like Safari, will handle them well, and within the browser, while others force Adobe Reader or another application to open.
21. Do not require registration unless you absolutely must. People are hesitant to give up their email addresses unless what you have is so superb that they will hassle with it.
22. Never subscribe visitors or correspondents without consent. If they don't ask for it, it's spam.
23. Do not force new browser windows to open, or move or resize them. Leave control with the users, where it belongs.
24. Do not link to questionable or blacklisted sites. Google is becoming quite strict about this.
25. Make sure visitors can search your entire website. People want to find the information they are looking for, so make it easy for them!
Sure, there are plenty of others, and you may think you know some important ones that were left out of this list. You may just be right. Put that knowledge to good use and get your own sites up to snuff, and consider hiring out to help others do the same. There is a lot of clean-up work to be done to get today's Internet whipped into shape. If you know how to do that, it could be lifelong job security for you!
About Author:
Moonrise Productions is a full services San Francisco web development company. They offer complete design services, web application development, ecommerce development, social network hosting and more. With New York, San Diego, San Francisco and a Los Angeles presence no matter where you are, we've got people to serve you.