Website Design Tips Part 2 – Don’t Be Annoying

Posted January 26, 2009 by Ryan Bradshaw in Web Design | 2 Comments »

One problem that I constantly see with website design it that people get ANNOYING. Here are some tips from http://www.dailyblogtips.com/43-web-design-mistakes-you-should-avoid/ that I find very valuable. I won’t share them all. If you want to read them all, take a look at their original post.

1. The user must know what the site is about in seconds: attention is one the most valuable currencies on the Internet. If a visitor can not figure what your site is about in a couple of seconds, he will probably just go somewhere else. Your site must communicate why I should spend my time there, and FAST!
2. Do not use fancy fonts that are unreadable: sure there are some fonts that will give a sophisticated look to your website. But are they readable? If your main objective is to deliver a message and get the visitors reading your stuff, then you should make the process comfortable for them.
3. Do not use tiny fonts: the previous point applies here, you want to make sure that readers are comfortable reading your content. My Firefox does have a zooming feature, but if I need to use on your website it will probably be the last time I visit it.
4. Do not overuse Flash: apart from increasing the load time of your website, excessive usage of Flash might also annoy the visitors. Use it only if you must offer features that are not supported by static pages.
5. Do not use a homepage that just launches the “real” website: the smaller the number of steps required for the user to access your content, the better.
6. Use a simple navigation structure: sometimes less is more. This rule usually applies to people and choices. Make sure that your website has a single, clear navigation structure. The last thing you want is to confuse the reader regarding where he should go to find the information he is looking for.
7. Avoid intros: do not force the user to watch or read something before he can access to the real content. This is plain annoying, and he will stay only if what you have to offer is really unique.
8. Do not use harsh colors: if the user is getting a headache after visiting your site for 10 consecutive minutes, you probably should pick a better color scheme. Design the color palette around your objectives (i.e. deliver a mood, let the user focus on the content, etc.).
9. No horizontal scrolling: while some vertical scrolling is tolerable, the same can not be said about horizontal scrolling. The most used screen resolution nowadays is 1024 x 768 pixels, so make sure that your website fits inside it.
10. Do not use pop ups: this point refers to pop ups of any kind. Even user requested pop ups are a bad idea given the increasing amount of pop blockers out there.

These are 10 of the most annoying things I see on websites. It doesn’t mean that they can’t be used wisely. I have see flash used on sites where it was truly needed and it made a greater impact, but for the most part, these things should be avoided if you do not want to have a website that people want to leave as soon as possible.

Tags: internet marketing, Web Design