Common Website Mistakes Businesses Make

At Fort Myers web design office, we look at a lot of websites – some we love, but many we critique (to put it mildly). There are so many websites on the internet that have some really big issues, issues that significantly hurt their bottom line. Sometimes I can not believe how many websites get it wrong. Here are just a few of the mistakes we see other businesses make on their sites:

1. Duplicate content. If your website has content that another site also has, you are significantly impacting your Google rating. The complicated algorithm Google utilizes to rank sites functions a little bit like a human in that if you’re saying the exact same thing someone else is saying, it pushes you down to the bottom. If you have duplicate content (i.e. two separate sites with same the same content), revise immediately.
2. Lengthy pages. This is another content mistake a lot of businesses make. They publish really long pages that require the user to scroll down forever to find the information they want. This presents a frustrating challenge for website visitors.
3. Ugly, harsh colors. Do not use colors that burn people’s retina. Use colors, rather, that mesh well with your logo and present a professional feel. Appeal to your website visitors’ reasonability and visual sensibility by avoiding a flashy, ugly website.
4. Animation. Ugly, animated GIFs (photo files) detract attention from your overall message. Your visitors will be disoriented and experience a sense of confusion, which should be the exact opposite of what you want. Avoid ugly, flashy, animation – placing those types of files on your site feels very gimmicky.
5. Boring. Many websites are confusing, and as a result, boring. Visitors don’t immediately understand what the site is about, which should never be your intention. Rather, visitors should understand immediately who you are, and what your visitors’ response should be.
6. Playing music. Similar in nature to number 4, music playing feels very annoying and gimmicky to viewers. Plus, in terms of web design, its very early 2000s.
7. Unreadable fonts, misspelled words, and/or tiny font. Resist the urge to use unreadable script, confusing fonts, misspelled words, or very tiny fonts. All of these are website mistakes that I see on a daily basis.

If some of these mistakes appear on your site, get rid of them as soon as possible. Revising or redesigning your website might be the most important thing you do to further your business’s goals and mission.

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