by David Clemen

Created on: January 02, 2007   Last Updated: February 10, 2007

Are people coming to your website to leave within 30 seconds? This is a pretty obvious sign that it may be time to reconsider your design. Your website is your "baby", which often makes it hard to see obvious mistakes.

Below are some of the most common web design mistakes:

Bad Choice of Color Palette: Keep your backgrounds simple. White or light colors usually work best. Your background should not compete with the content of the page for the user's attention. If you would like to use a background picture, select a picture that uses muted colors or format your picture as a watermark. Select text colors which will contrast well with the background picture

Poor Web Site Copy: People do not "read" websites, they "scan" them. The top of the page and first paragraph should clearly indicate the purpose of your web site. You are not getting paid by the word. Your copy should be clear and directly to the point.

Misspelled Words: Every computer comes with spell check for free, use it. Words that are spelled incorrectly make your website look amateurish. Did I spell that right? Yes I did. What would your initial impression be if I didn't?

Constantly Running Animations: This can be distracting when used excessively. There should be no more than one animated object in your view at any time. Also in this category are excessive, large, flashing & obnoxious advertisements.

Complicated Navigation Keep your navigation simple by creating clear links on all web pages. This helps your visitors find the information they are looking for easily. If a person constantly experiences broken links and error pages they will click elsewhere. Put some thought into how you want your visitors to navigate through your site. Ever notice that the milk in your local supermarket is in the back of the store? Why do you think that is?

Outdated Information: Continually update and disregard outdated information. If there is still a page discussing who is going to win the 2004 presidential election, chances are you are going to lose a visitor that will NEVER return.

To sum up, here are some questions you need to ask yourself:

Who is my target audience?
What do I offer my visitors?
How easy is it for them to find the information they are looking for?
What am I trying to achieve with my website?
What distinguishes me from other sites?

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