Avoid These 3 Website Design Mistakes
Before learning web design and starting my business I didn’t know how people created cool, well-designed websites that also made money. This process was a complete mystery to me.
When creating your website for the first time it’s easy to fall into some of these common pitfalls.
Even if you are redesigning your website you can run into these common issues. Here are some website design mistakes and how to avoid them.
Copying someone else’s website
It’s so easy to fall into the comparison trap. You click on one of your competitors websites and it looks amazing! Then you compare it to yours and feel… not so great.
I know what do you want to do. Copy this person’s website and hope this leads to more sales and eyes on your website. Here’s why you shouldn’t do it.
Use other websites for inspiration.
There are so many places to find inspiration for your website design. Checking out a competitor’s website is helpful but it shouldn’t be the only place you look.
Two websites to use for design inspiration are Same Energy and Designspiration. You can also find inspiration anywhere, online or offline. Going for a walk or flipping through some magazines is great alternatives if you want to look beyond the internet.
Want another reason to choose options beyond the default in your industry? Choosing something different with help you stand out from similar companies in your niche or industry.
Don’t forget that this person’s website is probably not how it looked at the very beginning of their business. They might not even have had one!
Choosing colors and branding based on trends
You find an awesome website or social media account and the colors look amazing. You’ve never seen a color combination and gradients like this before and you want to try it out for your website.
Choosing colors based only on what's popular or trending is a problem when these colors aren’t trending anymore. Then you have to start over and chase another trend.
Changing all your branding and posts is a pain and when you realize those trendy choices weren’t working for you and your business anyway it all seems like a waste of time.
Create a mood board to choose your colors and branding.
When branding or rebranding your website the first place to start is creating a mood board. After you’ve gathered your inspiration and edited down your branding to your essential elements it is much easier to choose your colors.
If you’re totally confused by what colors to use look into color psychology and what colors represent the emotions you want your clients to feel after working with you.
Following trends or choosing which colors you like the best won’t always translate to finding your ideal clients.
Using a mood board and color psychology will help you appeal to your audience.
Creating a blog
You’ve heard from different people that writing a blog for your business is a great marketing strategy, improves your SEO and increases your website traffic.
So you decide to start one. Seems like a no brainer, right?
You brainstorm topics and ideas but forget to write out the posts before the last minute which stresses you out.
Other times you forget to post and are only posting when you remember.
Sometimes you aren’t in the mood to write so creating a blog post becomes a burden you have to slog through instead of something you enjoy.
Choose a marketing strategy that works for you and your business
I enjoy writing a blog (my first website was a blog!) but I would never force someone who doesn’t enjoy writing or creating content to make one. Content marketing is a great strategy to use but it takes time, organization and discipline to brainstorm content ideas, create content, post and repurpose that content across the internet.
If just thinking about creating all this content makes you break out in hives try another marketing strategy that works for you and your business goals.
Networking or creating content on only one platform while finding other ways to reach out to your ideal clients will work much better than forcing yourself to create content all the time.
A few marketing strategies beyond content marketing are referrals, partnerships, email marketing, direct sales and networking. Some people use marketing strategies and tactics that never use social media.
Figure out what you are comfortable doing and invest your time in that strategy to market your business.
Let me know if these web design tips were helpful and if you have more questions leave them in the comments.
