3 Rules About Web Design Meant To Be Broken

Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

As a kid I was a bit of a goody two shoes. Following the rules made life simple and easy.

The one time I broke the rules, talking during a fire drill, I was mortified by sitting out recess that day as punishment.

As a teenager, naturally, it was time to rebel against everything even mildly oppressive. I challenged or broke rules all the time. Not too much though.

Rules are great as guidelines but sometimes they can be broken especially when creativity is involved.

Here are a few web design rules you can break whenever you like.

You need a complicated, complex website when first starting out.

False! I see this all too often when I talk to people about their websites. They are so convinced that creating and designing a website is hard because of the platform they use or being beginners. Wordpress is very popular platform but not easy for a beginner with no coding or design experience to use. That’s why I recommend anyone who wants a site that’s easy to create and edit themselves try a more user friendly platform like Squarespace.

I’m one of the few web designers that will admit not everyone needs a multi page website filled to the brim with content right away. The typical cycle for people starting a new business or project is having links to purchase your offers or schedule calls without a website. Then you can upgrade to a landing page which some email marketing companies let you create for free. The final evolution is when you want your website to do more of the heavy lifting and attract ideal clients you add multiple pages, content and expand.

You need to know how to code.

I’m so glad this one isn’t true! Before landing on Squarespace as my platform of choice I tried learning how to code on my own. It was fun but I quickly got overwhelmed by the amount of coding languages I needed to learn to create the well-designed website in my head. I burned out pretty quick and knew coding websites from scratch wasn’t in my web design future.

This is one my favorite parts about using Squarespace to create websites. You don’t need to use code. Is it nice to add for some fun customizations and design flare along the way? Sure but it’s not essential to create your website. This leaves me free to experiment with the design side without having to worry about building everything myself from scratch.

Creating your website from scratch or being a DIY web designer has never been easier. I started out creating my first website for fun almost a decade ago and enjoyed the process so much it eventually became my new career.

Your website has to be perfect.

Calling all perfectionists (me included)! Your website will never be perfect or done. Sorry to scare you but it’s true.

Here’s the facts. Every website is constantly evolving and changing to suit your needs and business. A picture or phrase that you really loved and resonated with might feel stale or not like you in a few years. That’s okay!

Obviously we want everything on your website to work correctly but beyond that you want your website to change when necessary so you don’t eventually look outdated like an old website from the 90’s.

This is one of the reasons I love being a web designer because things are always changing in the tech world and don’t stay the same forever. This can be a pain for other people but I love it because I’m never bored.

Want to save time and money in your business? I’m going to assume yes! :) Make sure to check out the Savvy Site Challenge to see what automations you can use in your business.