We all make common web design mistakes. You must have read a lot about how to create an interesting website, or a good design or a user friendly design.
Since my first attempt in 1996, I have compiled many top-10 lists of the biggest mistakes in Web design. This article presents the highlights: the very worst mistakes of Web design.
1. Avoid PDF Files for Online Reading
Users hate coming across a PDF file while browsing, because it breaks their flow. Even simple things like printing or saving documents are difficult because standard browser commands don’t work. Layouts are often optimized for a sheet of paper, which rarely matches the size of the user’s browser window. Bye-bye smooth scrolling. Hello tiny fonts.
Worst of all, PDF is an undifferentiated blob of content that’s hard to navigate.
PDF is great for printing and for distributing manuals and other big documents that need to be printed. Reserve it for this purpose and convert any information that needs to be browsed or read on the screen into real web pages.
2. Make the content scannable
this is the Internet, not a book, so forget large blocks of text. Probably I will be visiting your site while I work on other stuff so make sure that I can scan through the entire content. Bullet points, headers, subheaders, lists. Anything that will help the reader filter what he is looking for.
3. Use the Free Font…It Looks Fine to Me
There was a time in my life when (a) all serif fonts looked the same and (b) no font was worth paying for. I have since rescinded on both, and continue to learn more about the complex and beautiful world of typography. Honestly, if there was one subject I wish I could master, it would be typography. You can have a great website with only a little color and great type (and such is the basis for any great design anyways). Again, becoming better at typography requires reading and training your eye by looking at good sites. And please never categorize all fonts under either “fun” or “boring.”
4. Spelling and Grammar Mistakes
Face it, we all make spelling mistakes sometimes when we type. Normally we leave that burden to Microsoft Word Spell Checker.
But, the web editor you use may not be as feature rich as Microsoft Word. It may catch spelling errors but not grammatical ones.
5. Tiny clickable areas
Hyperlinks are designed to be clicked, so to make them usable, it makes sense to ensure that they’re easy to click. Here’s an example of links that are far too small; clicking them is harder than it should be.
6. Where’s the Search box?
The web is like an archive of information. Whether it’s a corporate website or merely a blog, a search box is essential. The visitor might be looking for something that is hidden within the website, with the search box, chances are, visitors will get what they want.