Top 10 common business website mistakes – with practical solutions. Part 2
2. Bad website and layout design
This week sees the second part in our series of topics that cover the top 10 most mistakes business website owners make.
In this article we cover the basic principle of making sure the design and layout (or the UI – user interface) are intuitive to the visitor and they can see what you offer and where to go quickly. The desktop and mobile UI are two different website design animals and both need to address specific user experience requirements. These form some for the most common website design mistakes by business owners.
So, let’s get started.
Everyone always wants their website to look like the latest big name – Apple, John Lewis, etc – and yet they don’t invest the time or the budget to achieve this when it comes to their own site. Website design takes time and skill and the boys and girls over at the design and development departments of John Lewis and Apple know this only too well. They will have a plan in mind what the user’s experience will be and their journey through the website (or mobile) long before starting any sort of work with the design software.
If you want to present a truly professional image and compete on the internet with all the other millions of companies all vying for position, be sure to invest both time and budget in how the site looks and the experience the visitor has both on their desktop, laptop and mobile devices.
A good design company will research your peers and the marketplace you want to compete in and produce designs based on experience and skill in user experience (UX) and user interface (UI).
No, your cousin’s son who’s quite handy on the computer cannot design your new website and no, it doesn’t just spew out of the magic wand from Photoshop.
For a professional business you need a professional website.
The solution
1. Write a brief. A simple document will suffice. Something that explains what you want to do and contains some key points – including your commercial priorities, what your competitors are doing, examples of your work and messages you want to get across – the wording can be fixed later.
2. Then get an experienced design company to review the brief. Discuss it with them in person. Let them listen to what your vision is for the website.
3. Have a plan. Then let them do the design. Don’t overly lead them or it’ll be your inexperience on a web page rather than their experience in the production.
In summary, think of it like an extension to your home – you’d sit with the architect and tell them your dreams for the home – they then design it based on your dreams and their experience. Do the same with your business website. It should last you about 5-6 years on average so make sure it’s right from the start.
Next time…
The part 3 of our Top 10 Common Business Website Mistakes (with solutions!) will cover one the website designers’ most common experiences – Everyone wants their website now! Stop. – would you build your own house in a rush?
No!
Take your time. Have a plan. Take some more time.