First Time Website Mistakes to Avoid

There are so many fancy doodads, Flash apps, colorful wallpapers and overwrought web page templates available that it can be hard for first time site creators to resist the temptation to use them all. More is better, right? Dead wrong. In our day and age, a webpage is no longer a novelty—it is a useful and informative resource or hub for commerce.

We’ve compiled some examples of poor web design to help you avoid the pitfalls many first timers make. Whether creating a small business portal or dedicating some virtual space to your hobby, avoiding these web faux paus should ensure that your webpage gets off to a good start.

Excessive graphics.
Amateur websites are frequently guilty of putting up loads of eye-assaulting graphics. Holiday themed animated GIFs, loud multicolored wallpapers and bright photos and logos distract users from information on a website. Excessive photos, links to sponsors, and banner ads alienate users from a site.

Pop up ads and excessive advertising.
Tasteful advertising can be a good source of revenue, but when blaring advertising obscures the content of a page it hurts the overall user experience.

Clutter.
Users expect to have easy access to the information or product on a site they are visiting. Excessive links, large navigation bars with tens of tabs and subtabs needlessly exhausts page visitors. Similarly, drop down menus that open up onto still more dropdown menus are sure to spoil a potential friend or client’s experience on your webpage.

Too much info.
Personal and commercial sites are both guilty of providing more information than visitors need or want. Nothing spoils a trip to an otherwise enjoyable website like rambling monologues about extended relatives.

Strange or off putting URLs
Which website would you rather visit? www.jonesfamilyphotos.com or www.jonz_foto_x-travaganza.com? Complicated URLs or web addresses that are hard to remember decrease visitor traffic.

Avoid these common errors, and you’ll have a leg up on other amateur site creators. Be sure to check out our reviews of leading web design software before you get started.

At TopTenREVIEWS, We Do the Research So You Don’t Have To.™