10 Basic Visual Web Design Mistakes
Albertus Adrianto
I believe all of you has so many experiences of seeing so many web design when surfing in internet. I could guarantee that you often see bad web design layout more than good one. I feel the same way too, there are a lot of websites which has bad web design & layout, so i won’t comeback & bookmark them. I will share some of my experiences of seeing basic visual web design mistakes which makes me leave those websites forever.
1. Bad Font Usage
Do you even remember when you visit a website with fancy script font that is very hard to read? Fancy script font must not be used in body text, otherwise your reader won’t be able to read anything. Use fonts that are easy to read.
Other mistake is some people use non standard font in their websites. If their reader is only a common person who don’t have so many additional fonts, they will be confused and say, “Why is the font size in this website is very small?” I experienced this when i use non standard font for my website to enhance readability. But unfortunately, it makes people complain about my website. Just use common font like Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Georgia, or Times New Roman, which every people has in their computer.
2. No Images, Text Only
Believe me, people will be bored if they see text only & they will leave your website once they are tired of reading your ocean of words article. This is internet, not a personal development book. If you don’t have idea about what image you should add, just use any image related with your post title. Don’t leave your body text alone without any images.
3. No Paragraph On Long Articles
Even though you have inserted images on your article, you should remember to separate some sentences with a paragraph. Imagine that you are reading more than 500 words article without any paragraph on it. It’s confusing right? With some sentences separated with paragraph, people will find it easier to read your article.
4. Very Tiny Font Size
Have you ever visit a website and you have to zoom in to read the content? This is bad, make your body text at least 12pt to make sure that your body text are readable enough. If not, people will have to provide large magnifier to read your article.
5. Heavy Flash Usage
Almost any Flash usage will bring added value to your visual perception. But unfortunately, Flash usage will only make your website slower to open & it gives more chance for new visitors to leave you quickly. Reduce usage of Flash, unless it’s needed to explain something. I personally don’t really like websites which has Flash intro. They are really annoying & wasting my time.
6. Body Text Above Colorful Background
Most of good websites use plain color background to enhance its readability. If you use colorful background to make it nicer, you are absolutely wrong. It only makes people tired of reading your articles, because the body text color are blended with background image. Make your background plain & put image somewhere else where there are no text.
7. Too Many Advertisement
Have you seen a website full of banner advertisement & google adsense inside? I’m sure that you will leave that website once you have done with it, Or worse case, you will instantly hit close and move to another website. Never prioritize advertisement over content. Good websites always place advertisement in a proper places which aren’t bothering the main content of websites.
8. Unwanted Pop Ups
I always hate websites which has unstoppable pop ups. It really annoys me. I want to look for information, but the pop up interferes & wastes my time. I don’t know why, but i really hate pop ups.
9. Too Long Articles
I don’t know about you, but i don’t like too long articles. It takes you more time to write it and also make people bored to read it. Make it at most 1000 words with some image addition to make it more attractive than just a plain text. Make your words simple & understandable. Believe me, most people doesn’t like too long articles.
10. Links Color Aren’t Visible
Make sure that link color has different color with body text color. It helps your reader to identify which links they have visited and also help them not to visit the same links unintentionally.
Don’t forget to share your thoughts about the article in comment section.
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Media Dew
Posted 675 days ago 32I think that although we see many examples of these kinds of mistakes on the web, we have to remember that we all started somewhere. Only after years of practice can you fully see the transformation of your skills. Design is a skill that takes some time to learn and experimentation only drives it forward.
thiet ke web dep
Posted 160 days ago 42Hi, I also have some years experience web develop , i practiced so much , but i got some mistake above . My mistakes were:
1. No title in web page , i didnot know web to talk about ?
2. Broken layout in some browser , it’s very bad for me to see .
Thanks you so much your sharing tips.
Kyle
Posted 705 days ago 31You really should practice your own advice, specifically #7. Terrible flashing ad at the top of the page, and a huge Adsense block BEFORE the article. C’mon, all for a few extra bucks; sellout.
lokesh purohit
Posted 712 days ago 28Thank your Albertus Adrianto for sharing a helpful tips.
Most of web developer know these tips like me but really nice article. all web developer should read this carefully before they going to start a new web project.
i really appreciate this article and it will help us to do the best.
Lokesh purohit
AlchemyCode
Posted 712 days ago 27Thanks for the article:) some point are really basics but some are making a point :)
.-= AlchemyCode´s last blog ..9 nowych funkcji Google Maps =-.
Donny Reza
Posted 712 days ago 26Yep! I almost-totally agree with you. Exception for #9. Since, sometime a writer need to write as long as possible to make it clear.
Ted Goas
Posted 712 days ago 25Really…? Sounds like you’re advocating the use of images for decoration rather than design. And also conveniently forgetting typography design.
Jordan Walker
Posted 712 days ago 24Yes, those are all very bad to see online. If only the people who create websites read more design articles. Preaching to the wrong crowd.
Sebastian Green
Posted 712 days ago 23Good artical, address the basic kind of errors new designers may make or novice designer.
Interms of custom fonts I think its fine for say headings, or areas of text that you want to draw the users attention to making them stand out from the other text on the page, however the font must be large, clear, readable and used sparingly.
Tom R.
Posted 711 days ago 29Custom doesn’t mean fancy. There are many elegant and lighly legible typefaces around, even for free.
freshalex
Posted 713 days ago 22I don’t know why flash has got such a bad reputation, I like it.
.-= freshalex´s last blog ..3D Pop Out Wedding Invitations =-.
Sridhar
Posted 711 days ago 30Because Flash does bad with SEO. Google can’t effectively crawl flash files as easily as htmls.
.-= Sridhar´s last blog ..Where to find a quality sample résumé? =-.
ebsoft
Posted 713 days ago 21thank you, interesting post
even most of them already familiar..
.-= ebsoft´s last blog ..Video tutorial cara menyimpan (download) video dari Youtube =-.
ryandc
Posted 713 days ago 20I agree with Alex W.
There’s nothing original about this post or the content, and what’s there looks rushed and scrappy.
Laia
Posted 713 days ago 19Great tips, but next time you should proofread it before posting! There are many spelling and grammatical errors…
Tom R.
Posted 713 days ago 16> Just use common font like Arial, Helvetica, Verdana, Georgia, or Times New Roman, which every people has in their computer.
Boooring. Web designers go to great pains to craft beautiful and original websites. Why would they shun one thing that can make the difference? There any many tutorials on the Web about the use of @font-face and it’s easy to create a robust font stack. “Fluid Web Typography” by Jason Cranford Teague is also a great resource for more information.
Project Center
Posted 713 days ago 15Good reminders of things that most designers should be implementing in their designs.
With so many people now accessing through mobile devices flash should def be kept off a site and fonts used should be commonly used ones.
@ProjectCenter
.-= Project Center´s last blog ..What Are Line Screens In Printing? =-.
Eko Setiawan
Posted 714 days ago 14Hi, this article give us a list to check before we design a theme and before we release our theme.
Thanks…
.-= Eko Setiawan´s last blog ..How To Style a Breadcrumb Like Apple.com Style Breadcrumb in WordPress =-.
Michael
Posted 714 days ago 12I agree with all of these tips as well.
With one added feature; however.
Let’s run a spell check and proofread for grammar before publishing. This article fails that. It’s a good article, but some may doubt it because of the grammar and spelling mistakes.
Kristi
Posted 713 days ago 17Just about to say that. :)
Grammar and spelling is the number one mistake most people make. ;)
website ontwerp
Posted 714 days ago 11Yup you’re right on this. Flash-driven websites should be history :-)
.-= website ontwerp´s last blog ..Een professionele website laten maken. De handleiding. =-.
Jesse
Posted 714 days ago 9I hate flash. Other than that , good article for an intro
Bobby Clark
Posted 714 days ago 8So many designers feel websites completely made up of Flash is the way to go. What they forget is that over 40% of internet users in the U.S. at least, do not have a high speed connection, and like me, they will click away after 5 seconds.
This post lays out essentials any designer should follow.
Albert Lie
Posted 714 days ago 10Really? I always thought that US Internet connections is one of the fastest on this world…
Michael
Posted 714 days ago 13That’s a lie (no pun intended). We are currently ranked #12 in the world, with an average of 6 megabits down and 2 megabits up, or whatever it may be now.
South Korea is at the top, along with Germany, Sweden (extremely fast, in my opinion), the UK.
Kristi
Posted 713 days ago 18Flash websites are up for debate. I personally steer away from it because it takes away traffic. A website should give and receive information as fast as its connection.
Ravindra
Posted 715 days ago 6good post
I am toatally agree with Tommy’s comments
Tommy
Posted 715 days ago 5These concepts are easily avoided by designers. The problem is getting clients to understand them too!
Sharon
Posted 715 days ago 7Too right, clients, pah!
Nastia
Posted 715 days ago 4Totally agree with whole list.
I’m also can add typographic mistakes such as long text lines, short line-height, underlined words that are not links
.-= Nastia´s last blog ..Vertigo =-.
Andrew Yates
Posted 715 days ago 3Good list of obvious things to not do.
.-= Andrew Yates´s last blog ..383 Project are hiring… =-.
sharmagee
Posted 715 days ago 2Some obvious things that we do sub-consciously, but good to see them in one place.
Paul Murray
Posted 715 days ago 1I totally agree about the Flash website section. If I open a page that uses Flash, I immediately close it if the loading is long and drawn out.
Whilst I may be missing something useful or interesting, chances are I can find it on another site that loads instantly.
.-= Paul Murray´s last blog ..40 Chinese Propaganda Posters =-.