Have all your on-line experiences been good ones? Websites offer the ability to make life easier in so many ways but if they are not designed correctly, there can be no escaping the fact that they can provide a frustrating rather than enlightening experience.

Below we have identified 6 of the most common mistakes made by web designers throughout the world (not us of course though!)

No. 1 – Where’s The Search Box?

The subject matter of the website is irrelevant, it could be a huge corporate website or a blog focused on World of Warcraft, the addition of a search box to the website is crucial.

Not everyone will instinctively know where to go when visiting a website, especially for the first time. They may be looking for something that is hidden within the website but the addition of a search box will help to ensure that visitors can easily find what they want.

No. 2 – Poor Legibility

The most innovative and visually pleasing web designs will all be for nothing if visitors cannot read the text when they arrive.

Some web designs incorporate the most unusual font styles and sizes making reading a pain. Don’t make this mistake with yours!

No. 3 – Make Sure Your Website is Organised

Do you read every word on a page or scan for useful information? The majority of people choose to scan so make sure that your website is organised accordingly.

Whilst some (poor) designers just put a block of text on the web page, always make sure that you do not neglect headings, sub-headings, bullets, keywords, paragraphs, etc.

No. 4 – Don’t Let Users Get Lost

Effective navigation simply cannot be more important within a website. Users MUST be able to find their way around easily.

No. 5 – Unfriendly Screen Resolution

This one is thankfully a little more uncommon now but the days of visiting a website only to find that we have to scroll horizontally to view all of the content are sadly still not completely behind us.

This is an absolute no-no in modern web design. A good designer will develop websites that fit on most screen sizes.

No. 6 – Over Complicated Forms

Registration forms can be tricky but ask yourself, how much information do you actually need from your customer?

Only make registration fields mandatory if they have to be. Name, e-mail address, phone number on enquiry fields will nearly always be enough.