The Worst Website Design Advice We’ve Ever Heard

“Comic Sans is the best font for websites.”

“Make the site play polka music when it loads.”

“Choose a neon color or plaid for your website’s background.”

As you can see, some bad website design advice is easy to spot and ignore. (Also, please don’t use Comic Sans for anything. Ever.) But sometimes, even well-meaning professionals can give advice that isn’t just obsolete or wrong, it can actually be harmful.

Watch out for these absolutely awful web design advice tidbits and steer very, very clear of putting them on your small business website.

More = Better

As Sabrina said to Linus in Sabrina, “More isn’t always better. Sometimes it’s just more.” And you definitely don’t want any more of anything standing in the way of making a sale or gaining a new supporter.

Some good examples of “bad more:”

● A Flash intro. These typically have slick animation, interactive elements, and maybe even audio. Do they look cool? Sure, sometimes. But they also make it more likely that a prospective customer, annoyed by the delay in accessing the info they need, will exit your site and go somewhere with, uh, “less.”
● Big, striking images everywhere. There’s nothing wrong with big, striking images, but customers are not visiting your site as an art-gallery substitute; they’re looking for practical info that will aid in their buying decision. Keep your imagery relevant, and never try to make it stand in for actual content.
● YOU get a feature! And YOU get a feature! You know the type of site we’re talking about. “Chat with us!” or “Enter your email for 10% off!” pop-ups, requests to share your location or send you notifications, or eternally loading elements hosted by a third party. As individual features, these things are fine, but it can get crowded quickly on a small business website. Choose your features wisely.

Pack the Homepage

To be fair, this advice is kind of understandable: in an effort to reduce bounce rates and grab website visitors’ attention right away, we sometimes hear that you should put all the most important stuff on your homepage. Sound idea, but poor execution.

Your site’s homepage should communicate one thing very clearly: that the visitor is in the right place. A visitor looking for a photographer in Atlanta, Georgia, should be able to look at your Atlanta, Georgia, photographer website and instantly see that you provide a certain service (photography) in the location (Atlanta) that he or she needs. That’s it.

A well-designed site will do that and much more, encouraging the visitor to continue exploring the site to see if other elements of the business match up with their needs, such as pricing and schedule availability.

Pro tip: homepage calls to action (CTAs) can help prod the visitor along, especially if he or she is interested but not quite sure where to go next.

The Writing Doesn’t Matter

Who remembers 2008? No, not the housing crash; the keyword-packing frenzy! Years ago, presumably when the Google algorithms were less sophisticated, the search-rankings bar was a lot lower, and “writers” used to cram keywords into website copy until the copy itself made no real sense.

Do not do this. The writing does matter. Will everyone read every word on your site? No. Will the words they do read strongly influence their perception of your site, your brand, your business, and even you personally? You bet.

Good copy is worth the investment. Don’t skimp, and definitely don’t make the mistake of thinking that “Atlanta Georgia photographer” (or whatever your business is) in every other sentence will bring in sales.

Focus on Selling

Nope, but we get that this sounds a little counterintuitive. You’re obviously trying to make sales, so why not focus on selling?

Easy: because no one wants to be sold to. Sure, they may want to buy from you, but they won’t do that until they feel valued and seen in ways other than as just another credit card. Instead of pushing the sale at every opportunity, focus instead on providing value.

What does that look like? This blog is a good example. We don’t make a penny from you reading this; we provide this info as a way of adding value to your visit to Red Tree Designs and because we want to help every small business owner make good decisions about their website.

For other businesses, that value may look different. If you own a hardware store, for example, you could offer free downloadable mini courses that cover the basics of relevant activities, such as carpentry. The point is to communicate to a prospect that you’re interested in helping – not just selling.

Bad web design advice can be hard to spot, but its effects definitely aren’t. If your small business is struggling to attract and retain customers, your website may be the problem. Red Tree Designs can work with you to either overhaul your existing site or build an entirely new one. Get in touch and let’s get to work!

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