In this day and time, more companies are re-evaluating their current marketing materials. In order to effectively market your business online, you need a website that represents your company and your brand. Otherwise, you’re falling behind the times.

38% of website visitors will stop using a site if the layout is unattractive. Outdated, bad website design can cause you to lose potential customers.

Here are seven signs your site is outdated. If you notice these seven qualities within your own site design, it’s time for an update.

1. Poor Quality Imagery

66% of people prefer content that’s beautifully designed over content that appears plain. In order to avoid bad website design, let your images and illustrations speak for your brand.

The Fix

To improve your website design, make sure you’re selective about the stock images you use. Instead of using an image to fill space on the page, make sure the image aligns with the copy. Using imagery that supports your content will add value to the page and draw the eyes.

When using images and illustrations on your site, make sure they’re crisp instead of pixelated or blurry.

You can even hire a professional photographer instead of using stock photography to ensure your site stands out.

The Fix to the Fix

Using stock images, and professional photos is great! Photography can set you apart from your competitors. To ensure you can utilize high-quality images and not slow your site down to a crawl, we recommend using ShortPixel to compress and optimize your images.

2. Neglecting Mobile Users

Once you go through the trouble of giving each page a purpose, you want to make sure visitors can explore the page. Visitors who use your website from a mobile device deserve the same ease of use as someone visiting from a desktop device.

To avoid bad website design, make sure your site is responsive.

Responsive website design ensures your content adjusts according to the window’s width. When your website is mobile-optimized, it ensures your on-the-go visitors can still interact with your content. As a result, mobile visitors can navigate your website or complete a form.

Otherwise, you’re missing out on a big number of potential customers.

The Fix
You can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to determine if your website is optimized for smaller screens. If it’s not, Google will tell you what needs improvement. For example, you might need to compress your images.

You can also:

• Remove Flash
• Include the viewport meta tag
• Remove autocorrect for forms
• Increase button and text sizes
• Allow visitors to switch from desktop to mobile view

Make sure important information is easy to find so mobile users don’t have to search around. Learn more about mobile optimization and how it can speed up your site as well!

3. Inconsistent Design

Inconsistent design is its own form of bad website design. When visitors move from one page to the next, they expect to see the same recurring elements.

If a visitor switches between pages and encounters an entirely new design, they might feel confused. In some cases, radically different designs can make a visitor think they’re on a different website.

The Fix
Instead of confusing visitors, make sure to keep certain elements consistent to avoid poor web design. This includes:

• Fonts
• Color schemes
• The header and footer style
• Form styles
• The layout
• The navigation
• Overall branding

Keeping these repetitive elements consistent will remind visitors they’re on the same site.

4. Customers Can’t See CTAs

Your CTA directs visitors to complete a specific action on the page. Bad websites neglect CTAs, missing an opportunity to turn visitors into paying customers.

The Fix
Make sure your site pages have clear, compelling CTAs. You should also use vibrant, eye-catching button colors to draw the visitor’s attention. Then, use strong verbs to spark visitors to take action.

Don’t forget to make sure your CTA buttons are large enough on mobile devices, too!

5. Nonsense Navigation

How do site visitors venture from one page to the next? Bad website design makes it difficult for visitors to explore. Without clear, organized navigation, you’re leaving visitors stuck on a single page.

The Fix
Make sure the navigation bar is clear, visible, and organized. Too many subpages can leave visitors feeling lost. Instead, feature the most important pages within your top bar navigation.

Make sure visitors can click each navigation link. Check to make sure the navigation titles are accurate, too. You can also add a search bar to your site.

Then, use sidebar navigation to further help visitors find what they need.

Don’t forget a full sitemap as well!

6. Lacking Focus

When people visit a website, they usually visit that site for a reason. Chances are they’re looking for a product or service. In other cases, they find a brand that matches their personal values. A website that lacks focus, on the other hand, can leave your visitors feeling confused.

The moment the site loads, visitors should develop some idea of who you are and what you do. Otherwise, they’ll waste valuable time looking for clarity.

The Fix

1. Make sure to display your products or services clearly. Each page of your website should have a distinct purpose. Clarifying each page with a unique headline will help your site visitors recognize why they should explore your site instead of someone else’s.
2. Then, use a compelling call-to-action (CTA) to compel visitors to become customers.
3. Once your product or service is in clear view, support the page with additional design elements. For example, you can include testimonials or certifications at the bottom of the page to build brand credibility.

7. Wayward Readability

Typography is important when avoiding poor web design as well. Using cursive fonts is dumb. Don’t do it, it will make your content difficult to read. Tiny text in conflicting colors can also leave your visitors squinting, not to mention the ADA Ambulance chasers will be knocking on your door.

The Fix
Take a look at kerning (what the hell is kerning you ask? Wikipedia knows), tracking, and leading. Using enough space between letters and words can make paragraphs easier to read.

Avoid using too many fonts as well. Multiple fonts can look crowded, conflicting, or confusing.

Instead, keep it clean and make sure visitors can read your content.

You can also use shorter sentences and smaller paragraphs. When in doubt, use the Yoast app to improve your writing style for readability.

Stop Scaring Off Visitors with Bad Website Design

Don’t let bad website design scare off potential customers! Instead, use this guide to ensure your website looks good and works well for every visitor.

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