A website is one of the most crucial aspects of a company’s identity. It’s where you can reach more customers, create awareness for your brand, and establish yourself as a legitimate part of the industry. But to achieve these functions, a website needs to be professionally designed.
That said, here are the things that you should not put on your website:
1. Black background with white text
In some cases, a dark background with light text is okay. For websites that can go along with this color scheme, such as videogame or lore sites, having a dark background with light-colored texts can work well.
However, if you are looking for a professional insurance website design, never use this type of color scheme. For starters, it’s difficult to read. And for people who are looking at your website to read about your company, they won’t appreciate looking at something that strains their eyes.
2. Autoplay music or videos
If there’s a way that you can get a customer to exit your page as fast as they can, it’s including autoplay music or video on your landing page. It’s often annoying, irrelevant, and can slow down the loading time for your site.
3. Obvious stock photos
It’s okay to use stock photos sparingly for your articles or blog posts, but don’t use them for your landing page or other web pages. More often than not, site visitors can tell if the picture they’re looking at is a stock photo or not. And while a stock photo can be attractive and professional-looking, it can lack authenticity.
Instead of using stock photos, hire a photographer to take pictures of your business, your employees, and your products or services. It will give your website a more real and trustworthy feel this way.
4. Dense paragraphs
When designing your website, make sure to use clear and concise text only. Don’t include long and droning paragraphs, especially on the homepage. Just go straight to the point, keep it short, and make things easy to read and understand.
5. Horizontal scroller
Not a lot of websites have horizontal scrollers, but if yours does, get rid of it immediately. Not only is horizontal scrolling irritating, but a lot of customers are accustomed to scrolling vertically, especially on their mobile devices.
6. Long question forms
If your website visitor wants to subscribe to your newsletter or sign up for your website, don’t make them answer a long form with irrelevant questions. That’s a good way to drive them away. When creating your forms, only include relevant questions such as basic contact information. You can ask more questions later in an email survey.
7. Enter pages
A visitor wants to go to your website, just let them. Don’t make them go through a bunch of ads or pop-ups just to enter your page.
Website design is a crucial factor in gaining, keeping, and interacting with your customers. So, if you still have these things on your website, get rid of them immediately and focus on the more relevant and useful features.