We spend a lot of time explaining which elements of website design you should add. In this blog, we'll talk about some of the things that you should avoid. 

The guiding principle here is that you should exclude anything that takes away from your content. The most important thing is that your website informs and engages users. You should stay away from anything that might distract them. 

Most businesses fall into this trap by trying to do too much. With website design, less is often more, so you should always think twice about adding two elements that overlap.  

A recent Forbes article has a list of some of these mistakes:

• Busy or complex layouts
• Pop-up advertisements and flamboyant ads
• Small print that’s hard to read
• Boring web design/lack of color
• Slow website intros and load times

Some of these mistakes go with each other. For example, businesses usually make their website layouts too complex by adding advertisements. In addition to taking away from your user experience, these also slow your website down. 

Another mistake we'll throw into the mix is focusing too much on desktops. The trend of "mobile-friendly" websites has now officially evolved to be "mobile-first." When you design your website, you should make mobile devices a priority. 

The reasoning for this is twofold. The most important one is that mobile devices are now more popular than ever, and that trend isn't expected to die out any time soon. 

Moreover, it's easier to design sites for mobile devices and scale them up for desktops. This is called progressive enhancement, and it's a key feature behind responsive websites. 

At the end of the day, your website design should engage your users so they'll read your content. If you think something might distract users, then it's best just to discard it. 

To talk more about website design, or anything else, please contact us. Thanks.