For corporate websites, I have listed ten common design errors. Of course, these problems are also applicable to personal websites, amateur websites and websites of non-profit organizations. In any case, please try your best to avoid these common and very bad errors.
1. Page Title
quite a lot Web Design Those who do not set the title for their web pages, which is obviously a mistake. Search engines will identify them according to the title of the web pages; In addition, when a user stores a web page address in the browser's favorites, the default name is also the title of the web page.
2. About Us
Each website should provide very clear and intuitive information about this, including a short exaggerated description, or provide prominent and obvious links to the "About Us" page on the home page, and describe your website and the value it provides.
Some users may not find this website helpful to them. It is also very important to explain this. Provide enough information to explain, so that users will not be confused about the purpose of the website. You'd better explain to the visitor why he or she is not interested in this website, so that you can get rid of the visitors who are not interested, which is much better than trying to deceive them until they spend a lot of time on their own to know that there is no content they need on the website. After all, a website that directly shows its own functions can gain better reputation and recognition than a website that is mystifying and difficult to use.
3. Text description of Alt and Title attributes
For websites that support these attributes, make sure you use alt and title attributes on each XHTML tag. If the browser users use does not support the images of the website, these information is crucial for accessibility, and they can also provide information beyond the main content. The most common function is to provide accessibility for people with disabilities, such as blind people who use screen readers to access websites. However, do not write too much text in the alt or title attribute, and make the text concise, clear and understandable. Don't let your users drown in large pieces of fuzzy information or useless pop-up information. You should make the website the most accessible, because the basic role of alt and title tags is to improve accessibility.
4. Decorative pictures
In addition to some flags and pictures showing the brand, decorative pictures should be used as little as possible. If it is helpful to the readers, only use pictures for auxiliary explanation; Use these pictures only if the information is what you want to provide. Don't decorate the website with pictures, which will scare away visitors. Therefore, only effective pictures should be used, not decorative pictures. Even if decorative pictures are used, they should not be too many. Loading images is often slow, which delays the time for readers to find text, and images cannot be seen in many browsers or when using screen readers; On the other hand, words are universal.
5. Archive URLs
Putting expired pages on the website into the archive is a common change in website updates, but it will cause great difficulties for search engines, such as the link to a page in your website is invalid. Therefore, at the beginning of building a website, it is necessary to ensure that the URL transferred to the archived part of the content will not change. Word of mouth is the cornerstone of building popularity and reputation on the Internet. If the page links on your website will change within a few days, it may be difficult to win good word of mouth.
6. Mark the date on the content
Usually, you need to update the website frequently to win repeat visitors, and people will only visit the website when new content appears. Mark the date on the content so that visitors can know what is new and in what order. Even in some rare cases, the website content may not need to be updated frequently, so even if a page has been edited again, it should also reflect the changed information.
Time stamping all information on the website can help your visitors to confirm which information is expired, even if you only add the word "last updated" at the bottom of each page, it will also help. Moreover, this not only brings convenience to website visitors, but also helps you: if readers find that the inconsistency between what you say and what they see elsewhere is caused by the update of information, they will increase the reputation of your website and become repeat customers, willing to visit your website frequently to get more information.
7. Content density
Putting too much information in one place will frighten visitors away. Although common sense tells us to provide as much information as possible, when things get extreme, they will turn against each other. Many good things may also have side effects. If too much information is provided, it is easy for readers to get tired when reading, then they start skimming, and finally they simply stop reading.
Try to ensure that your initial information is closely related to the topic, short, digestible by the reader at one time, and can provide links to in-depth information. Using symbolic lists is a great way to break information into different parts, which is easier to understand, so that visitors will not be scared away. The same principle applies to link lists. Too many links are crowded together, which is no different from static and disorderly information. Keep the list of links short so that readers can find the information they need with little effort. If you can help them find the information they need, it will add additional value to your website, and at the same time try to ensure that the information is easy to digest.
8. Indirect link/transfer link/redirect link
Don't prevent other websites from directly linking to your website content. Many large content providers violate this rule, such as news websites redirecting links cited by other websites, so that visitors often stay on your home page. Using this clumsy method seems to think that forcing visitors to the home page will make them interested in other content, but in fact, the result of doing so will only make people disappointed. If you have trouble finding an article, your customers will give up searching in your website and go to other places. Worse still, links brought by other websites may significantly improve your ranking in search engines. If these redirected links fail, you are against being linked to your website. Therefore, never refuse links to your website.
