Bad Web Design Practices; 4 Examples and How to Do it Right

A team of researchers at Microsoft Canada came up with an interesting report. We all know that the modern human has a short attention span. But did you ever think we would compete with the goldfish?

You see, this lovely-looking creature has an attention span of 90 seconds. Well, we have managed to take the number one position. The typical human will, in 8 seconds, lose concentration.

The researchers attributed it to heavy multi-screen use, making it difficult for people to filter out what they consider irrelevant stimuli.

You must be wondering; what does this have to do with bad web design practices?

Forgive us for what looks like ramblings of an idle mind. It will make sense in a second as we discuss the best design tips. Please read on.

Impact of Web Design on UX

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As you look at this page right, your mind is thinking about the next thing. There is so much you need to complete, and not enough time.

Now, this isn’t the case on this site. We did pay a lot of attention to our web page design by hiring experts. But, what if you were having a bad experience on this site?. How long would you stay on?

The typical web visitor will abandon a site in 15 seconds. The website design practices have a lot to do with it. They will leave for several reasons, which are:-

The content doesn’t deliver as per expectation
The website layout design isn’t responsive and has slow loading pages.
It is hard to navigate
The site looks untrustworthy and doesn’t have social proof
The web designer didn’t make it engaging, interactive, or appealing to look at.

Consider it an investment to hire some of the best web design agencies. These companies are well aware of the dos and don’ts of web design. They are also updated with the latest trends and developments that create high-quality websites. They make sure that your website doesn’t end up like some of the examples we will be sharing below.

Bad Web Design Practices to Avoid

1. There is a Lot of Clutter on the Pages

Click on https://arngren.net/. What comes to mind? Clutter and disorganization may be the first impression.

You can fix this with a grid system to make the web pages look clean and neat.

Imagine that it was a physical store. It would be like trying to navigate through a hoarder’s house to find a particular item. There are no categories or thought processes in the arrangement.

One minute you’re looking at a bicycle, and the next, a watch. Here is a classic example of trying to communicate a bit too much in a very short space. It is critical to pay attention to page presentations.

The use of categories or grids in your design makes it easy for users to find what they’re looking for. Please pay attention to the typography so that it is easy to read.

Be careful about using many colors. The website design can end up looking unprofessional.

Incorporate a lot of white space in the web layout to achieve a clean, minimalistic look.

Also, ensure the pages have a contrast between the background and main elements. Lack of contrast will make it hard to read the text.

2. Poor Content Layout or Presentation

Pay a lot of attention to content layout and presentation. Take a look at this page https://www.lingscars.com/.

Forget about all the distractions, including the annoying GIF of Lings’ shaking head. Now scroll down to the bottom of the page real quick. What do you get? Text, text, and more text, centrally aligned.

Stay on for a few more seconds, and your head will start to spin. There are simple steps to make your content palatable.

Pay attention to font type and size. The content should be easy to read.

Use short paragraphs and sentences.
Break up the paragraphs with subheadings. It makes your article easy to scan.
Include a few bullet points to break the monotony of long text.
Ensure there is a flow in the content. Avoid hazard placement of information that can end up confusing the reader.
Use images to make your design a bit more engaging.

Do remember, any content you put up should be relevant. Understand what your audiences are looking for, and then provide a solution.

The good news is there are website content templates you can use. They simplify the writing process and can help improve the clarity and quality of your content. They serve as a great foundation if you don’t know where to start. You can then build upon these templates, adding your personal touches and preferences along the way.

The search engines will notice when there is greater engagement or interaction on your site. They will reward you with higher rankings, resulting in more visibility.

3. Expectation and Reality Do Not Meet

You are searching for a Nissan vehicle. You type in nissan.com, and what comes up? Well, the site has nothing to do with cars. What you will get in plenty is information about computers and internet services.

You will feel cheated for the precious time you wasted navigating the poorly designed website. We cannot fully blame the business owner for domain name choice. But, we can bet that the bounce rate on that site must be super high.

The name of the website should communicate what you do. You increase your chances of coming up in search results. Do note, search engines take note of high bounce rates and will penalize you with low rankings.

4. Other Bad Web Design Practices to Note

Do take note of the following as other examples of bad website design practices.

Broken internal links that result in 404 errors
Links that are difficult to click on. Take the example of https://www.uat.edu/. The designers may have gone a little overboard with their creativity. There is a lot of animation, and clicking on the moving links does not always give the response you desire.
Hard to navigate web pages. Sorry, https://www.uat.edu/, but you take this one as well. The site is hard to walk through.
Lack of mobile optimization in your design processes. The best web developers will advise on starting with a mobile-first approach. Design for mobile and scale for larger devices. And don’t forget, this is a critical indexing factor on Google.
Low-resolution images that look bad.