Hey there! We as web designers, strive for perfection in everything, specially when it comes to developing websites to the nearest pixel. Alongside, it is also important for us to create websites that are visually attractive and easy to use. Thus, building a website can be very challenging. But being a human, we too miss out on certain important aspects.

Below are a list of 5 deadly mistakes you will probably make as a web designer. Also look for the solutions and how we can avoid them.

POOR NAVIGATION :

Organizing the navigation requires a lot of common sense. Navigation bar helps the user to figure out which page to visit next and if that is not done quickly, they will simply turn to the next website. Internet gives you speed. There should be a navigation bar on every page of your website. It is preferred to position the navigation bar on the top of the page or on the sides. Dropdown menus must be avoided. The first and the last item should be the most informative as they attract more attention.

CROSS BROWSER INCOMPATIBILITY :

When developing, a large attention is paid to the browser you work on. Sometimes, the developer is fond of a particular browser. He may not give much concentration on how the page looks on other browsers. It is known that different browsers have different values for styles. With this, the website becomes browser-centric and appears really bad in other browsers. It is not practical to test the web pages in every browser and version. It can be very tedious. But there are free tools available that will help you to keep a regular check on how your site will appear in various browsers. Also, if you use any CSS feature that is  created specifically for a browser, be cautious on using vendor prefixes like -webkit-, -moz-, or -ms-.

POOR COLOR SCHEME :

Novice site builders like to experiment with the hundreds of fonts and color available to them. This makes the pages look cumbersome. Webpages should be presenting a unified and consistent look in terms of color scheme. At maximum, two or three fonts and colors should be used. The wild artistic side is not what the users want to see. They want stability. Use proper color theme. Use colors that are attractive and envoke a feeling of trust and confidence. The images you use should match the color theme as well. 

NOT IMPLEMENTING RESPONSIVENESS :

It is the era of responsive design. Gone are the days when different websites were developed for different screen devices. The market of smartphones has expanded more than any other. Number of website visits coming from smartphones grown by each passing day, and is still growing.The website you develop should be easily accessible from devices of all types. There are a large number of patterns for building responsive websites. The most popular platform is Bootstrap. It is a very powerful HTML, CSS, and JavaScript framework. Stick to the Bootstrap patterns and practices, and you will get a responsive web design with least extra efforts and no trouble.

OLD SCHOOL HTML :

Old habits die hard. Today, the HTML tags have become wider than when it came in the early days of Internet. But some of the developers are still stuck to the old markup options when there are a whole new options available. They are writing markups as if still in the 20th century. For example, developers can still be seen using <table> for designing layout, or <center> for spacing elements. Use of these  outdated HTML tags creates a complex structure that is inefficient and inconsistent. Avoid the use of <table> for content layout. Focus more on describing what the content is and not how it is displayed.

Keep Coding!