So you’re getting your new business up and running, and it’s time to bring a new website into the world. Congratulations! May you live a long and happy life together. If you choose to work with a professional web designer—and it is strongly suggested that you do—that designer will probably ask for as much input from you as possible so that you can leave with a website that’s a perfect fit for your business. It’s a good idea, then, to have a basic understanding of design before you embark on your journey. To get you started, here are seven web design mistakes every business should avoid: 1. Complicated Fonts The best fonts are simple, clean and professional. Rarely is a font that strays from this golden rule an appropriate choice; and some—comic sans being the most notorious—have even become an inside joke among web and design geeks. It is understandably tempting to choose a complicated font style that seems exciting or unique, but more often than not, this will make your website stand out in the wrong way. Keep your fonts professional and readable. 2. Poor Consistency Across the Website This is another one of those “good idea in theory” things. Your customers like variety, and you want to show you have an abundance of ideas. There are many ways to do this without making each page of your website look like a completely different site. A little bit of variety between pages is great, but the main style elements—font, colors, etc.—must stay consistent. This helps with your branding and keeps prospective customers from thinking you and your products are confused. 3. Inappropriate Use of Flash Animation Think of Flash animation as a habanero pepper: it can spice up a website wonderfully, but you had better know what you’re doing with it; too much and people will never want to come back. Ever. The best websites limit their color palette to a few simple, recognizable brand colors. In the long run, this will make your website not just memorable but much more easy on the eyes. 4. Implementing the Wrong SEO Strategy It’s great for business owners to have an understanding of effective SEO. Unfortunately, if your research into SEO is too cursory, it’s easy to get the wrong idea. Do not ask you web designer to engage in inappropriate SEO tactics like keyword stuffing, obtaining links from shady directories, or building doorway pages. This will harm your site in the long run. 5. Too Many Colors When you have every color known to man at your fingertips, it’s easy to want to use them all. However, the best websites limit their color palette to a few simple, recognizable brand colors. Overall, this will make your website not just memorable but much more easy on the eyes. 6. Large Blocks of Text Break up your text! With a few exceptions, most people don’t enjoy trying to parse through large, lengthy blocks of text to find the information they’re looking for. There are several strategies for breaking up your text, including headings, bullet points, numbers, or even simply highlighting important text in bold. 7. Poor Navigation Don’t send your visitors into the forest without a map. Make sure all the right information—the “about” section, the product catalog, or the contact form—is easy to find, and always provide a quick and simple way to get back home. Stay away from these “don’ts,” maintain close communication with your web designer, and you’ll be in rock star shape. Talk to someone at Clarity for further consultation on building a website that’s perfect for your business. Find out more about Clarity VenturesSee our Enterprise Web portfolio