Top 7 Website Design Myths

Website design myths – these are not always easy to detect and dispel so we have highlighted the most common ones we hear to help you understand how they are myths.

Here we have some of the most bizarre website design myths, which some people believe but you should not!

• Once your website is live, it’s finished.

You couldn’t be more wrong! The best websites are never finished (see our blog explaining this: Why Are The Best Websites Never Finished? | Guzzbury Studio) Aside from regular maintenance and framework/plugin updates, your website will achieve best results if the content is often refreshed and added to. The easiest way to keep adding new content is to have a blog. This enables you to give your audience regular news or industry knowledge and keeps search engines happy. Your website is like a machine, it needs frequent maintenance and updates to keep it running smoothly.

• Your website must keep up with all the latest design trends.

The cost for your website design to keep up with all the top design trends would be huge. Your website needs to be modern and not outdated, but consistent with your brand and corporate image. To follow the trends, you will be changing your website design often. Trends tend typically not to last more than 12 months, so changing your website design regularly to keep up with trends is not only a costly exercise but could be damaging to your brand. Web design changes made to regularly can confuse your audience/clients and negatively impact the success of your site.

• Website design is just about how your site looks.

Nope! Your website can look amazing, but if it doesn’t function well then you would be better not to have a website at all. Website design is much more than simply how your site looks, it’s how it functions and engages visitors. Users will not spend time on your website if functions don’t work or they cannot checkout and pay for their purchase or your site is difficult to navigate. Search engines like Google can detect when your website isn’t working correctly, which will reduce your rankings and therefore the number of leads or sales your website gets. How your website works is just as important as how your website looks.

• Responsiveness isn’t a necessity.

The days of an unresponsive website being any use are numbered, quite literally! Google core algorithm update scheduled for May this year (2021) will be concentrating on mobile performance. This means that if your website is not responsive, any rankings you have in search engines are likely to be seriously damaged.  The number of mobile users is only increasing, and so is the number of internet users from mobile devices. It is increasingly important that your website is responsive and mobile-friendly. A truly responsive web design won’t distort or malfunction when viewed on any size screen. This is important as modern monitors are generally bigger.  

• The more functions and animations the better.

You might think that a lot of animations or pop-ups are eye-catching and cool. However, too many pop-ups that visitors must cross off or navigate around can be very annoying and could make people leave your site quicker. It can also be very distracting and take the edge of the important content you share with your audience.

• Your New website will immediately gain lots of traffic.

Unfortunately, this is not true. A new website can take months to gain traffic, especially if your domain name is under a year old. To gain a large amount traffic to your new website will take months of dedicated optimizing, maintaining and updating. Search engine optimization and regular SEO audits will help you steadily gain traffic, but it certainly isn’t overnight magic.

• Your Business doesn’t need a website.

“I use social media; I don’t need a website” …does that sound like anyone you know? Whilst social media is a very powerful tool, it is best to have a website. Not everyone is present on social media, but most people would have online access. Even if you are a small business, a well-designed website will show you are a professional company and help build trust with your audience.

We hope this will help debunk any of these website design myths you may have heard. It always pays to double-check anything you are not sure about. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have been told something about website design that you are not convinced of. Remember, listening to and following any website design myths, can be detrimental to your website and brand.