There are two primary aspects of web design:
- Aesthetics – the way a site looks), and
- Usability – the way a site functions
We’ll discuss usability issues in other articles, but in this article I want to focus on aesthetics.
In more than two decades of helping Christian organizations with their websites, I’ve seen a lot of great websites, but I’ve also seen a lot of mistakes.
Most of these mistakes are made out of ignorance. The person who created the website just isn’t aware of the issue or the affect that it has on visitors. So, let’s talk about…
9 Common Aesthetic Web Design Mistakes to Avoid
1) Creating a design misrepresents the organization.
The design of your site should express who you are as an organization. Serious business sites should not use childish images or gangsta slang. Children’s ministry sites should not look corporate. If the people in your church are all one ethnicity, don’t use multi-ethnic stock images.
Don’t try to look cooler, younger, or bigger than you are.
On the flip side, don’t settle for a website design that undermines who you are:
- If you are creative artist, don’t settle for a boring website.
- If your business builds beautiful homes, roofs, fences or landscaping, don’t settle for an ugly website.
- If your church is alive with the Spirit of God, don’t settle for lifeless website featuring photos of buildings and empty rooms.
This is probably not something you can evaluate well all by yourself. Ask people who know your organization well, “Do you think this website represents who we really are?
2) Using a theme/template that doesn’t match your logo.
This happens a lot with organizations that use free templates or themes for their site. The end result is a site with a lot of different colors that don’t really go well together. Your logo colors should flow throughout the design of your site. This is one of the major benefits of having your site custom designed.
3) A site that is not responsive and mobile friendly.
People view websites on lots of different devices – phones, tablets, laptops, desktop computers with big monitors.
Your website should look good on all of these devices.
This means, your website needs to be “responsive” – it needs “respond” to the size of the viewer’s device and display all of the website elements so they are visible and usable.
4) Using a busy background behind text.
Visitors should not have to strain to read a web page.
One way people make their websites hard to read is by putting a texture or photo in the background that doesn’t contrast well with the text.
If you’re using black text, use a white/light colored background that allows the text to stand out. Similarly, if you’re using white text, use a dark color/image to cause the text to stand out.
The worst option is a background image that has a mix of light and dark areas and nothing really contrasts well.
The next 5 mistakes have more to do with website content than web design or themes, but I’m going to mention them because we’re talking about aesthetics. And after all, if a website looks bad nobody really care whether its because of a bad theme or bad content.
5) Using too many fonts & colors.
No, using lots of different fonts and colors does not make you more creative. Nor does it help to emphasize the important parts of the page. It just makes it look busy, messy, and disjointed.
6) Pages that are too long.
People don’t read web pages they skim, and the longer a page is the faster they skim. If you really want to put your 20 page manifesto online, break it into 20 separate pages (and use short paragraphs, headings and bullet points, but now we’re really getting into content issues).
7) Ugly, distracting ads.
Ads are a viable business model for some blogs and news sites, but not for a church, school, ministry or business.
The ads detract from the look of the site, compete with the message and lure visitors away. This goes for partnership/affiliate links and banners too. If providing visitors with links to additional resources is within the mission of your organization, its best to place them on a designated page or well designed area in a sidebar.
8) Animated crosses, doves, globes, etc.
The 90s called. They want their graphics back.
9) Blank/under construction pages.
Blank pages look poor and frustrate visitors. “Under construction” messages and graphics are no better.
If a page is not ready to be published, don’t publish it.
(Note, this is different from “coming soon” messaging, which can effectively build interest in a product, service, or event that will be launched in the future. )
The bottom line is…
Don’t make your visitors cringe! Avoid common aesthetic web design mistakes.
Let us help you avoid cringe-wroth web design mistakes
The easiest way to put your mind at ease and avoid these common aesthetic web design mistakes, is to partner with our team for your logo design, branding and Christian website design.
Complete the form below (mobile) or to the right (desktop) to schedule a call.
Comment and Discuss
- Are any of these common aesthetic web design mistakes particularly annoying to you? Got any others to mention?
Continue reading the series How to Design Your Website to be a Powerful Hub of Communications, Connections & Growth
Co-founder & CEO, OurChurch.Com
Paul has been the CEO of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, combining his passion for faith and technology to lead the organization.
An accomplished writer, Paul has authored over 2,000 articles on faith and technology, featured on platforms like ChurchLeaders.com, The JoyFM, and his personal blog, LiveIntentionally.org.
Beyond his professional achievements, Paul serves as an elder at Journey Community Church and is deeply engaged in his community through his involvement with the Florida Sheriffs Youth Ranch and the Safety Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He is a contributing author of the book Outspoken! Conversations on Church Communication.
6 Comments
Both aesthetic and usability are both important to make your visitors will likely vote your site a useful website for them.
Yes, we'll look more usability issues as Web Design Month continues.
A tiny font that's too small to read is one of my pet peaves on web pages. Of course, you don't want a huge font, but it should be large enough to see on most laptops.
Great Post Thanks! Question about # 3 about not making the sites too narrow. Is there a rule of thumb in regard to not making it too wide so it can easily be viewed via mobile phone?
With regard to your page "Webb design mistakes", can I point out a mistake you have made of the right hand side. On the "Comprehensive Webb Soloutions for Christians" 2nd page reads, Webb Hosting,Custom Webb Design and " SEACH Marketing". I can see that this is probably a common mistake or is it a clever way to attract attention?
Either way,thanks for your e-mails over the last few years. Will contact you soon re a webb site for our Company. God Bless.
As usual, very helpful. Thanks Paul.