A lot of people surf the net for finding out answers to their problems, or for performing certain tasks. Whatever be the reasons, the sites can be helpful only when they are properly designed. When they are poorly designed, the sites can pose various problems to the online users. Also, a poorly designed site can drive the traffic away from the site to some other site. These sites will have problems such as unclear navigation, hotchpotch of images and content, and what not.
But, guess what, there is always a silver lining, and one can learn from the mistakes of others. A poorly designed website can teach you things, which you can use for improving your own site. Given below are 5 things, which can be learnt from the ill-designed sites:
- Reduce the amount of clicking: Some sites are designed in such a way that they require a lot of clicks. Instead of providing direct links on the main page, these sites require the user to go through various pages. And, this can be quite harassing for the users. So, the number of clicks should be minimized, and the user should be provided with what he is looking for, with minimum number of clicks.
- Create meaningful links: The links should be made in a descriptive manner. Instead of leaving the users hanging out for more, they should be told explicitly what they can expect when they click on a particular link.
- Use interesting formats like bullets and sub-heads: It is very easy for the user to get distracted. And, for keeping their attention focused, the sites should have lists, which can be easily skimmed through. Also, making use of the right formatting techniques can make the text easily readable.
- Headings should be short and clear: A heading, which is short and clear, will motivate the user to find out more. The headings should be well-written, and should convey the point across, without going into details. That will help the user to get a good overview about the page.
- Use less distracting features: While you might want to fill your site with flash animations, videos and other features, this might actually distract the users from the main text. So, one should use only the features, which are required, and are absolutely necessary.
Well, these were some of the points, which one can learn from a poorly designed website. Taking action on these points can help the businesses in having good website of one’s own.