Top 10 Web Design Mistakes of 2005

Jakob Nielsen has asked the question of his readers and they've responded with what they regard as being the most irksome aspects of web design. This is a fascinating insight into the world of websites from the perspective of the user.

Top 10 Web Design Mistakes:

1. Legibility Problems.
2. Non-Standard Links.
3. Flash
4. Content That's Not Written for the Web.
5. Bad Search.
6. Browser Incompatibility.
7. Cumbersome Forms.
8. No Contact Information or Other Company Info.
9. Frozen Layouts with Fixed Page Widths.
10. Inadequate Photo Enlargement.

There's not much point me going into lengthy detail about each one of the ten problems as Jakob has already done the job here.

Instead we might as well talk about how small businesses sometimes get themselves into a bit of a web design muddle in the first place. There's a feeling amongst small business types that the actual term 'small business' is only a temporary one; we'll all be a big business some time in the future. We think one of the areas we can change this is in terms of the way we present ourselves through our websites - think big, act big, look big.

In fact, this can lead us down a very uncertain path of projecting what we'd like our businesses to be in ten years time. The next thing you know you're paying web designers a small fortune to produce you a fancy site with more va-va-voom than your average multinational.

If you were to develop a web presence along the lines of what mistakes to avoid, you'd be surprised as to how cheap it can be. There are far too many web designers out there obsessed with 'style' over content and usability.

There's also the added bonus that your average user might be happier with it aswell.

And that's what really counts, right?