If you have decided to make a website by yourself, you must stay clear of newbie errors that could cost the success of your site. Professional web designers don’t make these common mistakes. You shouldn’t either. These errors are what separate the amateurs from the experts. If you would like to think of yourself as a seasoned designer or at least you would like to be one, you should avoid these mistakes at all costs.

Mistake #1: Using eye-straining colors on the website

Don’t make your text unreadable because of the inappropriate color combination that you’re using for your site. It is okay to experiment. But be sure that you stick to the color scheme that won’t push your visitors away.

Mistake #2: Flash and multimedia overkill.

Sure you want your website to be more interactive. But don’t over do it. Multimedia elements would do nothing but slow down the loading of your web pages. You don’t want to make your impatient visitors wait for your site to load up simply because there is music playing automatically in the background. Limit the use of flash animations, audio files, and videos. If you must use them, never go for the auto play option.

Mistake #3: Using unreadable fonts

Not all of your visitors are young and vibrant. Others are old people sitting in front of their computers all day trying to while away time. Simple fonts are always the better option than the fancy ones.

Mistake #4: Controlling your user’s web browser.

You might stumble upon a cool program that could resize your visitor’s web browser, make them open different windows at a time, or redirect your visitors without their intervention. While such software is a great find indeed, not all visitors like it. Some find it impulsive that they would never want to visit your site again. They may also think that you’ve got some bad ware on your website, which makes their browsers act like possessed.

Mistake #5: Using design that fails to attract your customer’s attention.

Keep in mind that you only have a split second to captivate the interest of your visitors. There must be something in your site that your visitor would like so much that he prefers to stay a little longer and browse more of your site’s pages. Try to put images, graphics, banners, and headers in the right places for best results.