Back in the 90s when the thrill of the web was new and massive, each Tom, Dick, and Harry jumped on the old web design lorry. They learned from those around them and threw together web sites overnite. But what most of them forgot, was a vital element of what they were doing. Design.Without a good design internet sites are a pain to navigate and use, they can put users off in a second and render your site worthless.
And so as the years went on many technically-minded folk continued to design ( I use the term loosely ) internet sites, using tables and other horrible methods to help them along the path. This type of design had led on to a generation of folk thinking that with small know how it's possible for you to simply make a good looking site.
It was not till the late 90s, early 2000s that exact designers started getting concerned. These were the men and women that made and still do create wonderful internet sites, the ones that understand typography and just know the way to make a fabulous page layout. So that is error number 1 for you, developers, planning sites, vs trained designers doing so.
Another frequent mistake in site design is this. Thinking you are better than you are. I have met numerous teens online who show me sites for review, which are generally had a meeting with me enlightening them they have to understand the design basics before carrying on. Many "youngsters " ( not to sound patronising ) believe that they can design sites as good as the top designer. But what they fail to get is that their work comprises of nothing less than copied and nicked ( very likely accidentally ) ideas, taken from good designers. This is an enormous problem because there are that many sites out there, composed from the scary "Web 2.0 " standard, which are all glossy and bright. True site design is about creativity, not duplication.
Getting down to the nitty gritty though , some other typical mistakes include having music on your website. Sure it may be appealing to you as you make the site, but the general public do not like some cheesy music grating out of their speakers the instant they land on your site. Clearly the exception to the rule if if you're making a site for a musician or band, in which particular case the user would be able to turn the music on / off at their leisure. Another frequent mistake is single-browser testing. This is widespread in folk who have not been making web sites for long, but also a feature of lots of the sites made back in the 90s. The world is a giant place, with over one bn. folks on line, and as web designers we haven't any way to know what browser the people visiting our sites will be using, and so testing across multiple platforms is crucial.
And with regard to this, web site designers should never, ever, ever place a message on their site exclaiming "This site is best viewed in Web Explorer six at a resolution of 600x800 " - that is the kind of thing that has to be eradicated. Next a matter of hardware and software. Many young web site designers think that by purchasing a fresh Mac, and purchasing the newest creative suite from Adobe will speedily transform their design talents to match those of the great designers. But the cold hard fact is - it will not. You'd be better off picking up and using as much free computer software as feasible and bettering your design talents before splashing out on dear software and hardware like that.
And lastly the subject of unawareness of new technologies. Many sites I visit appear to be stuck during the past, however I know they are consistently updated. What fears me is the incontrovertible fact that there might be a 100 simpler methods to do something, but a web site designer still uses the toughest one. What I say is that there's a massive number of website designers stuck in the 90s who refuse to take up and use the new technologies. That do not employ the true potential of new opportunities, and that stop learning. And that is the most vital thing. Never stop learning. That is one of the most typical mistakes. Although you could be contented using tables and in-line CSS, you must push yourself to learn new things learn new systems, rather than staying put during the past.