Web Design Nightmares: Spine-Tingling Situations and How to Fix Them
While the average person shudders at the thought of ghouls and goblins, web designers are haunted by more mundane terrors: common website problems. These horrors lurk everywhere. Many hide in plain sight, making themselves known when you try to click a link or load a webpage. Others jump right out at you, shocking you with color combinations so vexing, branding so dizzying, and animations so alarming you can’t help but shield your eyes.
The internet is infested with these pesky website issues. And it’s up to web designers to get rid of them—no matter how daunting the task may seem.
Fortunately, these troublemakers are easy to identify. Many websites are plagued by the same pests. And with some website troubleshooting, you can banish them back to the underworld, where they belong.
The haunting of slow load times
You’re navigating the internet, when suddenly, everything stops. Your cursor starts swirling so hypnotically you lose your sense of time. A webpage gradually materializes, never fully coming together. As images appear, pixel by pixel, and text loads, line by line, you think maybe you’ll finally get to see the webpage—if you just refresh it one more time.
Slow-loading websites can torment customers and damage a site’s SEO ranking. Thankfully, there are several ways to combat them.
Check for a system outage, unsupported browser, or local connection problem. Temporarily remove custom code to unearth hidden bugs. Cut down on URL redirects, use fewer fonts, and reduce page size and image size. Then, ensure the website is mobile-friendly. If the problem persists, check for sneaky culprits, like third-party providers, extensions, or scripts.
The ghostly 404 page
You click on a webpage, and you’re stopped in your tracks: “This page doesn’t seem to exist.” The webpage isn’t there, and a profoundly unhelpful 404 page lurks in its place. You search for something to redirect you with no luck. Your only option is to turn around and go back from whence you came.
Websites display 404 pages when they can’t find what you’re looking for. Maybe, the page you wanted has been moved or deleted. Maybe, you misspelled the URL.
These dead-ends are often inevitable, but you can make them less annoying. Establish URL redirects for moved or removed pages, and create a custom 404 page that helps customers find their way. Welcome them with familiar branding, explain what happened, and give them somewhere to go next.
The terror of bad typography
As you scroll through a website, you notice something eerie—the typography is playing tricks on you. Letters squish together, forming cryptic shapes. Color combinations clash, burning your eyes. And text grows lighter and lighter—becoming so faint, you feel like you’ve seen a ghost.
Typography can make or break a website. While good typography creates a beautiful and on-brand experience, bad typography is downright indecipherable.
To combat typographic terrors, emphasize readability and exercise restraint. Limit yourself to two or three typefaces, ensure the text is big enough to read, and use color combinations with adequate contrast. Avoiding spooking readers with over-the-top styling and cut down on jump scares by using the same text styles site-wide.
The curse of broken links
You’ve found yourself in a rabbit hole, steps away from solving a mystery. You click a link to unveil the truth—but the page has disappeared. The information you need is nowhere to be found, and all that’s left is a broken link haunting anyone curious enough to click it.
Broken links are links that no longer work—often because pages have been moved or deleted. They’re irritating for customers and bad for SEO.
Since broken links look like regular links, you may need a third-party tool to spot them. Use the software to scan your website, replacing any broken links you find. Then, scan other websites for outdated links pointing to your website, and reach out to their owners with replacement links as needed.
The zombie-like mobile responsiveness
You pull out your phone and open a website—only to find that it’s stuck in the past. The text stretches beyond the screen. The images are maddeningly massive. The entire website feels like it’s been resurrected from the dead, scaring you off as soon as you see it.
Websites that aren’t responsive are inscrutable and unwieldy. They, like many of these troublesome issues, are harmful for your SEO ranking.
When you build on Squarespace, the platform automatically resizes your content on different devices. You’ll also want to do your own due diligence by choosing, cropping, and framing images carefully. Adjust font scaling and text spacing as needed and design intuitive navigation menus. Lastly, use device view to preview your website on different devices.
The phantom of inconsistent branding
You visit a brand's website and are excited to learn more. But the longer you linger, the more puzzled you become. The brand keeps shape-shifting—dazzling you with changing colors, text, and imagery. Your brain feels fuzzy, and you flee as quickly as you arrived.
Inconsistent branding can be unsettling and confusing—leaving a muddled impression, when you hoped to make a great one. To solve the problem, establish clear brand guidelines with a style guide.
Create a logo, clarify your mission statement, and define your editorial voice. Specify the colors, typography, imagery, and layouts that make up your brand language. And keep your branding consistent across every touchpoint, including social media, email campaigns, and print marketing.
The mysterious security breach
You go to fill out an online form. But little do you know, something dark lurks beneath the surface. Cybercriminals have hacked into the website to steal your data—or to seize the website and hold it hostage from its owner.
Cyberattacks are all too real, so it’s vital to take steps to keep your website secure.
Squarespace offers several built-in security features. The platform provides free SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificates to properly added domains, offers 24/7 security monitoring, and protects against DoS (Denial of Service) attacks. You can further protect yourself by setting strong passwords, adding two-factor authentication, tracking log-in activity, and password-protecting pages as needed. Squarespace Enterprise offers single sign-on for those who need it, too.
The possession of poor navigation
You’re exploring a website when you stumble upon a trap door, of sorts. The “About” link takes you to the products page, the “Products” link takes you to the blog, and the “Blog” link doesn’t take you anywhere at all. You desperately yearn to go home—but can’t find any way to get there.
Traversing a website with bad navigation feels like aimlessly wandering through a labyrinth. It’s frustrating for customers—and entirely avoidable.
To spare customers stress, keep the main navigation menu concise and uncluttered. Add key pages customers will look for, and move less important pages to additional navigation menus with text links. Use fonts, colors, and text sizes that are easy to read. Write clear calls-to-action, and add a search bar to handle edge cases.
The wrath of misaligned expectations
You’re thrilled to work with a new client. But excitement soon gives way to exasperation. Complaints roll in, requests are endless, and deadlines keep getting pushed up. The days feel longer—and the nights do too, as visions of disappointed clients keep you from getting any shut-eye.
Keep client nightmares at bay with clear communication. Clarify boundaries during your pitch, in your proposal, and throughout the project. Stick to an established offboarding process. Manage client feedback as you receive it. If a client asks for something extra, offer to add the service for a fee.
Be willing to turn down clients who don’t seem like a fit and consider breaking up with clients who consistently push boundaries, disregard contracts, or prove impossibly difficult to work with.
When something’s wrong with a website, these usual suspects are often to blame. By learning how to troubleshoot website issues, you can thwart these monsters as soon as you spot them. You can also proactively guard against them by designing websites that are accessible, secure, and in line with current best practices.
*This post was originally published on October 11, 2023. It has since been updated.
Want more?
Check out Squarespace Circle, Squarespace’s program for professional designers. Along with exclusive content, discounts, and other perks, Circle brings professionals together from all across the globe to exchange advice while connecting with new clients and collaborators.
