Web design ideas are constantly changing. It is highly challenging, even for genuine experts in this field, to catch up with the latest design trends that guarantee a beautiful and functional website that allows its users to focus intently on the content and forget about waiting time. It is a wide known fact that a great loading speed significantly improves web user experience. We all tend to get impatient when waiting for the content of a website to load. As surprising as it may seem, three seconds are more than enough for a user to give up waiting and move on to the next similar website. Among other critical factors, web design is also what affects the loading speed of your website. Hence, we have listed some of the design ideas that badly affect loading speed so you can explore and then eliminate them.

1. Using rare fonts

If there is a lot of content on your website, you should choose the fonts very carefully. While using a rare font may initially give your website uniqueness and make it stand out among numerous similar others, it can also backfire and significantly slow down the loading speed. Hence, the best strategy is to use some of the Google fonts available and immediately check if the one you have chosen affects the time necessary for the content to load. Going through this procedure as many times as you need will eventually result in the best design solution. Try and test is the practice that works in many spheres and we apply it, for example, when looking for the best marketing tools as well.

If, however, you do not want to give up on the font you have chosen, you should restrict it to headings only or to only one page on your website. This way it will not greatly affect the loading speed and it will still let you keep the unique look you like so much. 

2. Using social media buttons without a good reason

Using social media buttons on the first page of your website is a good choice, but only if there is an absolute need for this. The explanation is very simple. While your page is loading, social media plugins create a connection between a social media network’s server and your website. The further away the server is, the greater loading speed is necessary for the content to load. If there are more social medial buttons on the first page, more connections need to be made and this equals more time. It all goes to show why the loading time in these circumstances will be much slower.

The practice that works for all those who want social media buttons on their first page is to ask developers to make them load last. This way the content will be available to users immediately so that they can focus on it while the buttons are loading.

Possibly the most important benefit is in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Search engine sites use algorithms to look at many factors related to site performance and content. One is how many times your pages are shared. The more pages that are shared, the more search engines will view your site as an authoritative source.

3. Using traditional Rollover Buttons

Rollover Buttons can undoubtedly improve user experience. However, opting for the traditional variant which consists of three different images that need to load prior to your users interacting with them is indeed a bad choice. Instead, you should use CSS imageless rollover buttons that load really fast. Also, if you code your rollover button to change its Hex color upon click, you signal users that there is nothing hidden behind it that might cause a slow loading speed.

4. Excessive use of accordions

Accordions are very useful tools you would want to use if there is a lot of content on your website. What are they exactly? Mostly, these are all those “read more” buttons you can find on numerous websites. If your users are interested in finding out more about the content you have presented, they click the button and wait for the whole page to load. Otherwise, they continue browsing your website freely until they find something that suits their interest.

When using accordions, these hidden contents do not affect the loading speed because they load only upon clicking the ‘read more’ button. However, excessive use of accordions is a bad practice because, if a great majority of your users want to read more about various contents, their waiting time will be significantly longer. They will have to wait for the required page to load and then for the accordion content as well.

 5. Not optimizing heavy images

The reason for optimizing images you use on your website is very easy to understand judging by the opinion of experts like those at wpfullcare.com, for example, who can help you create a perfectly functioning website. Namely, the fewer bytes the browser has to download, the sooner will the content be available to users. This is particularly important if you want your website to be available to mobile users as well. So how do you achieve image optimization without much effort? Use PNG format for graphics and JPEG format for photographs. Apply some of the tools that can compress your images without affecting their quality. Finally, use Content distribution networks (CDNs). This way, it becomes possible to distribute a load of delivering content so that users can have better access to your website. 

6. Ignoring the downsides of using Parallax scrolling 

Parallax scrolling can help you create very engaging content for your users and provide them with an immersive experience. It involves some eye-catching dynamic elements and effects that appear in the background of your website. They move at a different speed from the rest of the page and thus create a sense of depth.

One of the downsides of using Parallax scrolling is that it is difficult to perform on mobile screens. Moreover, it can significantly affect the loading speed of your website because the code is constantly involved in calculations of where everything should be placed when a user is scrolling. Hence, we have decided to list Parallax scrolling among the design ideas that badly affect loading speed.

7. Check the loading speed of your website regularly

To make sure you are not using any of the design ideas that badly affect loading speed, conduct regular checks. The results are highly indicative of whether you need to change anything in your practice or the strategies you use. Only this way will you possess a properly functioning website that provides web users with exceptional user experience.

Your website is an important part of your business. Business owners in Las Vegas turn to us at Peak Image Designs for new projects and website tune-ups. We can help with design, layout, social media integration and SEO. We hope these tips help you assess your current situation. We are available to partner with you on your upgrade project.  

Let’s build something together.