There’s so much you can do to your website today given the readily available tools and technology. Not to forget how the visual elements can contribute greatly to the website for a killer design.

Regardless of the attraction these visual elements can create, there’s also a chance that they bring in dangers. That happens either when they are generously placed throughout the website or the placement is just wrong.

While many web designers and small business owners may look forward to making their websites look all pretty and presentable, little do they pay heed to making it useful for the users. Understand that the usefulness of the website is important. Here’s why:

Functionality is the top priority

A lot many designers are rudimentarily mislead when they are being asked to “Design” a website. Believing that a good functionality will eventually fall in place as they go about creating a beautiful website. That’s an absolutely wrong assumption for the functionality is never to fall in place or even follow, it is to lead the design. So the next time you go about designing even a single pixel, find out the purpose behind it and how can you make a core function out of it.

Beauty may be a distraction

The sad truth of life is that beauty can distract. The same rule applies to the web design as well. So a site that makes someone say “Wow” can also make that someone lead away from the actual purpose of the design. If your website is one of those that people are in awe of but they actually have very little to do with your website, then perhaps it’s time to polish that UX. A team of marketers, designers and developers should sit together and plan a website based on all the aspects that would touch the user experience.

Obvious distractions cause bounce rates

Continuing from the last point, if users aren’t aware of what they are supposed to on/with your website, they would just add up to the bounce rate of your website. It will also hurt your SEO which is often the result of the aesthetics taking over the actual functionality. So take that into account as well as mobile bounce rates which means a mobile-first approach is no joke – its real!

Speed of the website matters

So you have lots of colorful flashy elements, sliders and animations on your website. So all of that may be cool, agreed but they are also harming the speed of the website. In fact, they are slowing the load times and given the impatient users today who have shorter attention spans, they are sure to run away seeing slower load times. Also the faster your website is, the more Google is to like it. So elimination of all the elements that could slow down a website is important so that A: you can rank higher and B: you aren’t testing the patience of your users.

Overly done websites lead to confusion

It couldn’t be said any more clearly than this: Complexity leads to confusion. If a user is taken over by the beauty and overwhelming elements placed on your website, all of it will be an obstacle for the effectiveness of the functionality that the user is bound to ignore. Make your websites simpler and give the users some room to breathe. There’s a beauty in simplicity that is unimaginable and will always last for an eternity.

The crux of the lessons learned: a website can be beautiful, yes, but it should never have a beautiful design that becomes a hindrance in the functionality in some way. In fact, design more websites with a functionality-first approach, which in real follows the user-first approach. Do that and your website can do a lot better!