Your website is one of the first places where customers go to explore your business. So, it’s crucial to ensure that it’s working for you as best it can.
Some functionality and style mistakes can rob you of precious clicks and drive away potential customers. In turn, this can sabotage your chances of building a well-ranking, authoritative brand.
In this article, we explore 11 scary web design mistakes that could be spooking your visitors away. We also look at how to correct them, so you can make sure your site is all treats and no tricks.
Blogs from a few months ago, listings of products that are out of stock and old contact information are all examples of outdated content. Incorrect or old information can lead to frustrated visitors that won’t be visiting your website again. Keeping your content fresh shows that your business is active. It also gives visitors a reason to come back to your site to view new information. Reviewing and updating content every week is recommended.
Visitors need to know exactly what action you want them to take when they’re on your web pages, otherwise, they feel lost. Your call to action (CTA) should give users direction and align with your website’s goals. CTAs are those buttons on your web pages that tell visitors what to do, for example, “Read More”, “Buy Now” or “Contact Us”. Your CTAs can differentiate a conversion from a bounce. This is why it is important to use action words, use colors that stand out and keep it simple when creating CTAs.
With most web searches occurring on mobile devices today, it’s not in your best interest to design a website that only looks good on desktops. Visitors will quickly click away from your site if it doesn’t display correctly. Before publishing your new website page, take the time to check the appearance on mobile devices. Often, images may display differently or a piece of text may break differently on mobile devices than planned because of the difference in screen size.
Visuals can communicate information quickly and are a key element to any website. That being said, many websites use irrelevant or poor-quality images on their pages. Images that aren’t high resolution can make your website look shoddy and poorly put together. This is a reflection of your business and can turn off visitors fast.
Just like avoiding poor quality images, it’s also advisable to avoid cliche stock images. It’s important that visuals add to the story that you are trying to tell. So, rather than just throwing a few stock photos into the mix, the visuals used throughout your website should tell visitors what differentiates you from competitors.
A slow website can directly affect your search rankings and make it harder for people to find you. Also, if your site takes too long to load, users will click away immediately and try one of your competitors. Big or outdated plugins, themes, modules and visuals can all slow down your website’s loading times. Updating these elements can help to speed things up, especially if you haven’t updated them in a while. Run a test using a tool such as WebPageTest or Google PageSpeed Insights to check your baseline, and then start making changes.
We live in a time where everything is provided to us in an instant, and anything that takes longer will make visitors leave your website. Making your navigation menu hard to find or difficult to use is one common web design mistake that can cost you dearly. Always have a clear, user-friendly menu with all your web pages easily accessible from all types of devices.
One aspect that is most often overlooked by businesses is not harnessing analytics. This can leave you in the dark about where your website is lacking. Website analytics is the method of analyzing the behavior of visitors to a website. Using the right analytics tools, such as Google Analytics, you can get data on how users navigate your website, find out the flaws in the user journey and identify what’s working and what needs improvements.
It is important to know that as websites age, they become much more difficult to maintain and less secure. If your website was designed even just five years ago, it’s already quite old and may need a redesign with new tech. However, keep in mind that the digital tools and technologies underpinning websites are constantly changing, so it is essential to do thorough research before investing in one type of tech.
Forms are still an essential tool for acquiring new leads. However, considering that consumers are increasingly protective of their personal information, as well as their time, lengthy forms are not useful. If not directly tied to something your users really want, these forms can dramatically hurt conversions. So, keep them short and relevant.
Forms should also work effectively. Avoid forms with case-sensitive fields or those that return errors without giving a reason why. This just causes frustration.
The moment visitors decide to make a purchase on your website is crucial. It’s important that they have the necessary contact information the moment they decide you’re the right business for them. If visitors have to search through your website for ways to contact you, they will likely get frustrated and click away. Your Contact page should always be just a click away, or your contact information should be clearly visible on every page.
The ability to connect personally with customers is highly valuable. A good way to nurture these relationships is through social media platforms. These can strengthen your customer service and brand identity. So, it’s important to make it easy for your site visitors to check your social pages. It is recommended to place social icons in an easily-accessible location such as your header or contact page.
A unique and captivating website isn’t an option anymore. The competition online is just too strong. Having a poor website can cause your business to lose customers, which is money out the door. On the other hand, a good website can help you grow your business, as a flawless design makes a great impression on potential customers, enticing them to take action.
This is why it is so important to know and understand common web design mistakes to avoid making them. Anytime you can better serve your website visitors through accessible design and a smooth user journey, you’re showcasing how much you care about all the people who check out your products or services.