Avoid These 9 Website Design Mistakes That Are Pushing Visitors Away
A professional website must draw its target audience in. If visitors leave seconds after arriving, it could be due to website design mistakes.
Why your website design matters
It’s tough to design and build a website that appeals and sells. It takes trial and error and tons of revisions. But nobody wants an outdated website that looks unsafe and takes forever to load.
Think about how quick consumer processes are today. Almost everything is possible within a few clicks. Visitors have no time to figure out how your site navigation works.
If your website isn’t friendly, users will leave. That isn’t a great first impression if you’re introducing your brand.
But a business website shouldn’t only look good. It has to be functional too. It has to help you achieve the purpose you built it for - growing customer base and increasing conversions.
Are you committing these common website design mistakes?
Avoid these common website design mistakes that keep you from meeting your business goals.
- It’s too busy.
Your website must contain beneficial information, but be careful with layout and presentation. If there’s too much going on, visitors will feel exhausted even before exploring your site.
They’ll feel overwhelmed, and it’s unlikely they’ll stay. Think of the most important elements you want users to see the moment they land on your site.
Choose colors and designs that help visitors focus and absorb content more easily. You’ll want people to ease into your site and linger further, just as you want guests to feel comfortable in your home.
- It lacks call to action.
Call to action (CTA) tells visitors what you want them to do. Call to action buttons can say get started, shop now, or contact us today.
Whichever phrase works best for your audience, be sure it stands out. It has to capture attention and make users click. Your wording must be short, simple, and clear.
For example, after listing down what your e-book has in store, immediately insert a CTA button below. Avoid adding more buttons that may only confuse or push users away.
- It’s missing analytics.
You won’t know what the problem is, if you won't evaluate your site. This is where Analytics come in handy.
To understand a visitor’s journey and where potential roadblocks are, you must be able to track their experience. By connecting a metrics tool, such as Google Analytics, you'll see how users consume your content.
You’ll find out which pages make them stay longer, which ones fail to capture their interest, or which type of content fits their preferences.
By studying your website performance, you learn and understand the user behavior. You'll see which content approach works best or which products and services are a hit.
- It doesn’t follow SEO best practices.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a digital marketing strategy you must apply in your website.
While it remains true that content is king, you still need to take steps to ensure your target audience sees your content. But SEO is a lot more than optimizing your organic ranking on search results. It also helps ensure a smooth user experience on your website.
SEO best practices include producing unique and helpful content, using easy-to-follow format, boosting your site’s load speed, adding tags and using high quality photos.
If your website doesn’t meet this checklist, then it’ll need an overhaul.
- It’s missing crucial information.
Your website must offer options for consumers to get in touch with you or find you. Contact information must always be updated.
Your location, if you have a physical shop or office that users can visit, should also be noted. Don’t forget to include your practice or operating hours so people can plan their visit.
Adding as much important detail in your website also reduces the need for follow up calls or messages, saving time for visitors and employees.
- It uses terrible photos.
It’s okay to use stock photos, but be sure they’re relevant and compelling. Skip poor resolution images that only devalue your stellar content.
If you can produce your own images, that would be better. But if you don’t have the time or resource for it, at least choose visuals that complement your content.
Tags must also be included, so site crawlers will know what the images are about.
- It has poor navigation.
You want your target audience to find what they need fast and easy. Upon landing on your site, visitors should know where to search for a specific product or service.
Whichever page they are, they should be able to go back to the homepage with ease. If you’re running an e-commerce site, for example, there must be filter options to simplify the search process.
If a content is no longer available for some reason, recommend relevant pages that users may want to check out.
- It isn’t responsive.
Consumers visit websites and consume online content anywhere they are. Whether they’re commuting, resting at the park, or dining out, chances are, they’ll look for what they need using their mobile devices.
So if your website isn’t optimized for mobile devices, you’ll miss out on chances of gaining new followers or supporters. It’s a huge mistake to assume users will only check your website through their desktop computer.
Often, users make decisions based on where they are. And mobile phones are beneficial in narrowing down options according to a user’s current location.
- It isn’t customer-centric.
While you’re maintaining a website to introduce or sell your products and services, don’t forget to consider the needs of your target audience. Always refer to your Analytics tool.
By understanding how visitors prefer to consume information, which type of posts they relate with, or which questions they want answered, you can tailor your content accordingly.
And if your content is making the lives of your audience easier, chances are they’ll come back for more.
Have you checked your business website?
So, are you guilty of committing any of the website design mistakes listed above? It isn’t too late to correct them.
Check what your competitors are doing, but don’t copy. Listen to what visitors say about your website. Find design inspirations online, and don’t be afraid to test things out.
A great website design takes a lot of effort, but it’s worth it.
If you have questions about your website or would like a complimentary website audit please visit our website or give us a call (888) 214-0569.
Trent Wehrhahn is the founder and President of Dental Growth Strategies. With his years of multinational sales and marketing experience with dental offices, he has focused his strengths on marketing solutions for local dental offices just like yours.
At DGS we help you assess where you are at and implement a custom marketing plan that gets results.