Web design disasters: Are you driving customers away?

The importance of a website in the current day and age cannot be ignored. For most people, this will be the first contact they have with your business. And, you know what they say, first impressions count! 

If your website is not making the impression you had hoped for, i.e. your bounce rate is high, then read on to discover some of the critical mistakes you could be making that are driving customers away…

Not testing on all devices

There is only one place to begin, and this is with testing! You need to test your website, and then test it again, and again, and again. Plus, you need to do this on a variety of devices. Your website may work really well on a computer, but does it have the same impact on a mobile phone? If your site is difficult to use and read on a smaller device, it is of little surprise that you are losing a lot of potential customers. Users will simply get frustrated and look elsewhere.

On-page overwhelm

Another reason why your web design may be working against your business rather than for it is because you have overwhelmed visitors. Too much information is just as bad as not enough information. Why? Well, no one is going to take in what you are saying anyway. So, how do you know if you are overdoing it? Count the important pieces of information you have featured on each page. If you count more than three major pieces of information, you are probably overdoing it. For the best conversion rate, you need to keep visual options to a minimum. Less is more!

Designing for the cool factor

What’s the main purpose of your website? Is it to wow people with cool graphics and a fancy design? Or, is it to convert people into potential customers? It should be the latter. However, a lot of people get caught up in the world of fancy graphics and colours, and they get distracted from the main goal. Yes, you need a website that looks good, but it should never compromise telling users what your product or service is all about. The concept of your website needs to be immediately recognisable. This is where a professional service can really pay its worth. The likes of Digitalico Media will fulfill all your WordPress design needs. Companies like this make an effort to understand your business so that they can carefully and effectively incorporate your brand into the design. This makes a massive difference.

Lack of consistency

Another issue with a lot of websites today is that there is a lack of consistency. Look at your website, assess the images, contents, navigation, and other elements. Note their placement. Does their placement differ from page-to-page? If so, this could be a key reason why your conversion rate is low. The internet is all about convenience. Navigation should be easy and seamless. No one wants to waste time trying to figure out where all of the content is. Cohesiveness and consistency are everything. To find out whether your website is consistent, there are a number of questions you can ask yourself. This includes the following: Do all of the input elements look the same throughout your website? Do links have the same colour throughout the site? Are website titles and headings consistent? Do you use the same colours and fonts throughout the website?

A lack of trust

When users visit your website, they want to feel safe. They want assurances that your business is a professional and reputable one. There are a number of ways you can make sure this is the case. Firstly, make sure your website is well-designed and has an expert feel to it. Secondly, include a privacy policy and terms and conditions. In the age of rampant spam, it is important to give your users a sense of security. Finally, include trust badges. This should put all visitors and ease, ensuring they don’t leave your website and look elsewhere.

Using stock photography

There are instances whereby using stock photography is acceptable. However, on the whole, it’s not advised. You want to show your business in an original light. You want to give off a professional vibe and set your company out from the competition. You won’t be able to achieve this if you are using photographs that people have seen time and time before.

Poor SEO structure

One of the reasons why your website may be failing to hit the mark could be because your SEO structure is not effective. This may not be something that has occurred to you. After all, you are getting traffic to your website, they’re merely not hanging about, so surely your SEO strategy is working? Unfortunately, it’s not this simple. A good search engine optimisation plan is one that achieves real results in the form of conversions and sales. If you are not achieving this, it is a sign that you are not targeting your campaign effectively. Evidently, you are appealing to people that aren’t interested in what you have to offer, so perhaps it is time to revisit your approach to SEO.

“Look at me” content

You think your business is the best thing since sliced bread, but you’re not going to do yourself any favours by simply stating this. An inwardly focused website is a big turnoff! You need to write from a prospect’s point of view. After all, visitors want to know what is in it from them. They don’t merely want to read a plethora of self-praise. Rather than telling visitors that your website is amazing, show them! Include a portfolio of the work you have done so far. This is a necessity. If you run a business whereby photographs won’t really show off your work, add a case study section. You can explain some of the projects you have worked on so far. Explain the issue, and show how your business helped the client in question. This will be far more effective when it comes to showing how competent your business is.

Lack of customer engagement

Another reason why your website is failing to live up to your expectations could be a lack of customer engagement. The most compelling and persuasive sales copy on the internet won’t be any good if people can’t figure out how to get in touch with you. As mentioned, no one wants to spend ages searching around a website looking for the information they need. Make sure the contact details are easy to find, and that you provide both an email address and phone number at the minimum. Aside from this, social share buttons are a must for blog posts, offering people yet another way to engage with your business.

Leaving visitors stuck at dead ends

No one likes to be stranded, do they? So, don’t leave your customers stuck at a dead end. An effective website is one whereby every page leaves somewhere. There should never be a stopping point. Don’t send your users to a page without an obvious next step or open content in a new window.

If you are guilty of committing any of the critical errors that have been mentioned above, get in touch with Outre Creative, they will redesign and improve your current site and more. Your website should start climbing the search engine result pages, and users will get a lot more enjoyment from your site too. Win-win!