A professional and eye-catching website is a crucial tool for attracting new customers, establishing your credibility, and building relationships. An effective website should provide a user-friendly experience, encourage a steady flow of leads, and promote ongoing sales.
However, when designing your website there are a few common pitfalls that can have a negative impact on your online presence. Nonetheless, these issues do have some quick and easy fixes. So, let us discuss 3 common website design mistakes, and what you can do to avoid them.
Failure to Use Calls to Action
One of the most frequent mistakes that companies of all sizes make when building their websites involves the lack of use of calls to action (CTAs). CTAs tell your customers precisely where to go find out what they need to know. A well written CTA uses a compelling phrase to prompt visitors to your website to focus on their next steps. It can be helpful to think of a CTA as a persuasive command attached to a link or button. The best written CTAs are clear, simple, and tell users what to do. ‘Sign up’, ‘Subscribe’ and ‘Get Started’ are all popular examples and should feature throughout your website. If you are not already making use of CTAs, then it might now be time for a new website design.
There are a few techniques that can make writing CTAs a little easier. Always use command verbs to start your CTAs and try to provoke emotion or enthusiasm. You want to give visitors to your website a definitive reason why they should take the desired action. For additional impact, it is no secret that imposing a time limit through language can work as an effective motivator so that you can capitalize on the fear of missing out. One other way to use CTAs is to link to similar or related information from elsewhere on your website. These types of CTAs work well when placed in the middle or at the bottom of your pages. As a golden rule though, always feature one attention grabbing CTA in the upper half of every page of your website so that you can direct your customers accordingly.
Poor Search Engine Optimization
We all search for things online nowadays. Therefore, if you want your business to come up first in search engine results, then you absolutely need to make sure that the content on your website has been optimized for search engines. Posting SEO friendly content can have a major impact on your website traffic, and in turn this can generate leads. Content that has been optimized for the web should provide value and must be organically discoverable via search engines. Achieving a high search engine ranking does not happen instantaneously but there are some key areas where you can focus your attention.
For example, long tail keyword phrases can help you to generate more leads. Taking a more natural approach to language enables your content to appear specific. For instance, you can type a broad topic like ‘shoes’ into a search engine, and the autocomplete results will give you more insights into the kinds of searches that people are making around that topic. Similarly, it is fundamental that you are posting quality content on your website regularly. Including an active blog can create an opportunity to share articles about industry trends and expertise so that you can provide value to potential customers. Nurturing relationships with your customers via social media is another way to encourage engagement and boost your search rankings, so be sure to use platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Limited Mobile Website Experience
Nowadays, almost everyone uses a smartphone to access the internet. Consequently, if you want to make a good impression, then your website design must take handheld or mobile access into consideration. In the digital age, there is more choice than ever before and therefore consumers are always looking for an optimal experience. Moreover, reviews and referrals can make or break your online reputation. No one is happy to recommend a website that is poorly designed, so be sure to make a lasting impression with a mobile friendly website design.
The majority of internet users actually rely on their mobile devices more than their desktop counterparts. This means that you need to carefully consider how your website works and looks on smaller screens. Keep your website design simple, responsive, and consistent across all platforms. Furthermore, it is important to aim for functionality. Depending on the purpose of your website all tools, such as nearest store locations, product search, and reviews should help your customers to achieve their goals more quickly. Above all, your mobile website should be easy to navigate and make use of columns, buttons, tools, and other design elements to enable fast and efficient decision making.
Ultimately, correcting any website design mistakes can help your company to bring in more business. By focusing on best practices when building your website, you can provide the best possible user experience for your customers while generating more leads for your business.
When running a successful business website, there are always going to be changes that you can make to improve the browsing experience for your customers. Check out this guide to learn more about what might be letting your website down.