People know a bad website when they see one. If a website is too difficult to navigate or takes too long to load, they’ll click away. Even simple mistakes like typos or too much clutter can stand in the way of gaining conversions. Here are some of the most common website design mistakes and how to avoid them.
Five Common Mistakes to Avoid When Designing Your Website
1: Bad User Experience
Web users won’t stick around if your website is frustrating to use. Many factors can contribute to a bad user experience, such as confusing navigation, too much or too little information, slow loading times, or a cluttered design.
For a positive user experience that converts customers, you need to design a clean, user-friendly website. It should have intuitive navigation, engaging information, and short load times. It should also be accessible to everyone, including the disabled, the blind, and the elderly.
2: Desktop-Only Design
Another major issue that can turn customers away from your website is a non-responsive design. With over 50% of all web traffic coming from mobile devices, it’s crucial that your website is able to adapt to mobile navigation.
People want to interact with a business as conveniently as possible. Many prefer to make purchases, sign up for services, and book appointments using their phones. If your website is only formatted for desktops, they’re going to look elsewhere. If you’re not sure whether your website is mobile-friendly, you can test it with Google’s free tool.
3: Lack of SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a way of enhancing your website so that search engines like Google understand it better and rank it higher in their lists of relevant results. If you fail to design your website with SEO in mind, you’ll have a hard time driving traffic to your website, regardless of how good it looks.
Google prioritizes many factors when it comes to determining rankings, including relevance, positive user experience, and mobile friendliness. Regularly publishing SEO-driven blog posts is an effective way to produce fresh, relevant content. Your website must also be able to adapt to mobile devices in order to rank well.
4: Poorly Written Content
Disorganized, difficult-to-read content can reflect as poorly on your business as spelling errors. If you want to attract customers looking for high quality products and services, then you need to deliver high quality content on your website.
From your home page to blog posts, every part of your site should have informative content that helps you build a trustworthy relationship with your customers. Make sure to break up content using headings and subheadings, bullet points, and white space so that users can easily scan your website to find what they’re looking for.
5: Unclear Calls to Action
A strong call to action (CTA) motivates web users to interact with your business. Each page on your website should have a clear CTA that tells users what to do and how to do it.
For example, you can instruct visitors to call your number to request a quote, click a button to book an appointment, or get a discount by signing up for your newsletter. To avoid overwhelming your visitors, make sure your CTA is concise and only asks for one thing.
Professional Web Design Services for Small Businesses
It can be challenging to design the perfect website while you’re busy running your business. The New Wine Digital team can build a clean, attractive website from the ground up. We’ve been creating custom websites for small businesses across the country for over 10 years. Give us a call at 480-516-1819 today to learn how we can help you drive more traffic to your website.
Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (2/3/2023). Image by Kevin Phillips from Pixabay