Don’t Make These Mistakes With Your Website
Like so many other aspects of your business, your website is something you always want to see getting better. That doesn’t mean you have to do a full redesign every few years (unless you want to), but it does mean that you should regularly be scrolling through your website and asking yourself, “How can I improve my visitor’s experience? How can I be sure my website represents my brand, leaves a memorable impression, and has visitors converting into customers?”
Whether you’re building a brand-new website or just updating an old one, there are definite mistakes you want to make sure you avoid making. Here are the major ones we see some businesses make all the time:
It’s not mobile optimized.
This one is surprisingly common, and it makes sense why. When we’re setting up our websites, and doing most of the tasks required for marketing our business, we’re doing them behind a computer screen. The problem is that most of our customers are going to be accessing our website from a smartphone. And if your website isn’t optimized for mobile, then your customers are going to get a screwy, fractured layout when they pull up your website. This doesn’t mean that your website needs to be built exclusively for mobile — many web designers, as well as many DIY templates, can do layouts that look equally great on a computer screen and on a phone screen.
You have too many carousels.
You know those rotating photos that are so popular on websites these days? Those are called carousels. And they look great when they’re used appropriately. They let you show off more photos than you could if you just had static images, plus they give your website an element of trendiness. But when you have too many of these carousels, they start to get distracting and make it difficult to pay attention to the substance of your website. At their worst, they could become an eyesore.
It’s too slow.
This usually happens when you have too much content loaded on your website. Photos, videos, GIFs, hundreds of words of copy, and other content is interesting and valuable to your web visitors, but if there’s so much content that your website takes forever to load, then it’s time to re-evaluate. A website that takes more than a few seconds to load will lose people’s attention. If all of your content is necessary, ask your web developer about optimizing your web pages for speed.
It’s poorly done.
It’s probably safe to say most people don’t create websites that they think look bad. But it’s probably for the best if you get a second set of eyes. Somebody who knows graphic design can help you avoid websites that are too visually cluttered — too many visual elements will stop people from finding the information they need. They can also let you know if your font is too hard to read or if your photos could look better. You should also consider getting input from a copyeditor who can catch any typos in your web copy that would make your website look amateurish. And of course, don’t forget about the user. Is it intuitive? Can they find what they need without hunting around? Can they make a purchase without being funnelled through 3 or 4 pages?
Your website is either too boring or too busy.
You want your website to strike a happy medium between being interesting enough that people are inclined to explore all you have to offer, but not so overwhelming that people feel bombarded. Make sure you’re using high-quality photos of your business instead of boring stock photography (hiring a professional photographer is worth the investment) and you’re using engaging copy that is broken up into short, easily scannable snippets.
You’re just focused on your products or services.
Yes, buying options are probably the most important aspect of your website, but you also want to provide valuable content that will help you establish the know-like-trust factor with your web visitors. If you’re going to actually convert them into customers, they need to get a sense of what sets your business apart from the competition. They don’t care about what you do as much as they care about why you do it. So share a lengthy “About Us” page delving into your mission, provide testimonials from satisfied customers, and even share photos and videos of your team in action.
You’re underestimating your blog.
Your blog is a golden opportunity to drive traffic to your website and to establish yourself as a leader in your industry. Without your blog, you probably have very few opportunities to create fresh content for your website. Writing about an important topic in your field of expertise once a week will improve your company’s standing with search engines and will make your web visitors realize they can trust you because you know what you’re doing.