Businesses Should Avoid These Web Design Mistakes

Photo of author

(Newswire.net — January 8, 2019) — Smart businesses focus on their web presence to both attract and retain customers, but simply having a web presence isn’t enough when anyone can buy a webpage for very little cost. Business owners who don’t know much about web design can unknowingly make some of these common mistakes when designing and setting up their websites.

Slow Load Speeds

It only takes three seconds or less for visitors to a webpage to decide whether they are going to stay on the page or not. If the page fails to load in those three seconds, the viewer is gone. Similarly, if certain aspects of the page don’t load quickly, such as pictures or videos, the viewer is gone. Google also includes loading speed as part of their algorithm for search results. Because of this, slow speeds hurt business websites in two ways: less traffic is driven to the site and fewer people are staying on the site once they’re there.

Not Thinking Mobile First

People are on their phones constantly and most of them are looking at websites from their mobile devices, not from their computers. When visitors to a site find a website that doesn’t work well on their phone, they often form negative opinions about the business, if they even decide to stay on the page. Consumers know what they want and they want it quickly; they’re not going to waste time trying to navigate a cumbersome mobile page. Having a website that doesn’t work on mobile phones is one of the quickest and easiest ways to lose business.

Trying to Do Too Much

Businesses want to stand out and showcase everything they have to offer, but too much information and too much visual stimulation quickly overwhelms viewers. When visitors to websites are trying to decide whether they are going to stay or not in those first three seconds, they’re looking for the main point of the site and if they can’t find it, they’re going to leave. Trying to do too much also slows down load speeds, so it actually hurts business websites in two ways. Having a clean web design can go a long way in making sure visitors stay on the page.

Errors with Call to Action and Contact Information

Sometimes businesses forget to include contact information or they have it hidden in a strange place on the website. If viewers have no way to contact the business, they are going to move on to a different site. Similarly, a confusing or hidden call to action isn’t going to drive the viewer to take the next step. A website can be designed and set up extremely well, but if the viewer doesn’t know what to do when they’re done looking at the site, they’re going to leave and never give it a second thought. Sometimes this information is an afterthought, but it really is one of the most important things a business puts on their website.

The Wrong Ads

Ads are a necessary evil for many websites. Making ads too prominent or flashy can take away the credibility of the site. Ads have come a long way from the spammy pop ups of the 90’s and early 2000’s. If an ad gets in the way of what the viewer wants to see or if they are just plain annoying, the viewer might decide to quickly leave the site. Another common error with pop ups is that while the entire site may be optimized for mobile, sometimes the pop ups are not. It can be very difficult or even impossible for the viewer to close the pop up, making them just give up and leave the site.

Sometimes the pop up ads are actually a call to action for the actual site the viewer is on. This can work, but the timing of this type of pop up is very important. Some businesses have the box pop up as soon as the viewer lands on the site. In this case, the viewer hasn’t had the chance to form an opinion on the site to know if they want to take action or not.

Poor Content

Quality content is what is going to keep people on a site and what will make them come back again. Quality content that is optimized for SEO is also going to help drive traffic to a site. Focusing too much on the look and feel of a site and leaving content as an afterthought can backfire because although viewers may like the site initially, they are not going to stick around if there is nothing of value to them once they get a little deeper into the site.

By setting up a website correctly, business owners can take advantage of inbound marketing to grow their business. Making some of these mistakes, however, can quickly turn potential customers and website viewers away.