11 Common Website Mistakes
A website is often the first place potential customers will go to find information about your business. If the first impression your brand gives off isn’t up to par you might lose a sale – and a potentially loyal customer who will keep on returning. If you don’t yet have a website, step out of the shadows and into the digital light with your brand. How is anyone going to find you if you’re in the dark? If you do have a website, is it effective or are you looking to tweak things?
That last question was a trick question. Your website should never be static. You should be periodically updating the content to make sure that it is relevant to your audience and up to date in terms of the products and services you offer.
If your website just isn’t getting you the results you want, perhaps you’re making at least one of these common website mistakes.
Too much written content… or not enough
Having too much written content on your website can make it appear cluttered. After a while, the words all jumble together and it becomes hard to read. I find that, most of the time, the majority of the lengthy content can be cut because it’s just fluff. Your words can have more impact if you use less of them. However, there is a flip side to this argument. You can also have too little written content. If you don’t have enough content you run the risk of people not understanding what you have to offer because you haven’t given enough information. It can also negatively affect your Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If there isn’t enough text, your website could be passed over!
Not enough visuals… or too many
Unlike written content, it’s quite common for a website to have too few images. You need images to help break up the content. Well-placed images can help you drive your point home and create strong brand representation that is memorable. Just make sure your images are high enough resolution that they aren’t distorted in any way – pixelated images are for censorship, not branding. Just as too much written content can make your website seem cluttered, too many visuals will make it look cluttered. It can also make loading your website much slower.
Boring content
If you are just creating a “snooze fest” for your brand, why bother having a website at all? Get excited about telling your story and sharing your purpose with your target audience. Your passion and excitement for your brand will come across and make a great impression. Just make sure you dial back the industry jargon and buzzwords. Not only can it make your content boring (and the same as everyone else), but it can be a turn-off for potential customers who don’t understand what you are talking about.
No links to social media – or links that go nowhere
You would be surprised (or maybe you wouldn’t?) at how many websites we come across that either don’t have social media links or the links don’t take users to where they are supposed to. This is a really easy way to integrate your strategy online so you can start cross-promoting between channels.
Not user friendly
If a potential customer is frustrated or confused using your website, they likely won’t stay on it. Think about the flow of your website – how would your customer use it in the most efficient way? Can they find their way around easily via your navigation? You should also consider keeping it on the simple side of things. You may end up with a flashy website with pop ups, animation, and other tricks, but flashy means nothing if you can’t provide something relevant and easy to navigate.
Confusing design
Again, keeping it simple is the best thing you can do when it comes to design. The other thing to remember is there should be a consistent design throughout all pages on your website. Choose 1 or 2 fonts styles and a simple colour scheme. Just like the rest of your website, you can’t just set it and forget it. Website designs do become obsolete. Sometimes you just need to overhaul the styling of your website to make sure your audience can relate to it.
Not mobile friendly
Eighty per cent of the over 3 billion people worldwide who use the internet access it via smartphone. Wouldn’t you want to have a piece of that attention? If your website is not mobile friendly by now, chances are you should likely wipe the slate clean and start fresh.
Where’s your blog?
Either you don’t have a blog, or it’s buried somewhere deep in the depths of the about page. Your blog is a great chance for you to showcase your expertise and potentially become an influencer in your organization’s industry. People trust brands who communicate openly and often. When you do start to write it, give it a starring role in your main menu. If you’re going to take the time to write it, then you should make it easy to find and read.
No call to action
Decide what the purpose of your website is (ie. Sales, email sign-ups, etc.) and ask people to follow through. For example, if your goal is to build your email list, then your sign-up form should be very prominent on each page with content that encourages people to sign up.
Missing contact information
Like blogs, contact information can be not there at all or buried deep at the end of one page on your site. It can also be out of date. Make sure you have at least your phone number, email, and your name (if you don’t have it already on a team page) and display it prominently in header or footer of your site. Other information to add would be your address and specific department contacts if you have them. You should also have a “Contact” page with all of the important information on it.
You don’t keep on checkin’
You never know when something could go wrong with your site. Keep checking in regularly to make sure everything is running smoothly so you can avoid broken links or slow-to-load pages.