Think of your website as the virtual front door to your business. In today’s world, you don’t need a physical location to operate a business. The design and navigation of your website is essential to your business’ success. Having a poor site causes businesses to lose customers, and that is money out the door. Unfortunately, this happens very often. Many small business owners design their own websites to save money but fail to truly understand the concepts of good web design, which leads to a not-so-great site. Google’s main focus is to provide a quality user experience, so your website must provide a great one. To do this, there are certain rules web designers must follow. Oftentimes, people ignore these rules and end up with websites that are not functional. Avoid the following website mistakes small business owners often make.
- Too Much (or too little) Going On
You want to portray important information right away on your website. Visitors who visit your site but can’t understand what your site is about within a few seconds of arriving will leave. This is not an excuse to cram your website with too much information. There is a fine line between too much or too little content on your web pages. Remember: a crowded website is never a good thing. You want to be careful with adding tons of images, text, and other things. Adding too many things will take a while to load, which will make your visitors want to leave. On the other hand, be careful with having too little information and photos on your site. Minimalism in design is a huge trend right now, and it does work but only when done correctly. Brands like Nike and Apple are doing well with their minimalist look because they are brands that are instantly recognized. For most small businesses, that is not the case. You need content to explain what you do, for whom, and what benefits you provide. If visitors cannot find that information quickly, they will leave your site.
Too much going on (Image Source: Mile High Comics)
- Call-to-action (CTA) is missing or unclear
Once your website has your visitor’s attention, you have to tell them what to do next. If you have too much going on, they will feel confused or frustrated or overwhelmed causing them to leave because it was unclear what you wanted them to do. Some examples of a call-to-action are: Call now, book now, sign up, subscribe, get started, and join. People want to be guided. Determine the primary goal of each web page and create your call-to-action that best represents that.
Good CTA (Image Source: Spotify)
- Low Quality or Irrelevant Images
Photos and graphics are key when it comes to attracting visitors to navigate the rest of your site. However, overused stock photography and low-quality images are not helpful. They are distracting and can ruin the overall aesthetic of your site. Images and graphics are meant to convey complex thoughts quickly without having to physically read text. Images and graphics that are not of the highest quality will turn off visitors and confuse them.
- Lack of Contact Info
Another common mistake that business owners make when creating their websites is forgetting to list contact information. If a visitor has to look through your entire site for contact info, they will most likely get impatient and leave. You should have a clearly labeled “Contact Us” page or at least have your information at the bottom of every page.
Contact info is displayed at the bottom (Image Source: Rising Tide)
- Website isn’t mobile-friendly
Mobile has inarguably become the dominant platform for searches. This is why having a mobile-friendly website is so important for all businesses. If you’ve ever landed on a website that hasn’t been optimized for mobile devices, it’s difficult to navigate and hard to understand. Most of the time, you end up leaving to find a website that is easier to use. Making sure that your site is mobile-friendly can make the experience different for a new customer.
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