A website is the heart and soul of businesses these days. People rely on information when they look for a company or a certain product. Where do they get this information from? The website!
A website could be simple yet elegant, or it could be flashy and striking. Some may show tons of pictures, while others may be information loaded. What’s important is that your website fits the products you sell or the information you want to convey and that the people visiting your website will get whatever they were there for. Your website should satisfy the needs and wants of the customers in order to make a good impression and, ultimately, a sale.
If you are not getting the results that you want from our website, then you must be doing something wrong. The following discusses that mistakes that you should avoid in your website design.
Incorrect font size and style
When people are on your website, the first thing you want them to notice is the most important information – it may be your product or the title of your blog. A font that is too small is too difficult to read. People may be reading your content from a very small monitor and they may be two feet away from their device. The title, heading, or the most important details on the site should be in bigger fonts to get the attention of any reader. Font styles that are difficult to understand are also a no-no. Imagine having to read an article in swirly and frilly fonts. The reader won’t even bother to start reading anything. Just one look at your website could give them a headache. Your main objective is to get your viewers’ attention, not to scare them away. This can happen within the first 3 seconds of landing on your page. These 3 seconds are essential in keeping their’ attention and interest; it is the time that they can decide to stay and keep on scrolling or to leave and do another search.
Websites that are not optimized for mobile devices
Almost everyone has a smartphone or a tablet these days. These devices offer convenience, especially for people who are always on the go – information right on the palm of their hand. Whether they are on a train or on a long-haul flight for a business trip, people use their mobile devices to do their research or look around for stuff they are interested in.
What if you have a very nice and well-laid-out website designed for computers only? When people will try to view your website from their phones, it’s either the illustrations are cut off or the content is unintelligible because not all parts are showing. Almost all websites now are designed for different platforms. Make sure to create one on a server that supports mobile devices, such as iPhones, Kindles, Blackberry, and tablets. This ensures that the screen resolution is compatible with these devices and that a person looking at your website from a phone will be able to see the whole thing and not a chopped-up version of the original page. This is called a responsive web design that will benefit you and your business.
Using a free website builder
Website builders often offer their services for free, but you can only do so much on the free version. All the nice and juicy stuff and features are on the premium or paid services. Websites are not that expensive if you are worried about the cost. This is one investment that you wouldn’t want to get stingy with. Remember, most people nowadays are on the Internet. Even shopping for milk is done online now. You will get a wider market reach using a website, and a well-built website with all the right features is a gold mine in the industry. Once you get thousands of views and subscriptions, you won’t even wonder why a premium fee is expensive after all.
Not updating the website
Okay, so you have done it. You have a website and it’s a pretty good one. You produce great content and people read your articles. But wait, the last update was a year ago! People go back to your website and what they see is the same old content and nothing has changed at all since their last visit. Also, the resources or other websites that you link to your copy are no longer active or are broken. What a turnoff! Nobody would be willing to go back to your site every now and then if you have nothing new to offer. You have to keep your website updated and produce new information every week as much as possible. Get good content writers if you are too busy to do it yourself. Get a website developer to keep your website going. Never wait for your readers to lose their interest.
Moving or sliding contents
Come on, who actually appreciates those slides on a website? People see something interesting in one of the featured topics, and just when they are about to click on it, it changes and another topic comes up and they clicked on that topic accidentally. Nothing’s fun in that. You can design your website differently and use effects that will not annoy your website’s visitors. The easier they can get into your content, the better.
Not optimizing your website for SEO
You may have the best website in the world, but if you don’t have the right audience or if your website does not even reach the second page in Google search results, the website is just like an old tabloid in a pile of magazines. Try to read more on local SEO news & tactics. You will learn a great a great deal about prospecting clients in your own locality and how they will be able to find you on the cloud. This is called SEO, or search engine optimization, which a good website should always have. Not all web designers are knowledgeable about SEO or when to apply it. This results in poor flow of traffic. Marketing companies like SERP.co specialize in SEO optimization and can help your website reach its full potential in Internet visibility.
We are now in the days where a great website is equated to a great company or a legit business. It is important to veer away from these common mistakes to keep your audience engaged in your website.
