10 Website Design Mistakes That Cost you Customers
Your website is the first impression customers get when they find your business. A poorly designed website can drive away customers and cost you leads, sales and trust. In this post, I will cover 10 website mistakes that you maybe making that drive customers away and how a professional web design service can help you avoid them.
1 - Slow loading speed
If your website is performing at a slow speed, users are going to click off as they may not trust your site, therefore it will not convert leads. A way to increase the website speed is to compress images into smaller formats without losing quality, use a reliable hosting network and optimise code throughout the site.
2 - Not mobile friendly
With over 60% of website traffic coming from mobile devices, it is important that your website has been designed responsively across multiple devices. For a mobile friendly website design, you should test it across multiple devices to ensure that all information is clearly displayed.
3 - Poor and inconsistent branding
Having inconsistent colours, typography and brand language can create confusion. Branding and website design come hand-in-hand as the whole package conveys a sense of trust and reliability. In order to gain a user’s trust, a strong brand identity should be created and used across all platforms.
4 - No clear call to action
A user visits your website as they want to make a purchase from you, whether it’s a product or service. You would need to guide them on a journey in making that purchase. If you don’t have any clear call to actions on your website, this could mean losing a potential lead. In order to fix this, you should use clear actions such as ‘book a call’ or ‘contact us’ which link through the relevant links.
5 - Outdated website design
Old website layout designs can deter users from your website as they are less likely to trust it. Think of layouts from the 2010 era, where everything is formed off solid blocks, crowded with text and almost all websites looked the same. As design has developed over the years towards a more minimalistic and modern style, these should be implemented within your website – if your brand allows for this style. You should use clean, legible typography and modern visuals.
This year, I helped FormAlign reimagine their outdated website to create a modern, more engaging website. You can read more about the case study here!
6 - Difficult navigation
Your main navigation on your website guides the user on a journey in exploring all of your offerings. If users are unable to clearly navigate their way through the website, this could lead to frustration, hence costing leads. In order to guide them, simplify the menu so it only includes pages you want to user to click on, this will help users quickly find the information they are looking for.
7 - Low quality images
Using pixelated, irrelevant and low quality images can make your website look unprofessional. In order for your users to gain trust, ensure that branded visuals, consistent photography or custom graphics have been used throughout the website. It is important to pick one of the three as the main graphical element so there is consistency shown throughout rather than having a mix of everything.
8 - Poor website content
As much as the aesthetic of the website is important, it is imperative that the content speaks clearly too. For website designs, you should take the time to work with your designer to create a website strategy which will help you set the tone of your website so you can create a clear and customer focused message.
9 - No SEO optimisation
Without SEO, no one can find your website. In order for your website to show up on search engines, it is important to use keywords, meta descriptions, alt text (for images) and fast hosting. Once these have been carried out, it should help your website rank higher, hence gaining attraction.
10 - No contact information
It can be easy to forget to add in any contact information to your website, however this could cost you customers as they are less likely to trust a business without any way of contacting them. You should always display at least one way of a user contacting you, whether it’s through a phone number, email address or a contact form.
To conclude, your website should be used to attract potential customers and not to push them away. If your website is making any of these mistakes, you should consider a professional website designer. I specialise in branding and website design services which help businesses build brand consistency and trust.
Book a free consultation today and see how we can improve your website performance.
