As you browse the internet, you may find a series of common mistakes on websites, a lot of mistakes that usually appear and occur on the homepage.
Most individuals may spend too much time thinking about the design of the website, the overall look and what impression it may give to the visitor, but they completely miss the entire purpose.
When a visitor comes to your website, they need to be “captured” by the content of your homepage, then be directed further into your website and eventually purchase your services.
But due to SEO or the use of landing pages for targeted ads, in many cases, visitors land on an inner page. Nonetheless, that same visitor may then direct himself to the home page. So basically it should begin at the homepage, and it should act as a hub for your website. So let us begin with mentioning the common mistakes:
Music on a Website
To some, it may sound weird but there are some clients that still request for music to be added to their site. Most professional web developers are against the idea of adding music to a website, and they are rather adamant about it. There are reasons behind this.
To start off, music on a website can slow it down, not all browsers support multimedia content and can prove to be intrusive, as it can interrupt whatever is playing through the user’s speakers. Most if not all users, already have something playing while they browse from website to website because they use their computers as media stations too. Users want webpages to contain relevant and useful information, rather than have music going off in the background and interrupting the general flow of things.
In short, it ruins the user experience.
Ignoring SEO Implementation
Ignoring SEO strategies, in the beginning, can affect the growth of your business and ultimately the level of income. SEO is critical, especially now in the digital age where paid ads are increasing daily as the competition is not only at the shop next to you but also at the rankings below you. If you ignore SEO implementation now, you will be missing out.
If you do not implement a concrete content strategy, by analysing your future goals, identifying the broad and long-tail keywords and structure your text and keyword placement, you will miss out on organic traffic that could potentially come to your website.
Business reputation is also linked to the number of visitors your website brings in and also how many come from other sites. If your online reputation is low, then you lack credibility. On the contrary, if you rank high in search engines, then you will gain more trust and credibility and more customers will set their eyes on your website.
Poor Design, Bad Navigation
Having a poorly designed website will rub off on the navigation and make it difficult of the user to browse through your site.
You could be thinking that this is the job of the web agency, and you are indeed correct. Depending on budget and direction or misdirection by the website owner, this process can end up in an inspiring masterpiece or an absolute disaster.
A user expects to land on your website and feel at ease whilst navigating through it. They should be able to see exactly what they are looking for and it shouldn’t take 10 clicks to learn more about your services, read your blogs or find your location.
Distracting your potential clients with unnecessary links should be avoided or structured in a way that is easy to be used. Ensure that the visitors can glide smoothly through your website, from page to page, until they feel they can engage with your content, enquire for a service or purchase a product.
Without a Call-to-Action
It’s noticeable mostly on smaller company’s websites that they do not include Calls-to-Action. These are important elements that encourage potential customers to contact you, request more info or even purchase your services, depending on the website. A visitor to your site should not work hard to find a way to contact you, the opportunity should be there for them always.
Linked buttons should be included on each page, persuading the potential customer to take action to contact you for more information or to simply sign up.
Call-to-action should be given significant attention. Look at the call-to-action on this page or our home page. Look at how the colour directs the visitor. Look at the placement of the button.
Keep Track of Links and Conversions
Not using Google analytics or other kinds of tracking metrics is another common mistake found in websites. Website owners should be able to know if Call-to-Action buttons are working, or if your recently added blog or article actually had an effect. Tracking links and conversions made is key when measuring performance. By analysing your results, you will be able to find where you need to improve more in the future.
Not much Positive Influence using Social Proof
Social proof and Social media are two different things. As a website owner you need to ensure that potential customers feel comfortable with your site and visitors are persuaded to invest in your brand.
You will gradually build trust by continuously providing proof that your services are valuable to customers.
Social proof if earned must be featured on your website by including authentic customer testimonials and blogs or simply think about what will build trust in your brand and business and showcase this with importance.
This has been an important converting factor over the past few years and it’s expected to be higher in the future, as existing companies have a competitive advantage.
To Summarize
These are just 6 common mistakes that website owners make on their websites, however, in some cases, there may be more mistakes found.
If you are already working with an agency, discuss your goals, your ideas and be open to hear the different options available by your web consultant the different options available. Obviously, you know your product better than anyone, and that’s exactly why when discussing with our customers, we try to listen, we try to learn and understand why our customer wants a specific requirement. We then either investigate or use our past experience to explain and provide the options that will solve the problem our customer has. If you want to discuss the possibility of face-lifting your website or creating a new website, then our team is here to help you.
We are based in Cyprus but work with companies all around the world.
Published on September 05, 2019