In today’s day and age, having a website to promote a business is essential. Nowadays, everyone is online, so how could you not be? People don’t go through newspaper ads to find a service they need. Instead, they look for it online.
Due to this reason, it is crucial to have a website that perfectly represents your company. At the same time, it has to be user-friendly so that people can easily find what they are looking for. In the following article, we will discuss some common mistakes business owners make when building a new or redesigning an existing website.
1. Not analyzing the current page
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Without a doubt, the most common mistake managers make is that they just hire web designers without actually thinking about what needs to be changed. Surely, there is a reason why you want to rebuild your page, so you have to discover what it is. There is no point in building a new website if it is going to be almost the same as the previous one.
To avoid this mistake, go over every piece of information. Start by analyzing your customers’ behavior. How many people visit the website? Do they explore it or just visit the main page? Do they read articles? What did they write in the comment section?
These are all important questions, and by answering them, you will understand what the current problems are. Once you do this, you will be able to come up with an effective solution.
2. Poor navigation
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We cannot stress enough what a disaster this can be. If you don’t offer a webpage that people can easily explore, we can guarantee that the number of visitors will plummet. Customers won’t waste time trying to understand how the navigation works. They won’t invest an hour of their lives in finding a product they need.
Do you know what will happen? They will open the page, and once they see that it is too complex, they will close it and look for another company. It is as simple as that. People want to find what they are looking for in a matter of minutes, and if you can’t enable them to do this, there is always someone else who can.
3. Not easily accessible
We have already explained that people won’t waste their precious time trying to understand how the website works. Well, guess what. According to CSME Marketing, they also won’t wait for it to load for more than two seconds. Because of this, it is crucial to have a perfectly functioning page. So, unless you are a professional web designer, you should have experts complete this task.
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While on this topic, we also have to mention how important it is to make your website mobile-friendly. The number of people who use their smartphones to access online pages cannot come close to those that use laptops. This is understandable since we carry our phones everywhere with us and have the opportunity to search the Internet whenever we choose to.
If customers cannot access the website via their smartphone while stuck in traffic, the chances of them waiting to come home and turn on their computers to explore your offer are slim to none. Can you imagine how many customers you would lose this way? That’s right – a lot.
4. Not visually appealing
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You would be surprised to learn how many business owners just forget about this feature because they have to focus on all the other aspects of the page. Yes, a website has to be functional and informative, but at the same time, it has to be appealing.
Let be honest, the design is the first thing people notice, and if they don’t find it interesting, they probably won’t explore the website. To ensure that this doesn’t happen, you have to think about the combination of colors and fonts, add high-quality images, etc. Depending on the type of your business and the clients you want to attract, you may have to go with a minimalist design. On the other hand, if younger people are your target audience, you can have some fun with the design itself.
5. Boring content
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The absolute worst thing you can do is offer people boring content. This is a sure way to repel them from your page. First of all, you have to include articles that are currently relevant and are in close connection to the business your company does. Make sure they are not too long and that they are easy to read. When it comes to the former, try to keep them brief but concise. No one is going to read a 1000-word essay when they find a short explanation on another website. Secondly, you should make sure that you use the right font and format the articles in the best way possible.
6. Cluttering the main page
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Finding the right balance when designing the main page is the key. If you offer too little information, your clients may not be able to find what they need. On the other hand, if you offer too much of it, you run the risk of over-cluttering the page, so the visitor may get confused.
This is why a proper organization of the website is crucial. We have already mentioned how important it is to make it user-friendly, but let’s go a step further. Instead of writing everything on one or two pages, you should carefully organize the layout of the website. Naturally, firstly, you need the main page that will display your logo and bief information about the company. Then, you need a separate section where you will list all the products or services. Next, you need the “About us” section where you will introduce yourself and write down contact info. There should also be a “Support” or “FAQ” page and a blog section where you will post the latest articles.
7. Forgetting about SEO
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SEO is the most important aspect of web design. You have to do everything in your power to boost your SEO ratings. This is the only way to ensure that your website will pop up as soon as people type in keywords. However, there are multiple things you have to consider to achieve this goal. You have to use the right keywords, compress the size of the images, limit the use of social media links, etc. This is a task of its own, so if you don’t know all the ins and outs of search engine optimization, you should hire an expert to help you.
