Common Web Design Mistakes that Could be Harming Your Site
We’ve all heard that old saying: Don’t judge a book by its cover, but I’ll wager most of us are prone to doing so. Well, when it comes to websites, first impressions really matter, placing potentially business-critical importance on your web design.
Of course, your site needs to look good. But the design of the modern website is a lot more than just its appearance.
In this article, we’ll take a short journey through some of the common issues and mistakes that we see on websites that could be having a negative effect on your company.
Smart Phone, Not-So-Smart Web Design
Yes, this is still a thing.
Despite the fact that Google has been stressing the critical importance of mobile-responsive websites since 2015, the fact is that the internet is still awash with many a website ill-equipped for mobile use, with 33% of small business owners telling a 2017 survey in the Independent that they didn’t believe a responsive website was important.
Well, consider this:
- 85% of the UK adult population use a smartphone (that’s more than 40 million people before we take into account the 12-17 age group) - Deloitte
- 91% of smartphone users in the UK will have used their phone in the last 24 hours - Deloitte
- 60%+ of all internet searches take place on a mobile device - SmartInsights
- 57% of users would not recommend a site if it offered a poor mobile experience - socPub
- 48% of users said that if a site didn’t work on mobile it suggested the company didn’t care about its customers – Blue Corona
Still don’t think that responsive web design is important to your business?
Why No Call to Action?
You’ve designed a funky looking landing page for your site, which is great. But what exactly do you want your visitor to do from there?
Your web page needs to have an objective, and it needs to be crystal clear to the visitor when they land on it.
Do you want them to get in touch with you? Visit your eCommerce store? Download your white paper, or find out more about your products?
If you don’t have a clearly visible Call to Action (a button, contact form, or clearly defined link, for example) how can you expect your visitors to do as you wish? The most likely outcome being that they simply head off to another site with no further engagement.
Content Remains King
Your site needs to have compelling content that instantly grabs the attention of the visitor.
It needs to be relevant to your subject matter, easy to read, and free from mistakes. Errors in the content, be it spelling or factual mistakes can suggest a lack of care and attention that does not reflect well on the business.
And please don’t stuff the page with all that spammy keyword-heavy content that used to be applied in the olden days of the internet when SEO was more of a frontier wilderness.
Those tactics no longer work and will serve only to penalise your site.
Architecture is Not Just For Buildings
A common error on many content-rich sites is that all the good stuff is hard to find.
Having great content is vital, but the way it’s organised is of equal importance to the overall user experience.
Site architecture should play a major part in the design and development stage of a website and should remain a key consideration in the ongoing management of the site and its content.
What are the most important pages on the site?
This should be clear to you, your visitors, and the search engines.
Brand Consistency
Your brand is the representation of your entire business and should be reflected consistently in every touchpoint both online and in print.
Websites that deviate from the brand guidelines on certain sections of the site, dilute and devalue that brand identity.
It also creates an inconsistent customer experience.
For instance, do you take bookings in your business, and send your customers off to a third-party platform that offers only a poor-quality thumbnail of your logo? Or, worse, no logo at all?
Imagine leading your customers to the point of sale, only to neglect your own brand at this stage. You wouldn’t do that, would you?
Easy Navigation
How frustrating is it when a website makes you jump through a series of digital hoops and challenges in order to get to the information or service that you require? A sort of online experience akin to Indiana Jones trying to find his way towards the Holy Grail.
You have a matter of seconds to attract the attention of a visitor (the Behaviour and Information Technology Journal report that typical web visitors form an impression of your site in 0.05 of a second).
Make that time count by making it easy and logical for visitors to navigate their way to the section of the site they need to visit.
We have moved way past the notion that a business needs to just have a website. Online presence is now so essential to the lifeblood of a modern business that it’s vitally important to have a website that is designed correctly and functions properly.
If you’d like to know more about how UpriseVSI delivers elegant, modern responsive websites with exceptional user experience on all devices, get in touch today.
Posted by Gareth Hill on
28 August 2018 at 11:00 AM
Categories:
Digital MarketingWebsite Design & Development