8 Web Design Mistakes to Avoid
With nearly 2 billion websites in existence, searchers have a lot of options when looking for something online, but a website is only going to be a smart long-term investment that stands out from the crowd if it’s set up properly and designed with user friendliness in mind. If you’re not seeing the desired results with your current website, it could be because you’ve made one or more of the common mistakes discussed below by the San Diego web design experts at Saba SEO.
1. Not Having a Call to Action
What do you want visitors to do when they get to your website? If you want them to call you, contact you, request more info, or visit your physical location, use a call to action to provide some clear direction. Otherwise, you’ll be losing potential customers because they don’t know what to do next.
2. Not Aligning Website Content with Your Sales Funnel
Each page of your website should have a clear purpose. If every page is designed with the assumption that a visitor is ready to take action, you’ll lose others who need a bit more information about your products, services, or business to make a decision. Website content needs to address the different phases of the buyer’s cycle. Consider including:
• Product demonstration videos for visitors who need more info to make a decision
• A blog section directly on your website to create awareness about your business and what you do or offer
• Coupons to provide an added incentive to make a purchase
3. Sticking Testimonials on Only One Page
There’s a trust issue with testimonials on any website, but they still have a place, just not stuffed together on a single testimonials page. Instead, place your testimonials on your site based on the content. For example, you would put a customer comment saying how easy it is to make a purchase or how fast delivery is on your Shopping Cart or Checkout page.
4. Not Localizing Your Content
If you have a location-based business, generic content won’t make your website stand out. You’ll see better results if you include local references within your site’s content (e.g., “Miami car dealer” or “electrical contractor in Cleveland”).
5. Omitting Pricing Information
Some websites purposely omit pricing references when the answer to “How much do I have to pay?” is “It depends.” However, people often gravitate toward websites that include some reference to price, even if it’s just a general price range. This also helps out your sales team by attracting more productive leads.
6. Overdoing the Jargon
Even if you’re aiming your services or products at a specific niche or consumers likely to understand certain industry terminology, getting too deep in jargon could turn off other visitors to your site. You’ll be better off if you mix appropriate “industry speak” with:
• Bullet lists highlighting main points
• Videos briefly demonstrating your main products/services
• Customer/client success stories to help website visitors understand what benefits they may enjoy from what you’re offering
7. Duplicating Pages
Pages on your website can get duplicated for many reasons. For example, you might have migrated your content to a new site, or maybe you recently changed your site from HTTP to HTTPS. Moz’s Site Crawl tool is one of the resources you can use to spot duplicate pages so you can either remove them or add appropriate redirects.
8. Having an Unorganized Site
If your website is a mishmash of content with no real order, you’ll only be confusing visitors. This is also true if you don’t have navigation features that are easy to use and find or a good internal linking structure to take visitors to related content such as relevant blog posts or more detailed product pages. One way to correct organization issues is to view your site as if you were a first-time visitor. Make note of anything that makes your experience difficult or frustrating, then make appropriate adjustments.
Whether you’re looking for a web design expert or a specialist in search engine optimization, turn to Saba SEO. As a premier San Diego SEO company, we have almost fifteen years of experience in website development and search engine marketing. Our experts can create a responsive, mobile-friendly website for your business and provide high-quality content that is sure to boost your online ranking. Call us at 858-277-1717 to talk to one of our digital marketing specialists.