The technical skill required to build a website has lowered over the years. Where once web design required great skill, you can now use simple tools and templates to build an attractive site.
Web design might have become more accessible, but it is still possible to produce an ineffective end product. Browsing the web will uncover countless small businesses with sites offering a poor user experience that doesn’t convert enough visitors into customers.
So what are some of these web design mistakes you should be avoiding?
Giving Too Much Information
When small businesses create websites, it is common to want to include as much information as possible. Your business may have an interesting story, a wide range of products and services, and lots of detail about what you do.
Providing all this information to a new visitor, though, can be overwhelming. In most cases, reducing your main pages to the factors that drive sales is the best approach. You can always offer more detail on less conspicuous pages, but they don’t need to be placed too prominently.
Hiding the Most Important Elements
There will typically be a few reasons for most visitors coming to your site. They may be trying to compare prices against other vendors, looking for opening hours, seeing results of your work, or something similar.
Many small businesses, though, create sites without thinking about visitor intent. When you understand why people are visiting your site, you can structure the content so that the important elements are easy to locate.
Slow Loading Pages
Nobody designs a website with the intention of slow loading times. Unfortunately, though, some wider design choices can lead to an additional wait for visitors.
Large images can be a problem, but you can usually compress them to reduce the overall size. There may be coding issues that lead to a lot of server requests.
You also may not be taking advantage of caching tools. Run your website through GTmetrix, making a note of the issues and recommended solutions.
Not Offering Proof of Claims
Making claims is part of the sales process. You need to tell visitors what you can do for them and why it is worth their investment.
Consumers have to deal with a lot of claims each day, though, so they are not always inclined to believe them. When you make a claim, back it up with proof; you can use testimonials, awards, and multimedia to show why people can trust you and the claims you have made.
Focusing On Yourself
Small businesses may be proud of their products and accomplishments, so they go into detail on their website.
Most consumers, though, are naturally focused on themselves. Visitors want to know what a product or service can do for them before they make a purchase.
It is useful to create a page about yourself and the business, particularly if you have an engaging story. However, your main content should be focused on your customers, both past and present.
Search Engine Content
A major benefit of producing content for your site is the search engine traffic it can bring.
To make sure Google can identify the subject matter of an article, it is important to use keywords and related phrases. A common problem, though, is creating content that is more focused on pleasing the search engines instead of the readers.
Google has become far better at recognizing topical content, so create exceptional content with the user in mind, and you can still rank for your target terms.
No Mobile Optimization
More than half of all website visits come from mobile devices. While popular sites and large enterprises optimize for mobile, many small businesses are not catering to these users. Mobile optimization should go beyond simply offering a mobile version of your site.
You can use a responsive design, but the mobile experience should be a primary element in the design. Focus on simplicity, clarity, navigation, speed, and readability.
Small businesses don’t typically have the brand authority of larger enterprises, so their website will play a major role in the marketing process.
Consumers will be looking for certain factors to make them feel comfortable and eager to purchase a product. If your website makes some of the mistakes discussed, though, you can lose a lot of potential customers.
Occasionally auditing your website can uncover any issues, allowing you to make improvements that provide tangible results. If your small business has not been getting the results you like, fixing your website can often be a good place to start.
If you don’t know where to start, get in touch with our Bangkok Web Design team.
