1. No Clear Calls to Action
The most common reason that websites fail to generate business for the owner is because the site is structured in a way that visitors are not clear what is expected of them. Ask you visitors to do something – have a clear call to action on the relevant pages – download buttons, buy now options, newsletter signup.
2. Invisible Contact Details
Contact details are a crucial piece of information for any business. So why hide it?
If someone has to spend ages trying to locate a phone number then your website’s efficiency and design is not being maximised to its full potential. This is particularly important for those working in the trade sector as their primary consumers are likely to be seeking a number to call in a hurry.
3. Too Many Graphics
Having an overly image oriented website can be overwhelming to say the least. Your website design should be succinct, contain relevant images and clean in order to convey key information to consumers in the most effective way possible. Having a messy site can put people off and drive business away, so keeping it simple is often best. We often see websites crammed with images that actually don’t say anything.
4. No Clear Positioning – What’s the Site About?
When someone enters your website, they need to know exactly what your business is and how they will benefit by investing more of their time browsing or shopping. This needs to be clear on every page – instantly.
If it is not clear within the first few moments upon entering, then you run the risk of customers leaving to look elsewhere. Have your information laid out clearly on the home page and make sure to have signposts and calls to action to encourage further exploration.
5. Parallax Sites that are Too Long
Parallax website designs (scrolling pages with full width blocks) are great for a single proposition. However, they are seriously overused especially for more complex offerings. Nobody wants to be scrolling endlessly to find the information that they need. Not only does having a parallax site potentially increase loading times but it also makes the website confusing..
Also parallax websites are not the greatest idea either if you want to rank on Google – unless its s single purpose microsite.
6. No SEO!
Well executed SEO, or search engine optimisation, ensures maximum visibility online, and a stream of qualified traffic to your website.
As organic search is one of the key sources of highly qualified website traffic, being highly visible on search engines is advantageous for ALL businesses. Having professional SEO implemented in your website also helps build the credibility of a brand, so therefore your target audience is more likely to trust it over time.
If you don’t have SEO yet then you are missing out on a potentially massive boost to business as it is a relatively inexpensive way of increasing your online visibility with substantial payoff.
