Amidst the pandemic, businesses have been forced to reassess their modus operandi. In an era of masks and physical distancing, traditional brick-and-mortar stores seem obsolete. The success of online businesses is a testament to how powerful the web has become.
A website, therefore, is crucial for any business. It’s the first thing potential customers see when they search for your business. A business without one is depriving itself of valuable opportunities. Not only does a website allow potential customers to contact you quickly, but it also helps your business establish credibility. Think of it as the foundation for your business’s online presence.
Unfortunately, designing a website isn’t as simple as throwing some text and images together and calling it a day. Businesses make several mistakes when creating their websites and end up with something shoddy that fails to generate results. If you’re unsure whether your business needs a new website, keep reading below. We’ll be going over some common mistakes.
- It lacks consistency
Consistency is arguably one of the most important rules of web design. Businesses often make the mistake of conjoining grossly dissimilar pages together to make their website quirky. All this does, however, is repulse potential customers.
A website needs to be consistent. Headers, footers, sidebars, and navigation bars should be in the same place on every web page. Your business logo should appear at the same spot on each webpage too. Every webpage should use the same color palette and font family, and any headings and subheadings should have a clear, visual hierarchy.
One of the best ways to achieve consistency on your website is by using a website builder. A website builder is a helpful tool that offers pre-made website templates you can personalize to your liking. This approach is beneficial for small businesses that can’t afford to hire a professional. Unfortunately, finding the right website builder can be very confusing since you’ll likely come across thousands of potential options. A website like DigitalSupermarket can help you compare website builders and find the right option. It’s important to realize that humans are pattern-seeking beings. A consistent website means that potential customers will spend more time reading about your business and offered services – instead of helplessly trying to figure out what goes where.
- It’s not responsive
The latest buzzword in web design, which you’ll hear nearly every web designer or developer use, is ‘responsive design.’ Responsive design is a web design approach that caters to screens of all shapes and sizes. Websites are designed with the intention that they’ll be viewed on desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Responsive websites can therefore adjust webpage elements to better suit the device being used.
Not everyone has access to a desktop or a laptop, and the popularity of mobile devices has increased manifold over the last couple of years. Hence it is no surprise that nearly 68% of global website visits come from mobiles devices – even more of a reason to invest in a responsive website.
There is an essential distinction between a responsive website and a mobile-friendly website. The latter is a different version of a website and is loosely designed for mobile devices. It’s often slimmed down and lacks some of the features of its desktop counterpart. It can’t adapt to varying screen sizes either, which means that it might not display correctly on some mobile devices. Plus, there’s the added cost and effort of managing two separate websites. With a responsive website, the initial investment might be more significant, but the advantages are evident.
- There isn’t enough whitespace
Not every inch of a website needs to be filled with content. This is where the concept of whitespace comes from. Whitespace, simply put, is the space between individual webpage elements. Any empty space between subsequent text or images is called whitespace. Businesses often think of this blank space as wasted space, but that isn’t the case. Too much content without breaks in between can overwhelm a potential customer – you need to provide some breathing room.
Whitespace is one of the most overlooked rules of web design. It can help emphasize a specific element, such as your business motto, and guide a viewer from one component to the next.
- It’s slow to load
A website that takes ages to load is inexcusable in this modern age. As a business, you risk losing potential customers. If your website takes too long to load, they’ll move on to the next one.
One of the most common reasons for slow website load times is the use of unoptimized images. Large, high-resolution images take longer to load, and scaling them down only makes matters worse. Similarly, using PNG images, which are much larger in size than JPEG images, can also cause your website to load slowly.
Unclean code is another common reason. Websites often use a stylesheet to describe the appearance of webpage elements. If this stylesheet has duplicate code, unnecessary new lines, or irrelevant comments, it’ll slow down your website’s load times.
Lastly, a poor web hosting service can also result in slow website load times. Websites need to be hosted on a server to make them accessible on the web. If this server isn’t powerful enough or your web hosting service can’t handle larger traffic volumes, your website will load slowly.
- Contact information is not accessible
Many potential customers may have questions about the products or services you offer after they visit your website. If they can’t find a way to contact you, you’ll risk losing their interest. Therefore, any contact information such as your email and phone numbers should be clearly visible. We’d also recommend integrating links to your social media pages within your website.
In order to ensure that your contact information is accessible, your website should ideally have a dedicated section for it. You’ll usually find this section at the bottom on most websites, although we’d recommend creating a separate webpage.
- It’s poorly optimized for search engines
SEO helps your website rank higher on search engines like Google and Bing. Simply put, SEO can significantly increase organic traffic to your website. For instance, if you’re running a coffee business, you’ll benefit if users who search for ‘coffee’ stumble across your website. If your website is SEO-friendly, Google will place your website near the top whenever a user searches for ‘coffee,’
SEO is not a simple process and deserves an article of its own. If your website isn’t getting a lot of monthly visits, we’d recommend performing an SEO audit. This process will help you take any appropriate steps to improve it.
- Ads are poorly placed
Website monetization is a necessary evil. Depending on the type of your business, ads can generate significant amounts of revenue. However, they’re obnoxious at worst and annoying at best for potential customers.
When placing ads on a webpage, ensure that they don’t break the flow of your content. After all, your content is what potential customers are interested in. When it comes to ads, less is more – you don’t want them taking the spotlight off your offerings. Similarly, if your website has pop-up ads, ensure that viewers can quickly close them too. We’d strongly discourage deceiving users by disguising ads as regular content. Remember, poor ad placement can damage your website’s search engine optimization.
Conclusion
As businesses continue to transition online, websites have become more crucial than ever. A well-designed website is the first step to having an online presence. There are no perfect websites. But there are poorly designed websites that repel potential customers instead of attracting them. Perhaps your website lacks consistency and takes a long time to load. Maybe you haven’t catered to mobile devices, and your website isn’t responsive. Or perhaps you’ve committed the grave sin of not including a button to close pop-up ads. If any of this sounds all too familiar, you’re probably better off with a new website.