Author: Tom Cottrill | Date Posted: Jul 14, 2022
Everyone wants to have the best website of all the competition. They want the website that is unique, compelling, and converts at the highest levels. However, it is very easy when coming into the web development process to make some common web design mistakes. Working with professional web developers certainly lowers the risk for these mistakes to be made, but by knowing what to look for, you’ll know the right questions to ask to make sure your developer is going to make you a website that looks great and performs.
You really don’t want to be THAT website, do you? We have seen business owners make a lot of mistakes with their websites prior to coming in to get help with them. Here are some of the top mistakes we’ve seen.
Looking at a website that has a lot of clutter makes it difficult to find what’s important, read the details on the page, focus, and really gather much of anything from it. Many businesses try to cram all their information above the fold, and while important information and a CTA should be added above the fold, it should not be to the detriment of the web design. If a person has to strain their eyes to really focus on what is relevant in a depth of information in one spot, it’s not designed well, and it certainly will struggle to convert.
On the other hand, not having enough information or design on a page is just as harmful to a business’s website. Many designers tend toward the minimalistic side of design, which can work fine if done properly, but leaving the website vague, confusing, or leaving the visitor wondering what a company even does or who they are does nothing for conversion. It also will hurt your SEO without having enough relevant content to crawl. Imagery is great, but it doesn’t give your visitors a strong idea of what your business is about and how it can help them, so opt for a larger number of words on a page than images.
One of the biggest web design mistakes we see are weak CTAs. A call-to-action is the driver of conversion. Vague “Submit” CTAs on buttons don’t do you much good to encourage visitors to take an action. “Click here!” “Get our eBook.” “Call for a Quote!” All of these are strong CTAs depending on what action you are hoping a visitor will take. This CTA must be clear, concise, and directive, and it has to be engaging and easy to see. A big button is better for a strong CTA than a small link (although links inside of text serve their purpose as well). Just stay away from being annoying because if you make them fill out a long form or have multiple popups, you will bounce a visitor right off your website.
Poor navigation is a big website mistake that will give you a high bounce rate and leave you with some really confused visitors. Confused visitors do not convert. They need to be able to find what they’re looking for exactly when they want it. This means menus need to be easy to find, see, and navigate, and page navigation should be easy as well. This has to be the case on both desktop and mobile devices. It’s also important that you take into consideration what path an individual might take from one page to another so you can help guide them more easily. Contact information should be front and center on all pages, and forms should be easy to find and fill out (seriously stick to 3-4 lines and that’s it!). It’s helpful to have design and structure similar on all pages so visitors don’t have to figure out a new one on every page they visit.
Since 2013, Ignitro Studios has been working to blend marketing and technology in support of agencies and other marketers. By understanding both sides of web development, we have a unique perspective and advantage within the industry. We provide design, development, project management, QA, and strategy, driving the bus so our clients don’t have to. We will work with our clients to get results while also empowering them to do their job better. Learn more about Ignitro Studios.
4450 Belden Village St NW suite 808
Canton, OH 44718
