We see hundreds, if not thousands of websites every year of all different shapes and sizes. Some are excellent websites that are getting fantastic results for the business in question, while others simply don't cut it.
We know you want your website to generate results for your business. You want it to produce leads, sales and enquiries whilst also looking good and making an impact. To achieve this there are several pitfalls you need to avoid, here are 10 to get you started.
Zero proof of quality
Your customers expect you to shout from the mountains about the quality of your business. It’s expected that you will say how great you are. Your website visitors need to see and read about how great you are but not from you, instead from your clients.
That's why it's imperative that you have testimonials and reviews from your happy customers on your website. You need to showcase what your customers are saying. If possible, get video testimonials on there too, basically anything that has clients saying how great you are and how you have helped them.
Missing SSL certificate
Every website needs an SSL (secure socket layer) certificate installed that protects the data that is being sent through your website. If your website does not have an SSL certificate, Google will show your website as unsecure and will potentially rank your website lower than your competitors.
It's vital for the safety of your client data and reputation of your business that your website has an SSL certificate installed. If you don’t, we suggest you contact your website host to get this resolved.
A cluttered website
People want to come onto your website and find what they are looking for quickly and efficiently. Cluttered websites don’t achieve this. Gone are the days when you put every detail about your company on your website, it’s now all about clean and simple.
Cluttered websites make it difficult for people to find what they want so always think less clutter and more simplicity.
Complex navigation
In the world of websites, there is something called the three click rule. This means that anybody who comes onto your website can find exactly what they want within three clicks. People need to be able to find your products quickly. They need to be able to find out about your services in seconds. No longer can you send people on a complex journey around your website to find the information what they want. They need to find it in seconds and within 3 clicks.
No Google optimisation
Your website must be optimised for Google. When people are searching for what you do on Google, are they finding you or are they finding your competitors? If your website is not optimised for SEO, the chances are they are finding your competitors.
This cannot be acceptable to your business. As the business owner it’s essential you ensure your website is optimised for Google, so you start to rank higher than your competitors and therefore beat them to the next new customer.
[thrive_leads id='11484']
Poor call to actions
Every website needs to have strategic call to actions. What is it you want people to do when they come to your website? What action do you want them to take? Examples of good call to actions are:
Whatever they might be, you need to have clear and strategic call to actions throughout your website, so visitors know exactly what their next step is.
Not responsive
Every website must be responsive. In other words, it must work correctly on a computer, tablet and mobile phone. Gone are the days where it’s acceptable for a website to work on a desktop computer and not a mobile phone. The chances are a high percentage of your website visitors are arriving on your website from a phone so if it’s not working properly you have just lost their business.
People don't have the patience to mess around with your website having to zoom in and out to read the info they are trying to find. They want it to work exactly as it should and be able to find what they want.
Also, if your website is not responsive, the chances are Google will rank it lower than those that are.
Poor imagery
The quality of images used on your website reflects the quality of your business. You simply cannot get away with cheesy clip art pictures or ugly stock imagery. You need to ensure that your website is full of clear, high quality images that reflect the professionality and excellence of your business.
If possible, have pictures on your website of you and your team, your office, and your warehouse space that helps people see the inside of your business and reflects the quality of what you offer.
Too much focus on style and not substance
Too many people focus on having a pretty website, but not results. Yes, we know you want an attractive website and that is important. However, what's more important is that it generates enquiries, sales and leads for your business. At the end of the day, it's all about results.
So yes, have a pretty website but not at the expense of generating more profit for your business.
It's just too slow
It’s important that your website is running at optimum speed. Google now want every website to load within five seconds, but preferably under three seconds. People do not have the time and inclination to wait for your pages to load, as soon as they click that button, they want to see the page.
Also, just as importantly is that Google are now ranking slower websites lower than those that are running at the speed they should be. This is something to be aware of because you can have great SEO in place but if it’s slow this can undo all your great work.
Read a recent blog we wrote about the speed of your website here.
There you have it, 10 reasons your website sucks! Maybe take 10 minutes to have a look through your website with fresh eyes using the above list to ensure you are avoiding these common pitfalls. It could be with just a few tweaks and changes you could drastically improve the results your website is achieving.
Choose Purple are a website design agency located near Sheffield in the UK. If you want to speak to us about your website and how you can improve its results, contact a member of our team here.
