There are a lot of factors that go into a great website, but just one mistake can have people walking away from a website without a second thought. So what can you do?
I’ve put together a list of the top website mistakes that will have people leaving without a second thought. Go from worst website to top-performing by making sure your website avoids these:
Broken Links
While this may seem minor, it’s incredibly frustrating for website visitors to click on a link and it does not go to the ended area. It’s kind of like following your GPS to an address and reaching the destination...and it’s not it.
Avoid broken links on your website by combing through your website once a quarter, clicking on every link and making sure it navigates to where it needs to go.
Not Talking To Your Visitor
Gone are the days where your website is just an encyclopedia for your business information - especially if your business is purely online!
By not holding a conversation with your visitor on your website, you’re not engaging with them. Imagine someone came up to you in a coffee shop line and asked you a question and you responded with one sentence and didn’t answer their question at all.
When you don’t create your website with your visitor in mind, this is exactly what you’re doing.
Think about the top 1 or 2 conversations you have with people interested in your business, your website needs to reflect these conversations, guiding visitors to the answers they need - before they even ask them!
Too Much Text
You know that person that monopolizes every conversation and someone goes on and on when a simple two words would do?
Having too much text on your website does this. Similar to not speaking to your visitors, giving them too much information doesn’t give them more options - it makes things too complicated and muddies the action you want them to take!
Focus on the most important information and mix it up with images, bullet points, headings, and page navigation and flow. Remember that conversation you’re having with them.
No Calls To Action
Your website is there to share information with your visitors and get them to act. If you don’t give them a way to act or share it with them frequently, they won’t be making the one-two punch of your website.
It can be as simple as a form asking them a question or subscribing to a newsletter or a step up with a funnel, sharing something with them and following up with a series of automated emails.
No matter what your call to action is, make sure you make it the sole focus of your website, sharing it on every page, in pop-ups, in blog articles - everywhere you can!
No Strong Brand
You have that conversation with your visitor, but does your message and tone change every other second? This is not having a consistent brand.
All of your marketing represents your business and what you sell when you’re not there to do it in person. The color scheme, fonts, text formatting, images, and tone all reflect this!
Having your business name and logo is a start, but it doesn’t end there! Have a set brand board that reflects your business’ brand and make sure it matches every page of your website (and social media profile).
No Personalization
Along the lines of a strong brand is the message your brand portrays. What’s your mission? What are your skills? How do people get to know your business and brand?
Don’t simply take a website and add your credentials and call it good enough, add your voice to so people choose you, not basic information on your website.
Write down your mission, what makes you different, and who you are - add that personality to your site and you’re good!
Out Of Date Content
I know we all tend to think the 90s were a few years ago instead of about 20, but outdated content on your site doesn’t fall into a laughing matter. By having out-dated content on your website, just like a broken link, you are turning website visitors away.
This is easy to avoid! Once a quarter, comb through your website and update any content that is out of date (or simply remove it).
You Don’t Have Basic Links
Basic links - what’s that? I mean SEO. The most basic SEO includes setting up your meta title and meta descriptions - the things that show up when people find you on Google or you share a link on Facebook.
If you haven’t set up these basic links then some generic like your website name and the first content on the page shows up - but you have control to change this and let people know exactly what they’ll learn when they click on your link.
Take about 15 minutes and update the meta title and description for each page of your website, summarizing what visitors will find on each page.
Poor Image Quality
It can be hard to find high-quality images to use on your website, but having low-quality, blurry pictures don’t build trust with your website visitors, actually, the opposite.
Low-quality images put a doubt in the validity of your business, distract websites visitors from the conversation you’re trying to have with them, and cause visitors to hesitate to build a relationship with you.
Vague Headline
When someone first comes to your homepage, what do they learn? Oftentimes we think a homepage needs to be witty and therefore end up being really vague, when in reality - people just want to learn what your business does.
Instead of letting visitors ask “am I in the right place?” tell them what you do! Instead of the witty headline with a description of how you help them in a sub-headline, bump up the sub-header to the main focus!
No website is perfect, at least not one I’ve come across. But that doesn’t mean you don’t put effort into how your business is seen online. These website mistakes can seem trivial, but they put off website visitors from interacting with your business and building a relationship that leads to a sale.
Start building your website in a few simple steps, easily avoiding these mistakes! Your 14-day trial is waiting -
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