Your
website is often the first impression customers will get about your business,
which is why most companies will put an extensive amount of time and effort
into creating one which is both attractive and engaging. There are some common
mistakes which can be made with the design of a website and these can often
cause businesses to lose customers; the type of error you really don’t want to
make.
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Poor Design
We are all attracted to things which
look good and this is the same when it comes to websites. If you visit website which lacks any appeal or character, you are unlikely to stick around
for long. If your website looks good and is full of life and colour, you will
instantly want to find out more. You may not have the expertise or resources to
spend time on your website and in these cases it is better to enlist the help
of an external agency. This short video will show you an example of a very poorly
designed website.
Lack of Activity
No one wants to read old news and if
you haven’t bothered to update the blog on your website, it won’t entice
visitors to stay there for long. You need to put time and dedication into
maintaining your website and this means updating it regularly with accurate
news and information. Lack of activity not only looks unprofessional, but you
will quickly notice your website slipping down the rankings in Google.
Broken Links
There is nothing worse than landing
on a site, finding a link to something interesting, only to find that the link
doesn’t actually work. It can be a simple error with your HTML coding, but make
sure you test your links regularly to ensure they are working. This can be
particularly costly if the link to the page to buy your product or service
doesn’t work.
Poor Navigation
Visitors to your website will want
to be able to move around it quickly and they won’t to waste
any time trying if it isn’t obvious. Try the site out for yourself and ask
others to test it as well and provide feedback as to how they found the
navigation. You will then be able to determine if there are any flaws you need
to deal with. If there are, you should deal with these as quickly as possible,
so they do not become an issue.
Adverts
It
is perfectly acceptable to have a couple of adverts on your website, as this
can offer an additional income stream, just be careful not to overload it. It
can be really irritating if every time you move the cursor an advert appears
and it is one of the ways you will put potential customers off. Your adverts
should be relevant to the content of your website and should be situated
somewhere on the page, rather than sporadic pop up’s. Adverts can also slow the
website down and consumers will very quickly lose interest if it takes half an
hour to load up. Read this article for further information on the risks
involved with having too
many adverts.