You have a website, congratulations! That is the first step in reaching future customers that you likely wouldn’t reach with any other marketing channels. Unfortunately, just having the website isn’t enough. You need to have a quality website that will convince consumers to do business with you. 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive, and that’s just one of the things that could turn people away. Let’s take a look at the five biggest website no-nos, so you can be sure to have a website that is attracting people and not deterring them.
The Five Biggest Website No-Nos
Your website represents your business; therefore, you should nurture it, observe it, and ensure it is converting leads into customers, just like you would any other form of marketing you use. Your website is just as important as, if not more important than, the sign hanging outside of your business’s door. The truth is, not every business treats their website with the importance and care that it really needs, and that can lead to a loss of customers. There are some things you can and should avoid to keep your website from causing people to want to do business elsewhere.
Below we review the five biggest website no-nos.
- Avoiding Change. The “It is what it is” approach and simply leaving your website how it has always been, because it has worked in the past, is not an effective tactic. Things change over time, and what and how people are looking for the products and services that your company offers, will evolve. Stay on top of searching and buying patterns, and watch how and where people engage or leave your current website. You should do a thorough review of your website at least every six months to ensure that your information is correct. If you have made changes to your business throughout that time period, make sure that it is reflected in your website. Businesses are often rolling with the punches and may forget to adjust their website to reflect changes.
- Having Large Images or Videos that Load Slowly. One of the five biggest website no-nos is having large images or videos that take a long time to load. As these things are loading, it can leave a strange looking icon on the screen and cause people to think your website is broken, which will likely lead to them not doing business with you and abandoning the site. Over 40% of people will stop engaging with a website if the images will not load or take a long time. Ensure you are using images that open quickly and reflect the information you are trying to portray. If you are using old images, that too can turn visitors away, so keep your images new and current, as much as possible.
- Ignoring Load Speed. Speed is one of the most important aspects of your website. You only have a few seconds to capture the attention of your visitors and create a positive lasting impression and if your website is sluggish and they are having a hard time seeing the content they want to access, your visitors will leave. In a 2019 survey by Unbounce, nearly 70% of consumers admitted that page speed impacts their willingness to buy from an online retailer. Furthermore, of all the people surveyed, half said they’d be willing to give up animation and video for faster load times. People are used to a world where everything is at their fingertips when they want it, and if your website makes them wait, you can bet they will probably look elsewhere.
- Not Having an SSL Certificate. In this day and age, in the online world, web users are prone to becoming targets of cyber-attacks, identity theft, and other criminal offenses done over the Internet. This can make people uneasy if you don’t have an SSL certificate installed on your website. Give your visitors peace of mind every time they visit your website by protecting their personal details, including their name, address, contact information, IP address, and credit card number. Ensure that your website has an SSL certificate and is set up for HTTPS. If you don’t have an SSL installed on your site, you could be losing traffic, leads, and potential customers. The cost of an SSL certificate is relatively small compared to the potential revenue you might be losing.
- Forgetting About Mobile Optimization. Many times when a website is being designed, it is created for desktop devices, and the mobile piece may be forgotten. This is one of the five biggest website no-nos. Mobile accounts for nearly 2 of every 3 minutes spent online. Having a website that is optimized for desktop use is no longer enough; with more and more people viewing your website (around 50%), at least for the first time, via a mobile device, you need to ensure that your website is functional for them from their phones. You can tell if your website is optimized for mobile rather easily. Simply launch your website on a few different mobile devices. Does it load quickly? Does it render properly? Can you read the text? Are the buttons big enough to click on them? Can you complete the checkout process? If you answered “no” to any of the above, your website is not as mobile friendly as it should be.
Websites are the doorstep into your business when it comes to online users, and even if people don’t find you online, they are very likely to make their way to your site before visiting your business in person. This makes avoiding the five biggest website no-nos and continually keeping up with your site design and consumers’ patterns when they visit your pages, crucial to your bottom line.
At Water Bear Marketing, we strive to make you stand out. Water Bear Marketing builds websites that are optimized for advertising, lead generation, and sales. We build all websites customized to our clients’ needs.
Water Bear Marketing is an expert at developing new websites or bringing old websites up to the latest industry standards. Request a free consultation today to learn more about how we will help make sure your website is doing its job the best it can.
