When you invest time and money in a website for your business, you want a solid return on your investment.
A winning web design will increase web traffic, generate quality leads, and result in higher conversion rates and increased profits.Website design problems can derail your goals. Issues with your website can spell disaster for your inbound marketing efforts. What are some common issues, and how can they be fixed?
One second can be the difference between a lead and a lost customer.
Perhaps the most egregious of the errors of website design is slow loading speed. Research indicates that even a one-second delay leads to a 16 percent reduction in customer satisfaction. That cannot be good.
A decline in customer satisfaction leads directly to a reduction in conversion rates and overall profitability.
Adding insult to injury, slow loading speeds also affect your website ranking with Google, since site speed is a factor in their algorithms. What does this mean? Basically, slow load speeds can ultimately result in virtual web invisibility as your SEO ranking falls.
How to fix it: There are a number of tools to use to speed things up. Some things you can try are:
Do not let slow speeds take your website off the fast track.
If this list looks like Greek to you or you lack the expertise to address this issue alone, working with a professional web design firm is well worth your time.
There are few things that are as universally hated as audio and video content that plays unexpectedly when a webpage is accessed. Back in 2004, a Nielsen poll revealed that content that plays automatically was viewed "negatively" or "very negatively" by 79 percent of poll respondents. Worse yet, 93 percent of respondents responded negatively to such content when it had no clearly marked "Close" button.
While that poll was taken over a decade ago, the popularity of automatically playing video or audio content has not increased. Customers are no longer simply looking at your website from the privacy of their homes or office. They may be accessing it from a public place, where automatically loading content is distracting or embarrassing.
How to fix it: If you feel an urge to embed an automatic video or audio file, resist it. If your story is best told in that format, include it by all means. Just design it so that viewers can make a choice of whether to listen or not. Your web visitors will appreciate it.
Think about why you want people to come to your website and what you want them to do when they get there. If your website is like a "Where's Waldo?" game, no one will play. Customers want an easy, pleasant experience.
For the most part, if information on your site is hard to find, it is largely useless. As far as the average customer is concerned, convenience is key. Remember that customers do not usually read whole sections of content. Rather, they scan to find important information.
How to fix it: Look at your site with the eyes of your typical customer. Does it flow logically? Is it scannable? Is all navigation instruction grouped in a central location? If your website is large, consider adding a sitemap to make it easier for visitors to see where to go to do what they want to do.
Choosing colors and fonts wisely will make your web visitors happy.
Websites that use jarring color schemes and too many different fonts are generally off-putting to the average web viewer. Inherently, computer use can cause eye strain. Contributing to that problem with migraine-inducing colors and fonts is never a good idea.
Additionally, typos and grammatical errors in your text detract from a professional appearance and turn customers away quickly.
How to fix it: Consider your colors and fonts carefully. Color can do much to influence customer behaviors, so be sure that your choices move customers to perform the actions you desire. Consulting with a web design firm can help you express your unique personality while still connecting appropriately with your customer base.
Proofread your content and correct any errors as soon as they are found. If grammar is not your strong suit, enlist the aid of another set of eyes to proofread as well.
Customers come to you from a variety of devices.
According to research from Pew Internet, 68 percent of adults have smart phones, 45 percent have tablets, and 73 percent have desktops and laptops. These figures clearly show that people are comfortable with mobile devices more than ever before.
This means that your website must be optimized for mobile access. The Huffington Post reports that 57 percent of mobile users will abandon a site if it takes more than three seconds to load. 30 percent will abandon a shopping cart in the middle of a purchase if the site is not mobile-friendly.
>> Learn more about mobile optimized and responsive website design from another one of our blogs, "Mobile optimized vs. responsive web design: What's the difference?"
How to fix it: Choose a responsive web design. Think about whether a mobile app for your business would be advantageous. Understand that your customers are coming to you from a variety of devices, and plan accordingly.
Web design must continue to grow and evolve as customer behaviors continue to change. Working with a web design firm, you can address the design flaws that slow traffic to a trickle. With responsive, intuitive design, you can provide a user experience that keeps customers coming back for more.
If you would like an assessment of your web design and marketing strategies, please contact us today.
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