Why Your Website Design Is Hurting You

Your website should act as a digital hub for your entire business. This is the place where people will learn more information about you and decide whether they’ll want to spend their time and money. So if your website has any shortcomings or isn’t set up properly, you’re losing potential leads and hurting your own company’s brand. Here are a few reasons why your website design is hurting you more than you think.

Your Website Layout

Having little to no website designing expertise is no excuse in today’s modern world. With sites like Wix and Squarespace, you can build a brand new, professional website that is easy to edit. But what you need to look out for is the layout and flow of your website.

Is your homepage cluttered with images? Does it use fancy plugins with no valuable content? When was the last time you updated it?

These are just some of the important questions you need to ask yourself when it comes to your design. Your website needs to be easy to navigate and pleasant to the eye. Forget all the bells and whistles, your site needs to convey your brand message and if it’s subpar, it’s a direct reflexion of your company’s image.

Take this into consideration when evaluating your website layout. It’s a good idea to remember to always cause a good first impression with your visitors online; you never know if they may come back and stay a little longer.

Your Website Isn’t Responsive

When you’re website isn’t responsive, it cripples your entire online presence. Say someone sees you on Facebook and wants to learn more about you. They’ll click your link, assuming you’ve added your website to your Facebook page, just be directed to a clunky, hard-to-read website or even worse, an error message.

It’s important to take your time and cover all your bases. You need your website to be working at all times and in all shapes, ways, and sizes. This includes having a version of your website that works on your phones and tablets. But it doesn’t end there.

People hate waiting, so if your website takes longer than 3 seconds to load, chances are they’re going to leave. Make sure your website isn’t overloaded with unnecessary Javascript, poor coding, and large images. Those tend to be the more common problems when loading up a website.

In addition to this, making sure that all your links aren’t broken on your website will ensure that you’ll have the optimal online presence. Are links to your social media working? Is your “About Us” page actually taking users to the right place?

Not only is it annoying to have to click around your website and not lead you to where you want to be, the user will likely attribute this to a lack of care on your end and hurt your online branding. All these mistakes are avoidable if you take the time to design your website the right way.

You’re Not Detail-Oriented

Part of the reason people exit out of your website is because of the lack of attention to detail. The sole purpose of your website (as well as your entire business model) is to solve a problem. If you can’t do that easily, or it’s too hard to find, you’re not putting enough effort in the details of your website.

First, consider your color scheme. This isn’t about making your website look pretty (though it should be aesthetically pleasing), it’s about how functional it is to your audience. Some color schemes don’t work well online as it makes it harder for people to read or just doesn’t translate well on a digital platform.

In other cases, having images that look out of place, outdated, or irrelevant also hurt your website. Imagery is one of the most important elements in your website’s design, so choosing the right images, formats and image placement play a major role in your success.

It’s also important to make your content shareable. If users find your content compelling, chances are they’re going to want to share it with their friends and that means more traffic to your website. But if you make it difficult for them or not have that option altogether, then you’ll lose out on potential traffic that can later convert to leads for your business.

Your Navigation Is Difficult

As mentioned before, your website needs to be able to solve problems quickly and efficiently, so you only have a few seconds to draw them in and keep them on your site.

You need to herd your visitors to the appropriate sections of your website. So if you’re about us page is buried at the bottom of your site, or your contact us only has a form with no other way to contact you, then your website is hurting you.

CTA’s or “Call-To-Action” content on your page not only helps give your visitors a clear direction of what they should do on your website, but it shows them where to find the rest of your content and show them how to navigate your website. One way to use CTA’s efficiently is by adding a pop-up on your homepage. Be careful not to be pushy or hard for them to exit out, that’s a surefire way to bother your visitors and make them leave your website.

Once you’ve reviewed your website and implement these practices, you’ll be well on your way to see positive results and maybe even improve your online presence.