Whether you are having a brand-new website built from scratch or you are having your existing website renovated, there are some critical mistakes that you should keep an eye out for. If you want to make your website as good as it can possibly be, read on and we’ll clue you in…
1. Not making your website responsive
A costly mistake in web design is lacking a responsive design. Remember, your website visitors aren’t only going to be visiting you from a desktop computer. In fact, a large number of users will likely be using mobile and tablet devices.
If your website isn’t responsive, then it won’t look or function well when people access it using different devices. Remember, 55% of website traffic comes from mobile devices so make sure you always go ‘mobile-first’.
2. Skimping on website security
There is much that you can do to ensure the safety and security of your website and installing an SSL certificate is just one of them.
Failing to secure your website appropriately can not only hurt your SEO, but it will also impact your conversions as well.
For example, Google will not value or rank an unsafe website over those that have the appropriate security measures in place. And even if you do rank, much of the traffic that clicks on any links to your website will be forewarned about the fact that it is an unsecure connection and the majority will likely abandon the search for one of your competitors instead.
Batten down those hatches!
3. Having far too much content and information!
Another no-no is stuffing your website with far too much information – particularly the home page. If the first thing that a new website visitor is greeted with when they visit your website is a huge chunk of text with no headers, line breaks, or bulleted lists, then they’re going to quickly become overwhelmed.
Let your content be concise, straight to the point, and easy to digest.
Yes, get your keywords in there (especially the titles and headers), but don’t overdo it.
Your content should read naturally, conversationally, and highlight all of your target audience’s biggest pain points – followed by a positive solution.
If you want to get more info on your website, utilise your blog properly. That, coupled with intuitive internal linking and you’ll be onto a winner.
Your website should be effortless to navigate. Investing in a seamless UX (user experience) is one of the best things that you can do – not only for your website visitors, but for your SEO. Google loves useful websites that provide a quality on-page experience, especially if the technical, onsite, and content optimizations are on point.
Simply put, your visitors should be able to find their way to what they need in only a few clicks. If they’re getting lost or having to contact you to find out basic information, you’re doing it wrong.
5. Unbranded / irrelevant imagery
The overall visual aesthetic of your website must perfectly align with your brand itself. As such, you should never include any ‘stock’, unbranded, or irrelevant imagery.
For the best results, create your own awesome imagery – and don’t forget to compress and optimise it accordingly with the relevant alt tags for both improved page speed and recognition from Google.
Conclusion: Hire the experts
It may be tempting to build a new website by yourself / make edits in-house, however, unless you are an expert web designer it is rarely worth it.
Yes, there are certain free websites like Wix that allow those with very little experience to create some truly wonderful websites of their own, however, they aren’t long-term solutions. Eventually, if you want to make waves and outperform your competitors you need a unique website designed from scratch from a truly reputable expert.
Not only that, but you need to ensure that your online marketing experts have a hand in the design process as well. For example, Online Marketing Gurus, with all their many years of industry experience can help you design a website that is SEO optimised from the get-go and thus ready to deliver world-class results.
First impressions count. Make sure your website is nothing short of perfection.
