6 Ways Your Website Could Scare Customers Away From Your Business
Even though many people will argue with me, I believe that every business needs a website. Whether your enterprise relies solely on ecommerce or not, your website is an essential tool in your brand-building arsenal. For many new customers and prospects your website will be their first exposure to your business. Social media pages just aren't enough, mainly because you don't own your social media pages. They can be deleted at any time and you'd lose your customers. You don't have that problem with a website. While many small businesses know that they need to have a digital presence, they don’t always necessarily give the creation and maintenance of their digital space the care and attention it deserves. After all, we’re about 20 years too late for it to be a novelty to simply have a website. If you fail to give due consideration to the design, architecture and content of your website it could end up letting your business down in a number of ways...
You don’t use landing pages
Landing pages are an essential way to drive conversion rates while reducing user bounce rates. But that’s really just the tip of the iceberg. They also allow you to:
Remove the distractions present on your homepage to better influence user outcomes.
Generate more leads.
Collect valuable data from your prospects.
Track user engagement data to see how users react to your landing page (this can serve as a neat microcosm for how they interact with your website in general).
It doesn’t look as professional as it should
Web design is an important discipline that will play a huge part in determining user engagement. If your website is an eyesore, expect high bounce rates. In an age where there are a plethora of platforms that offer customisable themes, it can seem quick and convenient to use them. However, this can make your website look amateurish and discordant with the professional veneer you are trying to establish.
It has poor UX and weak CTAs
As important as web design is, a business also mustn’t neglect their web application architecture. This will not only make your website more stable and reliable, it will also ensure that your website has great UX. UX or User Experience is a big part of your website’s efficacy. Good UX can make your website easy and pleasant to navigate while also subtly influencing user behavior. One example of how UX can play a strong role in influencing user behavior is your use of the CTA or Call To Action.
The placement, color and (particularly) wording of your CTA buttons all play an important part in boosting your conversion rates. The wording of a CTA can be the deciding factor in whether a user clicks to buy, download or learn more… or whether they bounce away from your website never to return.
It isn’t as secure as it should be
We live in cyber security aware times. If you expect users to give you their personal information or make a purchase, they expect certain security assurances from you. If you offer ecommerce on your website, you can’t expect savvy web users to entrust you with their credit card details if they don’t see https:// at the start of your URL. As of last summer, failing to have a security certificate will also cause Google to penalize you. Not only will your SEO plummet, users will see a “Not secure” at the top of their browser. While this won’t raise alarm bells for blogs, it’s not a great look on a business.
Your content doesn’t showcase your knowledge
Content marketing is an essential way of building value and trust in your brand. First of all, it gives your business a sense of identity and personality. It can showcase your knowledge and expertise and establish you as a leading mind in your chosen industry. It allows users to make the kind of personal investment that precipitates a strong and long-lasting relationship with your business. Plus, when you’re posting regular content it gives your SEO a nice little boost as well.
However, don’t let this lead you to sacrifice quality for quantity. Rushing your content or outsourcing it to a low cost, low quality third party will reduce the value users perceive in your brand.
It’s not responsive
In an age where most of us access the internet through mobile devices, your website needs to be responsive in more ways than one. Most obviously it needs to be responsive in terms for being easy and attractive to use on a mobile device. Moreover, it needs to respond quickly to user prompts. In the mobile era users are more impatient than ever. In fact, a page load time of just 7 seconds can increase your bounce rates by over 30%. You can check your site for free using Google's page speed tool.
For a website that wows, steer clear of these big 6 web design and infrastructure mistakes.
