Are You Guilty Of These Six Website Design Mistakes?
TweetThe following is a guest post by Jeremy Knauff of WildFire Marketing Group.
There are probably just as many opinions about what constitutes good website design as there are people on the internet. There are, however, a number of factors that have been proven to make or break a website. If your website is guilty of just a few, it can have a dramatic impact on your business. Fortunately, most of them are relatively easy to correct, but in many cases, the right choice is often contrary to popular opinion because of peoples’ misunderstanding of the internet.
Spend some time studying these six common website design mistakes and see how many you’re guilty of. Then, invest the time to correct them and you’ll find that your website begins to perform better almost immediately.
Not testing on multiple browsers
You probably use Internet Explorer, like most people do, but a significant portion of your website visitors may be using another browser, such as Firefox, Safari, Chrome or Opera. Also, your visitors may have a variety different screen resolution and graphics capabilities. This means a website that displays perfectly on your computer may not on another computer, which is why it’s so important that you test your website to ensure that it displays and functions properly in most major browsers.
Using splash pages or flash intros
When a visitor arrives, they shouldn’t have to click anything to enter your website. Splash pages can turn an otherwise amazing website into a poor website faster than you can click the back button, and flash intros are even worse. Both of these things came about from arrogant designers who decided that showcasing their ability to use a particular piece of software was more important than providing what their visitors were looking for, and unfortunately the phenomenon became fairly common.
The argument in their favor is often something along the lines of ‘Our flash intro gives us a chance to present a mini commercial to each and every website visitor.’ This argument is flawed though, because by the time that they have arrived on your website, they are looking for specific information – not your commercial. Forcing it on them will only encourage them to leave, usually moving on to your next competitor.
Not breaking text into manageable chunks
It’s said that the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. The same logic applies for presenting website copy. Staring at a computer monitor is difficult work for the human eye, and digesting large portions of text can be tough for even the most focused visitor. You can overcome these challenges by breaking your text into smaller, manageable chunks, utilizing headings, subheadings, lists and images. You should also keep the width of your text within a reasonable limit. The longer it is, the more difficult it will be for your visitors to read.
Omitting contact information
A surprising number of companies fail to provide any way to contact them on their website other than through a contact form. This falls into the same category as those annoying automated phone menus. Sure, you’ll save some time and money since you won’t have to talk to all those bothersome people who want to talk to you, but you’re forgetting something important. Those ‘bothersome’ people are actually potential clients who want to buy what you’re selling!
You may filter out some riff raff when you don’t provide your contact information, but you’ll also turn away a lot of potential business. People want that warm, fuzzy feeling that comes from knowing that they’re dealing with a real-life company rather than some fictional Nigerian prince who is willing to transfer his fortune to their bank account. They are looking for a stable company that they can trust and if they know that they can pick up the phone and reach someone, or even stop by your office if they are nearby, you will have a rock-solid foundation.
Putting branding before the user
There is no question that branding is an important, if not critical aspect of marketing, but some companies take it too far, causing a negative impact. I would generally agree that the title tag on your home page should contain your company name, but that shouldn’t continue throughout your entire website. Aside from diluting your search engine optimization campaign, having your company name in the title tag of your internal pages will make them less attractive to potential visitors when presented with a list of search results. Think about it like this; if someone searches for ‘blue plutonium widgets,’ do you think they will be more likely to click on a listing in the search results with the title ‘Blue Plutonium Widgets – $9.99′ or one with the title ‘Acme Widget Company?’
Omitting pricing information
The outdated mentality of only revealing pricing information to prospects on the phone or face to face seems to have made its way onto the Internet. While there are valid reasons to justify the practice, it is counterproductive to your business. When people use the Internet to find information, they expect to find that information without having to call someone. Does this mean that some of your competitors may learn what your prices are? Certainly, but they can get that information even if you don’t make it available online by posing as a potential client. Not all companies can list their prices; for example, while we have a number of standardized prices available, a lot of the marketing work that we do is developed on a case by case basis. Most companies, however, can.
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Tags: Acme Widget Company, bank account, Internet Explorer, Jeremy Knauff, prince, search engine, search engine optimization campaign, search results, WildFire Marketing Group
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An ebusiness coach, web developer, Internet Marketer, SEO, and all around web geek who makes her living from home doing all of the above.
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Donna,
I wish that I was only guilty of six web-design errors. I once put together a list of 50 before I got too depressed to go on but the ones you list here are the most common and deadly although people who forget to give their pages a title have to rank right up there: http://www.google.com/search?q=untitled+page
Ha! Good point. Gotta love those untitled pages.