Your website is the face of your brand. It is the first thing that your customers see when they want to engage with the business. So, it becomes an absolute must to have a page that’s not just interesting to look at but is also user-friendly and packed with features that are quick and easy to navigate.
But a lot of times, brands make the mistake of going overboard and making their websites either too heavy or cluttered, which makes the customer disinterested and leave the site. To avoid such mishaps, we have curated a list of things you must keep in mind while strengthening your digital presence. If you’re making a brand new website or revamping the one you already have, keep these points in mind to create a flawless customer experience.
Here’s a look at the most common website design mistakes that brands make and what you can do to correct them.
1. Not thinking outside the box
When you design a website, you normally do it using tools in a desktop web browser. And because you have designed your website on a desktop, there is a high chance that you will forget that your customers might use their mobile phones or tablets to view it. This is one of the biggest mistakes that any brand can make. With as many as 58 percent of people using their mobiles to access websites, it has become paramount to make your webpage accessible on all other devices. Optimize your website so that your consumers can have the same experience even when they’re using their mobile phones or tablets to access the page.
2. Overcrowding the webpage
The other major put-off is an overcrowded website. A page that is too cluttered with information or images is a major deterrent to the customer experience. So, while designing your website, make sure you do not put too many elements on one page and make the page lose its aesthetic.
While it is a good idea to share all possible information about your brand, putting it all on one page is not the ideal way to go. What works best is to have different scroll-down menu tabs that customers can use to see what they want to check. For example, instead of sharing all product pictures on one page, make categories according to your customer survey and put them in different catalogs. This way, you can divide the traffic coming to your site and create a seamless customer experience.
Graphics, pop-ups, and videos are elements that look great on any website but are also the reason for overburdening the site, leading to the slow loading of the pages. Use these judiciously, while asking yourself if you really need them.
Related: Website Designing services by First Choice Media
3. Unresponsive website
A lot of times, website designers go overboard with elements. They put up too many heavy images or videos that are irrelevant and don’t help the customer gain any important insights about the brand. This can lead to slow loading of the page and make the website unresponsive.
To start with, either remove or compress the size of the images that you have on the page. Next, remove graphics and GIFs that don’t help the image of the brand. Lengthy videos need to be trimmed, and articles that are not relevant anymore should be removed.
There are different tools available online that you can use to test the load speed of your website. Try one of these to check where you lag and then make the necessary changes to the content on the pages.
4. Not clearly defined. Call-to-Action (CTA)
Your website is your marketing channel. So, treat it like one. The objective of any website is to turn the traffic into loyal customers. You want your leads to generate sales. And this is why you need to have clearly defined CTAs to guide your customers to do what you intend them to do. For example, if you are an e-commerce brand and you want to sell products, you need CTAs that tell your customers to buy them. Try using CTAs like “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart.” And if your purpose is to educate your customers about the services you provide and how you can help them better, have CTAs that tell them what to do. For example, try using “subscribe to our newsletter” or “contact us to know more.”
Make sure your CTAs are easily visible and stand out. Use a different color than that of your website’s theme to make them noticeable. They can either pop up on the page or flash on the sidebar so that your customers can see them clearly. But don’t put too many of them as excessive CTAs can make your customers skeptical and not engage with the website.
Related: How to improve SEO content of your website?
5. Not emphasizing grids and columns
Grids and guidelines are the core structure of any website. They help you decide the hierarchy of elements on the page and give your customers a seamless experience. Some designers make the mistake of overlooking them and not including them as a part of their design strategy. This leads to poorly designed sites that compromise the look and feel of the page.
Start by prioritizing the elements that you want on each page. Then divide them into different categories by boxing them into the grid’s framework. You can decide to put text on one side of the page and create a picture collage on the other. Use the white space judiciously, as it declutters the page and separates different sections.
6. Overlooking accessibility
It is not mandatory to have a website that’s accessible to people with different audio and visual needs, but it can definitely make it worthwhile to have one. Over the past few years, companies have realized the importance of having a site that meets accessibility requirements, and so should you. Another positive? You can widen your customer base and allow people with disabilities to shop on your e-commerce site.
Start by adding alt tags to images and audio descriptions. Use legible fonts such as sans serif and keep the copy clean, without any GIFs or emojis. If you have a video, add the feature that allows the customers to press play, instead of auto-playing.
By avoiding these mistakes, you can improve your customer experience and your brand’s credibility. First Choice Media has expert website designers equipped with tools that can create websites that convert leads into sales.
Get in touch with us to learn more about website design.
7. Optimize content for different platforms
What you post on Facebook is different from your content for TikTok. Each social media channel has its own specifications, which you must follow to appear relevant. Also, there are different audiences on these social channels; for example, LinkedIn is for professionals, while Instagram is for casual content. To be able to post on these different networks, you should be able to optimize content that best suits them—the hashtags that work for them, the content type and timing that are relevant, and the kinds of posts that appeal to the audience on these channels.
First Choice Media is a digital marketing agency based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that helps brands build their social media presence online. Contact us to help you reach your goals by creating a customized strategy.
So if you’re looking for a partner to help your business to 10x digital growth, contact us today or email us sales@firstchoicemedia.ca . We would be happy to be part of your digital journey.
