To save money, many businesses cut corners when creating their website. Big mistake! A well-designed website that’s easily navigable and user friendly will generate leads and build trust in your brand.
Here at Giraffe digital, we know how to create websites that are both aesthetically pleasing and promise a smooth user experience. We are a digital marketing agency in Milton Keynes. We can let you in on some of the unspoken rules that web designers like us follow. Take a read of the common pitfalls of website design, and more importantly, how to avoid them!
1. Poor Navigation Menu of Website
Your navigation menu needs to be intuitive and consistent. It will infuriate users if they cannot freely travel about your website. Users must be able to find what they need in under 3 clicks.
How to get it right: Don’t clutter the navigation bar; keep it clear and simple. Consider adding a search bar if your site is information-heavy.
2. Not Optimising for Mobile Users
More than 50% of web traffic comes from mobile phones. That’s huge! If you focus solely on optimising your website for desktop, you’re neglecting over half of your audience. If users can’t view your website adequately on their mobile, they’re going to leave your site.
How to get it right: Use a responsive theme when creating your site as this will automatically adapt your website to any device. Test your site on a real mobile device and repair any issues you spot.
3. User Friendly Design Layout
A site with a busy design, too many images and reams of text is hard to consume. Users need to understand what the site is about within the first few seconds or you’ll lose them. Is your website too cluttered? If you want a fresh update, Giraffe digital offers a design and web development service in Milton Keynes and beyond.
How to get it right: Ensure a consistent look and feel throughout so the customer can relate to the brand. Stick to 2-3 colours and one font. Don’t fill every inch of space with elements or overload the reader with information. Introduce whitespace between layout elements to make it easy on the eye and give the content room to breathe.
4. Website Must Support HTTPS Trust Signal
Trust is essential for increasing conversions as buyers need to be confident in the validity of your business. That’s why reviews are so important! You’ll lose customers if you don’t have an SSL certificate as it leaves your site vulnerable to hackers.
How to get it right: Make sure your SSL certificate is valid and that you have up-to-date testimonials visible on your site. Include your registered company address and phone number. All of these will reassure potential customers.
5. Poorly Executed or Missing Call To Action
It’s great having a fancy-looking website but it means nothing if you’re not telling your visitors what you want them to do. A ‘call to action’ (CTA) encourages users to contact the business and become a customer. By omitting a CTA you are losing potential conversions.
How to get it right: Try to include at least one CTA on each page of your site. Ensure it is clearly visible and use simple, succinct language.
6. Duplicate Content
Content is king. If users landing on your site do not understand what your page is about, your bounce rate will be huge. Outdated articles and neglected sections are off-putting. It gives the impression that you don’t care. You’ll lose credibility if there are spelling errors and poor grammar too.
How to get it right: Keep your content up-to-date as this will gain your customer’s trust. A blog is a great way to provide your website with fresh content and Google will rank you higher for it too.
7. Weak SEO Optimisation
You need to focus on SEO and improve your rankings in order to drive traffic to your site. Opt for long-tail keywords with less competition.
How to get it right: If you’re not experienced in SEO, hire an SEO expert that can turn your rankings around. If you need Giraffe digital SEO service in Milton Keynes then just book a discovery call and we will be in touch with you on that time. Because we don’t only rank keyword we also lift business through organic traffic
8. Web site Speed Optimisation ( Improve Slow Sites)
People are impatient and want information fast. If your page is taking longer than a few seconds to load, the customer will be long gone. Google use page speed as a ranking factor too.
How to get it right: Compress your images, remove auto-play videos and get rid of unessential plugins to maintain a higher page speed.
9. Poor Imagery ( Use Quality Images
Images help to visualise the product or service, evoke emotions and grab attention. Low-quality or amateur images make your company look unprofessional and stock imagery can sometimes look overly staged. (Remember not to use copyrighted images without permission!)
How to get it right: Only hi-resolution will do. Be sincere and on-brand with the images you select. Have professional photos taken of your team if you have the budget.
10. Broken Links ( Setup Redirects )
Broken links will make your website look unprofessional and cause frustration. The dreaded 404 page, will result in users abandoning your site altogether. You’ll get penalised by search engines too.
How to get it right: It’s absolutely essential that you ensure all your links work properly. Check links regularly or use a broken link checker.
As a marketing agency in Milton Keynes, Girafffe digital offer full service digital solution for all user and business in Milton Keynes and surrondings. . Give us a call to discuss your requirements.
