Your website is often a potential client’s first impression of your business, so it is important that it helps build trust and credibility. There are a number of factors that can affect your website, and how well it works for your business. Here are some things that you need to make sure you avoid:
Slow to Load
A slow website one of the most common issues with websites. People visiting your website will not want to wait for pages to load to be able to view your content and learn about your business. It is likely that they user will exit the page if they have to wait more than a few seconds for it to load. A slow load time will generate a higher bounce rate – people who leave the page without taking action on it.
No White Space
Having too much content on your website can leave the user feeling overwhelmed and leave the page. If your page is full of text and images, it will look cluttered and take the user too long to find the information they are looking for. Content should be spread out with plenty of blank space between sections to give the users’ eyes a break, and to provide intentional breaks in thoughts to prevent the user from becoming overwhelmed with content.
Not Mobile Friendly or Responsive
If your website is not mobile-friendly, you are missing out on a huge proportion of your target audience. More than half of all online browsing is done using mobile devices. If users struggle to see and interact with content on your website, i.e., if the text is too small, or the buttons are too close together, users will become frustrated and leave without taking action on the page. Search engines will also penalise websites that are not optimised for mobile browsing – websites that are not mobile friendly will rank lower than those that are on search engines. Therefore, mobile-friendly websites will receive more traffic.
Poor Content
The content on your website needs to include what the users are actually looking for. The information should be relevant, written well, up-to-date and well-structured. You may also want to include related images as visual aids. It is vital that important information about your business is prominently displayed for users to find easily. Users will not want to spend ages filtering through irrelevant information to find what they are looking for. If it is not easily visible, users will leave the page and seek alternative businesses.
No Clear Call-To-Action
Your website should have a clear purpose or ‘call-to-action’ (CTA) to encourage visitors to take action on your website. Some of the most common CTAs are “call us today”, “shop now” or “book an appointment”. These messages should be clear and prominent on the page. Without a clear message on your website, users can feel confused and leave without taking action on your page.
No Keywords
A website that doesn’t use relevant keywords will be difficult for users to find. The text on your website should include words that are relevant to your business, that users would search for in search engines. For example, a builder’s website may include the phase ‘We are builders that operate in Hampshire’, and a user searching for a builder may search for ‘Builders in Hampshire’ in search engines. Phrasing should be chosen carefully so that keywords do not overwhelm the text, and users are still able to find the correct information about the business. You should also be careful that you do not use too much technical jargon that may overwhelm your target audience.
A bad website could be preventing your business’s growth. Your online presence should best represent your business and its values to maximise its positive influence on existing and potential new customers. Find out how your website can be improved by contacting our team of website designers.
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About Carrera UK
Carrera UK provide IT support, IT services, and telecoms to small businesses in Portsmouth & Southampton in Hampshire, and across the South of England.
We offer a complete suite of IT and telecoms service solutions for small and medium-sized businesses, including IT support, website design, social media management and cyber security.
We know how important IT is to your business and we will work hard as your trusted IT and telecom service provider to find the best solutions for you. Our IT support and solutions give you the assurance that your business technology will be robust, reliable, and cost-effective.
