If you would like to make the most out of your web design, it is important that you focus on the customer experience. It might be a good exercise to put yourself in your clients’ shoes and face what they do when they land on your page. You will have to engage with them in the first few seconds, or you are going to end up losing them forever, after hitting the back button. Below you will find a few tips on how to make the most out of your site and avoid some of the most common mistakes.
Lack of Search Box
If you have a blog, you don’t just want to force feed content to your clients. You have to allow them to find what they are interested in, instead of just looking at a list of featured posts. Having not only a tag cloud and category list, but also a search box on your site will improve your bounce rates and your customers’ experience. If you have a web store, you will certainly have to implement an advanced search feature.
No Interactive Chat
If you are not showing your website visitors that you are a real person, you will never get them to check out what you have to offer. Adding an interactive chat to your site, such as Manychat will improve your engagement rates, reduce your bounce rates, and increase your conversion rates. You can link the chat to your Facebook business page, and even add an autoresponder sequence, or implement a few qualifying questions.
Lack of Call-to-Action
Some people building their own website forget about the most important thing they need to include in every page; the call-to-action part. You might be good at explaining what you offer and how you work, but if you don’t tell your audience what you want them to do next, they are going to be confused. Do you want them to book a consultation, sign up for a free trial, or send a message? Tell them that this is the next logical step, and they will take action.
No Safety and Privacy Features
Image via The Blue Diamond Gallery
The first challenge you will face when you get people to land on your page is to get them to trust you. It is hard to communicate your personal values through text, so adding a video might be a good first step. However, if you have order buttons on your site, you will need to ensure that it is safe for your visitors to send information to your servers. Add an SSL certificate to your page, and make sure that you are protecting your clients’ personal data, when using cookies. If you do business mainly in the European Union, it might be a good idea to upgrade your server and get a GDPR policy created by a professional.
Outdated Design
You might think that a free template will do, especially if you are trying to create a site on a budget. However, the speed of your site will determine the search engine rankings, so it is important that you use a responsive theme that works just as well on mobile devices as on desktops and laptops. You will need to make your page fast, interactive, and informative if you want people to stick around.
Broken Links
There is one letdown that most people are guilty of; the broken links death. First of all, it will compromise your website visitors’ experience. Secondly, it is not good for your website rankings. There are various tools that will allow you to check your site for broken links, or to redirect them. However, it is always better to talk to Techtiq Solutions, a custom software development company and get them to optimise your site for users and search engines at the same time.
No Social Media Engagement
If you are not interacting with your audience on any other platform than your website, you are missing out on engagement and traffic, too. You should include your social media links in your site, and your blog posts on your social media pages. If you don’t have time to develop a strategy for different platforms and manage your posts, you can get in touch with a local full service digital marketing agency to get monthly social media management packages that work alongside your website.
Lack of Social Proof
Image via Flickr
It is important that you make the most out of your visibility online when you are running a business. Creating social proof will increase your overall conversion rates, and allow you to brand yourself, not only your company. Get your articles published in local or niche magazines, become a guest author, collect testimonials and recommendations, and create a strong brand online with positive associations.
No Contact Feature
You might automatically assume that people are not interested in where you are, as you are running an online business. This is not the case. You will need to show your location, your phone number, and email address, or nobody will think that you are a real person. You have to add a contact form to the main page of your site, so your clients can ask you questions or request a quote. This is a great way of covering the times when you cannot be online to answer their questions.
Inconsistent Brand Image
It is crucial that you create a consistent brand message and image across every marketing channel, or you will end up confusing your potential clients. Be clear about what you stand for, what you would like to achieve, and the value you are providing to your customers. Talk from the position of confidence, and you will be able to make the most out of your marketing and branding hand in hand.
To make the most out of your business, it is crucial that you take a critical look at your website. Avoid some of the most common mistakes business owners make when trying to save money on web design. Focus on the needs of your audience, and you will be able to increase your conversion rates.
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