No obvious Call to Action.
Call to Action (CTAs) are words or phrases that encourage website visitors to take a certain action on a certain page on your site. This is frequently in the form of a banner with a button that directs the visitor toward a particular page or section. Common CTA’s might be subscribe to blog, shop online or make an appointment
To drive clicks and conversions, your CTAs need to be appealing. They should be clear to the user and fit the branding style. If your website had no clear CTAs, your visitors are going to become confused as to the purpose of your website.
Too Much Content
We’ve all heard that content is king, especially if you want to stand out in SERP’s. However, cramming massive amounts of information onto each page is not the way to go. Typical visitors will become overwhelmed with lots of information. Instead, consider breaking down the content into bulleted text and adding more pages to disperse the information. Just make sure your navigation is clear and it’s easy to find the information of interest. The less clutter on your website, the better the user experience.
Poor design and inconsistent branding.
If the design looks cheap and nasty then that’s the perception people will have about your brand. Branding is the first thing customers judge your business on. This includes your logo, fonts, colour palettes, product packaging, and quality of content. Your brand tells a visual story to your website visitors and should answer many of their initial questions about your business.
Poor imagery
In terms of website design, the text is just as important as images because it breaks up the layout and makes it easier to read. The right visuals convey emotions and are a visual metaphor for your content. Make sure your photos are relevant and reflect the message you are trying to portray. Consider the following.
- Choose images with a call-to-action
- Showcase real people
- Make the imagery relevant to your brand
Slow loading times.
Slow-loading websites will certainly frustrate web visitors. And that’s why your website should load as fast as possible. The ideal loading time for a website is under 2.5 seconds – anything more and web users will likely abandon your site before even viewing your homepage. Slow loading times can also penalise your website in search engine rankings. To guard against this, make sure all images and graphics you use are optimised for the web, with a file size ideally under 500kb. Secondly, make sure that your web developers ensure all website code files are as minimised (compressed) as much as possible.
No custom 404 page
Some people mistakenly think that they shouldn’t worry about 404 pages because they are the last place you want your users to end up on your website. Not having a custom 404 page can be detrimental to the user experience of your website and it may rank poorly in search rankings. Your 404 page is the opportunity to turn a negative situation into a positive. Even if you think you’ve built your website flawlessly, landing on your 404 error page is much more common than you think.
The Website Is insecure (no browser padlock)
An SSL will also enhance your credibility by making your company look more trustworthy and reputable. Today switched-on consumers are increasingly mindful of security issues and will avoid sharing personal data with websites that don’t implement proper security measures. Making users comfortable enough to share information with you is essential, from simply encouraging someone to subscribe with their email address to encouraging online sales through e-commerce platforms. Installing an SSL certificate will contribute to building your image as a professional, honest and reliable business.
Poor font choices and spelling mistakes.
Using bad fonts or too many can absolutely hammer the user experience. Good typography can make, or break a website because it sets the tone, balance and flow. You probably know you should never use Comic sans (for any reason) and choosing a font that reflects a fun-loving, carefree lifestyle will make visitors assume you aren’t a serious operation. It’s also a good habit to run your content through a spell checker like Grammarly.
