A large number of small businesses make some common, avoidable website mistakes with their business website. You may be making them without knowing it! That’s why knowing those business website mistakes, and how to fix them will give you and your business the best chance of success. Here are a few avoidable mistakes small businesses need to steer clear of in their first year of operation.
Confusing Branding
Choosing your branding might be challenging, especially if your company is new and you have a lot of creative ideas. However, conflicting branding and messaging is an easily avoidable website mistake that can make your company look unprofessional, resulting in customers passing on a purchase.
You need to have a clear idea about what your brand is about to be able to have consistency across all platforms that reflect your business, such as social media pages, websites, and digital or print advertising. You can make sure that your messaging is coherent and consistent across all of your communication channels by developing a distinctive brand style guide. It also strengthens the identity and credibility of your brand.
Broken Links
No one likes to go to a website that is full of broken links that go to an error page. All key areas of your website should be in working order. This can be achieved with well-designed navigation and interlinking. The most important thing to remember is that user experience will make or break your website's success. Your target audience is looking for specific information, which should be easily accessible to them. Additionally, a website's navigation should be flawlessly consistent and coherent. Check that all of the links on your website are active because it will appear terribly unprofessional to visitors if they see broken links.
Missing a Call To Action Button
A well-designed, informative business website that encourages visitors to become customers means nothing when there is no Call-to-Action buttons. That’s why it is crucial to add several CTA buttons throughout your page to direct your target audience where to go next. For instance, a thoughtfully placed "Contact Us" link on your service pages would be great if visitors were viewing the services your company offers. Additionally, keep in mind to draw attention to your Call to Action by adding bright colors or by making it clear what action you want them to take. Avoid overwhelming your visitors with too many different call to actions on your page.
Slow Loading Times
Did you know that even a 1-second delay can result in an over 15% drop rate in visitor traffic? Loading times can definitely make or break the success of a small business website. If you find that your website is losing visitors, it’s time to go in and see where you can optimize to make the user experience better. Optimize image files, sizes, ads, and videos. The more streamlined the better!
Making these mistakes are 100% avoidable and easy to correct. Making sure our small business website is working as we need it to be will ensure happy customers that buy from you over and over again.
