If you are a small business owner, then there is one question you should be asking yourself: “Can I afford to make mistakes?” If the answer is no, your next question should be: “What mistakes am I making with my website design?” There are many potential errors that businesses can make when building their site. In this blog post, we will discuss 10 of those common mistakes and how they affect your conversion rates!
1. The Homepage “Slider”
It’s the most popular moving image right now but you should not include one on your site for a number of reasons: it can be a distraction, they are often outdated in just weeks and few people click through to read them anyhow. If you really want to have something that moves at the top of your site, you should have a rotating banner with content that changes frequently.
2. Not Optimizing Your Site for Mobile
In the last few years, mobile internet usage has grown from 12% to 56%. So why aren’t more businesses taking advantage of this? One reason is that they don’t believe their website visitors are using their phones to access the web. Another reason is that they think it will be too expensive or time-consuming to make their website mobile-friendly. The good news is, there are plenty of easy and affordable ways to do this – so don’t wait any longer!
3. Ignoring Your Web Analytics
If you’re not tracking your website’s analytics, you’re missing out on some of the most valuable data there is. Analytics can tell you where your website’s visitors are coming from, what pages they are visiting and how long they are staying on your site. This information can help you make decisions about what content to create and how to improve your website’s design.
4. Not Having a Contact Form
If you don’t have a contact form on your website, you’re missing out on potential business. Most people are hesitant to call a business they don’t know and leave a message, but they will be more likely to fill out a form with their information. This is especially true if the form is short and easy to fill out.
5. Not Having Enough Content
This is a common mistake that many businesses make, especially when they are just starting out. They think that because they don’t have a lot of products or services to offer, they don’t need a website. Wrong! Your website can be a great way to introduce your business to the world and show people what you’re all about. It’s also a way to build trust with potential customers and let them know that they can expect great results when doing business with you.
6. Not Updating Your Website
This is another common mistake that businesses make, especially small businesses. They think that because their website is new, there’s no need to update it often. The problem with this thinking is that your website will quickly become outdated and lose its effectiveness. You should be updating your website at least once a month, if not more often. This will keep it looking fresh and new, and it will help you to attract more visitors.
7. Not Including Social Media Buttons
A recent study found that 92% of small businesses use social media to promote their business. So why aren’t more of them including social media buttons on their website? One reason is that they don’t know where to put them and think it will look like clutter. You should do your best to make these buttons stand out, while not looking cluttered – here’s a good tutorial on how you can do this: How To Include Engaging Social Media Buttons On Your Site.
8. Not Optimizing Your Images
This is another mistake that many businesses make, especially when they are just starting out. They think that because their website is new, there’s no need to optimize their images. The problem with this thinking is that your website will quickly become cluttered and slow to load. You should be optimizing your images for the web before you upload them to your website. This will help you keep a clean and fast-loading site that is easy for visitors to use.
9. Not Having Any Calls To Action
A call to action (CTA) is when you tell people what they should do next, whether it’s signing up for an email list or buying something from your website. CTAs are important because they tell your visitors what you want them to do next and give them a reason to stay on your site.
10. Not Keeping up With Changes
It’s been found that 77% of small businesses fail within their first five years, largely due to poor marketing strategies and changes in the industry. So why don’t small businesses keep up with changes? One reason is that they are too busy running their business to stay on top of marketing trends. The solution to this problem is a solid marketing plan and regular updates for your website.
You should also make sure that you are using the latest technology and tools to help you with your marketing.
If you’ve read this far, it means that you care about improving your conversion rates. You might be wondering how to do so without investing an arm and a leg in advertising strategies or hiring someone else to run your online marketing campaign for you. We can help with all of those things! Our team of experts has seen the common mistakes businesses make when building their websites, designing ads, or executing social media campaigns. Let us show you what we mean by analyzing some of these mistakes together – would love to work with you on getting better results from your digital marketing strategy!
