Even the most popular and longest established website was at one point just a glint in its creator’s eye. All businesses and charitable organisations have to start somewhere when setting up a website, but even if they take a cautious approach, mistakes can still happen.
Here are just three cardinal mistakes to avoid.
1. Not considering why people would visit the site
Of course, people will visit your site if they are interested in utilising or learning more about your products or services. But have you carefully considered exactly what these potential customers will want to do as they land on your website?
If you need a few clues, you could look to your competitors’ sites. However, your focus here should be on seeking inspiration rather than slavishly copying every detail of what they do, as you won’t want to end up replicating your rivals’ mistakes as well as their successes.
2. Packing in too much information
Once you have a good idea of what your target customers are likely to be thinking when they access your site, you should prioritise including the information that is most likely to help them.
If you run a plumbing business, for example, people are almost always going to be especially inclined to turn to a firm like yours when struck by an emergency, such as a major leak.
You should therefore remember to put your ‘emergency’ – and yes, we urge you to include that word – contact details front and centre on your site.
3. Prioritising form over functionality
It’s tempting to integrate a particular feature into your website design simply because it looks good, and because you reckon it could possibly – just maybe – be useful to someone.
A slideshow is a good example of such an eye-catching, but also potentially gimmicky feature. Ask yourself: when it comes down to it, is every part of your website actually serving your visitors and answering their very real pain points?
Indeed, elements like slideshows that could be easily seen as inessential or trivial are often best reserved for use lower down a page, where they’re less likely to needlessly distract, and likelier to be appreciated by visitors who have scrolled down that far.
As a general rule, information most crucial to the average user should be pushed up the page. However, if you’re struggling to discern what would and wouldn’t be an important feature to have on your website, you can rest assured that our small business web design experts are able to guide you in the right direction.
Give the PENNInk Productions team a call today on 020 8144 7931 for a suitably in-depth discussion about your brand’s web design, search engine optimisation and digital marketing requirements in 2020, and how we could cater to them for you.
Edward Solomon has over 30 years’ experience in project management, technical education, computer networking, web design and development and is a Digital Business Consultant for PENNInk Productions Ltd.
