Make your brand clear through colors, graphics, design elements, and plenty more, and you’ll have an excellent start. But you could be standing in your own way when it comes to conversions. Avoid the five website design mistakes I’ve listed below, and business could be booming.
#1 – Designing Without SEO in Mind
Before anyone can convert on your website, they have to find you. With SEO, a rising tide lifts all ships—so optimizing your site anywhere will help improve your visibility in general. Plus, the more folks who find your site, the more opportunities you’ll have to convert them.
Make it easier for customers to find you, and ensure your design doesn’t overrule your SEO needs. Focus on high-value keywords and pages and integrate SEO within your website design from the start, including creating space for helpful content (a resources or blog section) along with plenty of on-page optimization with interlinking and keyword integration. It should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: add meta data and ensure your URLs are helping instead of hurting your SEO cause.
#2 – Putting CTAs and Forms on the Backburner
Similarly to attracting an audience with SEO-friendly design, you’ll also want to engineer pathways so site visitors can convert easily. If they can’t quickly contact you or learn more about your services or products, they’ll likely leave. Let the people engage!
Best practices for CTAs and forms will both contribute to better UX and likely: better conversions.
For example, for CTAs:
- Keep them above the fold, in view, and on the right-hand side (aligned with natural reading patterns)
- Use action words with your CTAs (“Download Now” or “Schedule Today”)
- Be specific—instead of “Learn More” try “Explore X Product”
- Use contrast with size, shape, and color to help the button stand out on the page
For forms:
- Ask for the minimum amount of information needed
- Identify clearly what they’ll receive when they sign up
#3 – Not Showcasing Credibility
You’re the real deal. Right? But if you’re not showcasing your credibility, your website visitors might have their doubts. They’ll want to hear from anyone except you about why you’re the right choice. So: let someone else do the talking (and selling) for you.
Use social proof: testimonials, awards, accreditations, client logos, and case studies to boost your business.
In terms of design, find ways to fold credibility into each page in a way that makes sense. If you have a review of a specific product, place it on that page. If you garnered an award for your workplace, put it on your About Us or Team page. And always put your best reviews front and center before asking someone to contact you or buy a service—it’s the ideal last little bit of convincing you can do before they hit “Contact Us” or “Book a Demo”.
#4 – Overcomplicating Things
Don’t make your page cluttered!
In order to make a good first impression, eliminate the distractions on the page. If you overload the site with everything you can think of, you might lose some customers. Keep them engaged, yes, but also: don’t scare them away.
Everything on the page should serve a purpose, and everything should work together.
Design-wise, here’s how to keep it simple:
- Make your navigation intuitive and easy
- Use a well-organized mega menu instead of one long list or large amounts of tabs
- Break up your content to appeal to various buyer personas
- Use whitespace strategically
- Ensure visual hierarchy with font sizes and layouts
- Identify the primary purpose for every page and stick to it (with design and content)
#5 – Setting and Forgetting
Learn what works and what doesn’t. Or you’ll end up repeating history and making the same mistakes over again without knowing they were mistakes. Setting and forgetting works fine for slow cooking, but is not the best course of (in)action for websites. Track and experiment instead.
There are three ways to do this. Try them all:
Track key metrics – Using Google Analytics check out your key website metrics, like bounce rates and conversions to get a sense of what’s working.
Track user behavior – See where your users are coming from, as well as which pages and which sections they like most. Heat mapping tools such as Hotjar and Crazy Egg work well for discovering on-site user insights.
Perform A/B testing – Just like at the eye doctor—better 1 or better 2? Comparison helps you clearly see what’s working better. You can test out different CTA wording and placement along with different messaging. Plus—if you notice user behavior favoring a specific part of a page, you can move it up.
Creating various landing pages can also help you continue to experiment to see what helps your ideal audience convert. For example, trying out different designs for a whitepaper download landing page might see a variety of visuals—from a book format image to a few pages as a snippet. Experiment with sizing and placement to see what works best.
Bottom line: Continuously review, update, and improve.
Other Website Design Mistakes to Avoid
Above, I’ve only listed five mistakes that can happen with website design—but that’s not all to be aware of. Ask yourself the following as you design your website, and you’ll be able to create a site design that works for your users, first and foremost:
- Do we understand our audience?
- Are we putting out the right info in visual and verbal content?
- Is our brand’s identity crystal clear and consistent?
- Do we touch on our ideal customers’ pain points?
- Are we solving their problem with a service or product?
- Most importantly: If I were the user, would this website design work well for me?
Build your design around best practices and your user, and you’ll avoid design pitfalls while reaping the benefits of both a visible online presence and a website that converts—all while looking good.
