Last Updated on Mar 25, 2020 by James W
How is your website looking? Does it work well and is it easy to navigate? Do people stick around when they pay you a visit or are your bounce rates constantly near the 100% mark? If you are having problems making sales, growing your audience, and getting people to take action, then your website’s design could be letting you down. Here are the key reasons why.
You look like everyone else
Unfortunately, the Internet is a cluttered place, and you have to be outstanding to get noticed. So, if you are using cookie-cutter templates for your website, it might be time to tear the whole thing down and start again. The design of your website is the first thing that everybody notices when they arrive. If it looks like a generic, hastily put together mess, they just aren’t going to stick around. It should look professional, secure, and interesting to your target market. If you don’t have the skills or time to do it yourself, then we thoroughly recommend getting hold of a web designer.
You should also think about the industry that you are serving when you approach a web developer. Certain industries – such as the legal or medical professions – need to have that extra bit of protection included in the design. As an example, take a look at these medical website design success factors, and you can quickly see the importance of hiring a company with experience is specific fields. Yes, it will add a little more onto your design costs, but if it offers the protection and resources your audience needs, it will pay for itself.
Your website doesn’t work well
Another thing to think about in the design process is functionality. Your website should be as easy to navigate round as it is to slice warm butter with a knife. Your audience has arrived for one of two reasons: to find out information, or to buy something. How many pages do they have to click through to achieve their goals? And is their progress interrupted by broken links or unfinished pages? If so, expect frustrated customers and fewer sales or signups.
Make sure that your site includes a menu and some form of navigation system so that customers can always find what they are looking for in the least amount of clicks. Also, think about how your site looks on a mobile platform. More and more searches are being done via mobile device these days, and you will be missing out if you haven’t optimized your site for mobile platforms.
You aren’t getting visitors
The design and structure of your website also has an effect on your search engine rankings. Each of the major search engines uses special algorithms to sift out the wheat from the chaff and give their customers the best result for their search query. If you have broken links or a complicated site map that makes no sense, then the algorithm will mark down your ranking. That means fewer visitors and reduced opportunities for making money.
Without a good ranking, you won’t get any visitors. And, without visitors, you won’t get any sales. Address these factors as soon as possible and you will begin to see more positive results.
