Your website is more than just a pretty face. It is a representation of your brand. It is often the first interaction that customers will have with your business. Because of this, it is imperative that your website ticks all of the boxes. It needs to look impressive, navigate intuitively, load quickly, and have plenty to offer the viewer without overwhelming them. It is all about providing the ultimate user experience. Is this something you are doing? Or are you committing one of the following deadly website sins?
Failing to link to your social media accounts – There is no excuse for not integrating social media with your website today. The vast majority of businesses are present on one or a number of social networks, and it is important to include buttons to your social media on your website. This makes it easy for consumers to move from one platform to the other. After all, social media is an imperative communication and branding channel for businesses today, so you need to make sure that everything is linked if it is to be effective.
Too much going on – It can be very tempting to try and include as much as possible on your website because there is so much that you want to tell the viewer. However, if you overwhelm them like this, you are only going to give them a headache. Not only this, but it will dilute your overall brand image too. Viewers will be confused. What is your brand really about? Remember, white space is your friend!
Poor navigation – A user should never have to think about what their next move is when they are on your website. It should come naturally to them. If your navigation is causing users to stop and think, you need to enlist the help of a professional design team. A DIVI expert can help to make sure that your website is easy to use and that consumers can get to where they want to be with ease.
Slow server times – Slow load times are no longer acceptable. It is simply an invitation for the user to click away and go to a competitor’s website. After all, the Internet is all about convenience. When you take this factor away, all you are going to do is frustrate the user. They don’t want to wait, and they should not have to.
Broken links – Last but not least, bad links, i.e. hyperlinks that lead to ‘404’ error pages or do nothing when they are clicked, are the bane of anyone browsing on the web. Make sure you test your website on a regular basis so you can ensure that all of your links are working properly.
If you are currently guilty of committing one of the deadly website sins, there is no need to panic. However, you do need to put steps in place to rectify the issue as soon as possible so that your SEO ranking and brand image does not plummet.
