6 Common Mistakes You’re Making With Your Website As A Small Business
We’ve been designing and developing WordPress websites for years and have come across our fair share of clients with website problems. From your website being too confusing, no clear call to actions and no content, we’ve pretty much seen it all!
With many small business owners opting to design their own websites, more and more problems are starting to arise and it is unfortunately creating more hassle for your customers than you think. Having a poorly designed and developed site can cause you to lose customers and ultimately sales.
To help you get ahead of the game (or fix the problems you may have now!) Here are the top 5 most common mistakes you’re making with your website as a small business…
#1 No Responsive Design…
One of the biggest mistakes you can make this year, especially after Google’s latest algorithm update, is your website not being responsive. If your website isn’t responsive to multiple devices, you need to go back to the drawing board.
Arguably one of the most important aspects of a new website, you need to put this at the top of your to-do list. Responsive design makes your website accessible for everyone regardless of their device, it’s actually a pretty big deal.
With technology ever developing and growing at rapid rates, this is something you should regularly keep up to date with even years down the line. Making sure your website is responsive on a variety of devices including desktops, smartphones and tablets is crucial.
#2 Poor & Low Quality Design…
Another thing many companies struggle with is the actual design of the website. A common scenario we often experience when chatting with clients, is a website design not being designed professionally by a qualified creative designer. This normally leads to weak headline messaging and call to actions, inconsistent branding and layouts, a confusing customer journey and an overall design that isn’t engaging for your website users.
A high quality and professionally designed website will work wonders for your business. First impressions count and without those eye catching visuals you can wave bye to keeping any users glued to your site.
We’ve been working with clients for nearly three decades so understand the importance of site usability. With a professional website design, you can rely on your website being easy and fast to navigate, helping you better position your website in your industry.
#3 “Common” Errors…
As a small business, especially if you are designing and developing your website yourself, it can be difficult to keep all your plates spinning at any one time and because of this, it makes it even easier for you to make common errors and mistakes.
A few examples include:
- Not finding and fixing broken links
- Having no SSL certificate (meaning your website isn’t secure!)
- Invisible navigation menus
- Poor website sizing and scaling
- Broken design, images and styling
When you choose an expert to build and regularly manage your website you know you can trust in them to pick up these errors and fix them pretty sharpish. But when you’re a small business with a small team, there are never enough hours in the day to look out and fix these kinds of things.
That’s why we would always advise choosing a professional to help design, build and manage your new website, regardless of how big your company is.
#4 A Very Slow Site…
A painful mistake you’re most likely making with your website. A slow website puts anyone off, no matter who they are. No one will wait for your website if it takes decades to load. We’ve seen it before where small businesses choose to host and manage the website themselves, and it never ends well.
The longer your website takes to load, the more likely a user is to bounce straight off. Take 5 minutes out of this blog now to run a speed test on your website, if your website takes longer than 4 seconds to load, it’s time to speak to an expert.
#5 No Clear Call To Actions…
Web design ultimately makes or breaks a website. If you have no clear call to actions across your website, then there’s another common mistake you’re making with your website.
Call to actions are the gateway to your business, it is a command for users to follow. Keep your CTA concise and clear so they know exactly what to do, like this:
Call today on 01270 252 106 to book a FREE website consultation!
These CTAs need to be referenced across your site in strategic places, not just thrown in here or there.
#6 Content Is King…
A major no no, (especially if you want to do well in search engines) is having poor quality content. Having little to no content or even keyword stuffed content isn’t great for business.
You need to put your customer first, what do they need to know and what is the easiest way to present that information? We often see businesses who haven’t invested in an SEO expert, make huge mistakes on their website very early on. Alongside their poor quality content, is always a website’s title tags and meta descriptions. In fact many small business owners with limited SEO knowledge don’t even know that metadata exists.
From keyword stuffing to not optimising your site at all, either way it’s another mistake your small business is making and something you need to fix!
So, How Do You Resolve These Issues?
These problems won’t go away by burying your head in the sand. If you truly want your website and business to succeed, now’s the time to speak to an expert. As Cheshire based web developers, we work with a variety of local businesses and also those further afield across the UK.
We are WordPress specialists, so you can rest assured that we won’t be making any of the above mistakes for your small business when you have a new website or SEO package with our team. Simply get in touch with our team today and find out more about how we can help you! Fill in our contact form below or call us on 01270 252 106 to book a FREE consultation with our web team.