If you’re setting up a business for the first time you will know that there is a huge amount to think about. Because of this, you may not be giving the design of your website the attention it deserves. There are lots of mistakes that many new companies make with their website and these can turn out to be very costly. After all, your website is your online calling card: it’s what you use to present your brand to the world.
To help you find out whether you have made any of these mistakes, here are some of the most common ones and how to deal with them:
Too Much Clutter: If you have an awful lot of information to convey then take care how you do it. The content on your website should be as simple as possible for the visitor to take in. One important rule is this: never cram too much onto your home page. This is the first thing most visitors will see, so it needs to convey the essence of what you do as quickly as possible. Don’t overload it with text and images going into detail about all your products and services. All of this should be in separate pages that are easy and intuitive to navigate.
Too Much Text: This is really a continuation of the above point: when it comes to text, remember that less is more. Try to say what needs to be said using as few words as possible (there is quite an art to this). And what text you do have should be broken up to make it easier to digest. You can do this by adding bullet points, sub-headings and placing it in columns.
Over-Use Of Videos And Music: A few well-put-together videos can work wonders for your marketing so you should never overlook them altogether. But – and this is a big but – you should avoid using them on page load. Many companies do this and it’s hard to see why. All it serves to do is slow down the load, annoy customers and probably cause them to navigate away from your site quickly. Instead, provide clear links to videos, either from your website or social media pages. It’s better to give people the choice to watch or listen to something rather than force it on them. (Look at the outcry there was when Apple decided to plonk the new U2 album directly onto all iTunes accounts without anyone asking them to.)
Pop-Up Windows: You may be tempted to use these to draw attention to a new product or get people to sign up for newsletters. All we can say is: don’t. It is annoying for visitors and will also give your website a bit of a ‘cheap’ feel. Pop-up windows have associations with spam and nobody likes spam!
To help you find out whether you have made any of these mistakes, here are some of the most common ones and how to deal with them:
Too Much Clutter: If you have an awful lot of information to convey then take care how you do it. The content on your website should be as simple as possible for the visitor to take in. One important rule is this: never cram too much onto your home page. This is the first thing most visitors will see, so it needs to convey the essence of what you do as quickly as possible. Don’t overload it with text and images going into detail about all your products and services. All of this should be in separate pages that are easy and intuitive to navigate.
Too Much Text: This is really a continuation of the above point: when it comes to text, remember that less is more. Try to say what needs to be said using as few words as possible (there is quite an art to this). And what text you do have should be broken up to make it easier to digest. You can do this by adding bullet points, sub-headings and placing it in columns.
Over-Use Of Videos And Music: A few well-put-together videos can work wonders for your marketing so you should never overlook them altogether. But – and this is a big but – you should avoid using them on page load. Many companies do this and it’s hard to see why. All it serves to do is slow down the load, annoy customers and probably cause them to navigate away from your site quickly. Instead, provide clear links to videos, either from your website or social media pages. It’s better to give people the choice to watch or listen to something rather than force it on them. (Look at the outcry there was when Apple decided to plonk the new U2 album directly onto all iTunes accounts without anyone asking them to.)
Pop-Up Windows: You may be tempted to use these to draw attention to a new product or get people to sign up for newsletters. All we can say is: don’t. It is annoying for visitors and will also give your website a bit of a ‘cheap’ feel. Pop-up windows have associations with spam and nobody likes spam!
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