It can be a ruthless environment when it comes to website design. People can become more focused on funneling visitors to their site that they fail to remember how to keep them engaged once they’re there. Attention spans are pretty low these days. According to the Nielson Norman Group, “users often leave Web pages in 10–20 seconds, but pages with a clear value proposition can hold people’s attention for much longer.” So you need to grab visitors quickly or they will just leave. You also need to take it one step further and create a site that is worth returning to and sharing on other social media platforms. Have no fear, we’re here to help. Let’s take a look at some common pitfalls that you can avoid as well as some simple tips to improve the conversion rate of your website.
DON’T Build a slow-loading site
Remember, you have 10 seconds, 20 max, to make a lasting impression. People are not going to wait around for your slow site to load…ever. While flashy gimmicks may seem like a great idea, they come at a price. And that cost is frequently performance.
DO this instead
A websites ability to function will always outweigh any fancy animation. User-ability is the most important aspect of a one’s web experience. Instead, concentrate on creating quality content which will always produce a longer lasting effect on visitors
DON’T clutter your site
Clutter leads to confusion and confusion is a guaranteed way to lose visitors. Using elaborate elements to set your site apart will end up having an adverse effect. If there’s too much going on, users won’t know where to click.
DO this instead
Allow your content to take center stage in your user’s experience. Make it easily accessible. When building your site ask yourself the following questions:
Is it simple?
Less is more. Is there something that can be removed in efforts to achieve the goal of the site?
Is it consistent?
Consistency is King. Avoid changes in layout and/or website theme. The display should remain the same from page-to-page.
Is the spaced accordingly?
Make sure to leave enough whitespace around text and design elements. You want to avoid having all your content bleed together.
Is it organized?
Break up content into different sections. Don’t cram content all in one area, spread it throughout the site.
DON’T include poor call to action
It is crucial that your website has some sort of objective. Your aim is to persuade people to choose your product or service, right? So direct visitors towards that objective as easily as possible. Enter your the call to action.
It is such a common mistake for web designers to place their call to action in hard to find places or they write a call to action that doesn’t even direct visitors at all. This creates confusion and we all know what that means…users leaving the site.
DO this instead
Your call to action should stand out, put it in a prominent location. Users shouldn’t have to guess, tell them exactly what you want them to do. Generally, the most effective place is above the content.
If you can avoid the web design blunders mentioned above, your end product will be a site that is simple but effective enough to capture and hold visitors which will ultimately lead to conversion.