Today’s world sees more and more businesses establish a web presence of some sort, the benefits of having a website today are immense and businesses still not taking to be active are seriously missing out. Businesses of all sizes are taking to web-based activity as they see it as a huge opportunity to engage with potential customers in and around their local area. If you have made the decision to go digital, it is important to identify the fundamentals of good practice in the world of digital media. Your website can make or break your brand, so ensuring your website is optimised to its fullest potential will do wonders for your online presence and help build engagement into key communities likely to be interested in your product or service.

This article tackles what not to do with your website, highlighting glaring mistakes to avoid with the development of your website.

Not Optimising for Mobile Usage

It may come as no surprise to you that most web browsing today occurs through mobile phones. Over 60% of consumer browsing online is conducted through a mobile phone and this number is highly likely to keep on rising. It is vital for your website to be optimised for mobile phones and the main reasons are as follows...

Google indexes based on a website’s mobile performance. The algorithm is continually updated to assure browsers get the very best results for their searches. As most activity online is conducted through a mobile phone, it would make total sense to incorporate this fact into your own website. Should a business fail to adhere to mobile optimisation, then this will have a damaging affect on your Google ranking. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) incorporates strategies to boost your presence online, mobile optimisation is just one of the strategies used to ensure your website gets seen and performs in the most efficient and user-friendly way possible.

Mobile browsing shows no signs of slowing down, estimates show mobile phone increase will increase into the billions in years to come. In some way or another people around the globe will have computerised technology at their fingertips, by not getting your site mobile-friendly, you’re missing out on future engagement with these potential customers.

Excessive Popups

Chances are you’ve experienced a pop up at some point, they do serve a purpose in the world of online advertising however like a TV advert disrupting your favourite movie they can be considered annoying, intrusive and disruptive. Online users have become savvier and more educated when it comes to browsing the world wide web, they expect a great user experience when they visit a website.

Should you be using Pop ups a little too much it is likely that this will have the adverse effect to what your trying to achieve. This kind of overload is likely to annoy your users and leave them with no alternative but to leave your website and visit your rivals. Search engines like Google and even social media sites like Facebook and Instagram have taken steps to block annoying pop ups by default, this also encourages better advertising standards. Filtering out these ads ensures that users won’t get that negative experience which is enough to defer them from your website.

Loading Speed...

One of the criteria’s for websites these days and a likely trend for the future is its speed. Like most things today people want to browse online, quickly. Data shows us that you have under 3 seconds to impress the browser who visits your website. Should they bounce off your website this maybe down to several reasons, but it is important to note that one main reason maybe the speed of a website. Should your website lag or have an overload of unnecessary files that hinders its loading speed it may be time to address the issue to help improve the efficiency of your site. If your website is slow, it’s going to give your users a negative experience, this is detrimental to what your trying to achieve particularly if you’re selling products online or hoping to generate leads through your website, it’s likely to cost you money, and your reputation.

Tell People What You Offer

Often in life some of the simplest and most obvious matters that are either missed or rushed, failing to see how getting the basics right will encourage a good platform for your site to function to its optimum level. Should a user browsing your site fail to see what it is you do and how you can help them, they will simply leave within a few seconds. It’s very frustrating for a user to be clicking around a website, delving deep into your pages to grasp a basic understanding of what you do.

Be clear and obvious, state what you do and why you are good at it, testimonials and reviews are a couple of tangibles that can help facilitate public opinion. Failing to state the obvious to your users will encourage them to leave, and you’ll miss out on potential customers.

SSL Certificate for Security

Should your website be a crucial component to your business and if you hold or process any sensitive personal information, it is essential that you have an SSL certificate for your website.

SSL stands for a Secure Sockets Layer certificate, this digitally connects a cryptographic key to an organisation’s details. This fundamentally creates a secure link between your website and the users’ browsers, helping guarantee that all secure and confidential information is going to the correct place and can’t be copied, hijacked or stolen.

The benefits of having an SSL certificate are numerous, since the hacking scandal made the obvious flaws apparent in handling of confidential data, it is considered good practice to obtain one. This will help establish your customer’s sense of trust as they are more likely to engage with a website that is considered secure by modern standards. It is likely that most websites in the future will need an SSL certificate, as we see evidence now that search engines like Google even pre warn a user if a site hasn’t these certificates in place.

In fact, Google has recently announced how they will prioritise websites who have SSL certificates in their rankings. Google wants to encourage the very best safe, secure, and fast websites, so having this certificate will help with your SEO efforts and in turn, drive more traffic to your website.

What To Do Next, Calls of Action

When you think about it when people are browsing your website there are numerous ways to instruct and help navigate them to areas that you want them to see. A call to action is a key part of your website that informs the user what to do and encourages them to take an action. Some examples of calls to actions may look a little like this

• Drop us a message!
• Visit Us
• Buy Now
• Add to Basket
• Shop Now
• Sign Up for Our Newsletter

These calls to action certainly help you engage with the customer and encouraging them what to do next is a very effective method to pull them further into your sales funnel. This reduces the chance of customers leaving your website without ever interacting with you.

No Social Media Involvement

Most would assume that this is a no brainer, the millions and millions of users that social media websites attract is seen as a gold mine for the advertising industry, and for good reason. Social media is the best way to interact with people in and around your area for local businesses. This helps connect peoples interests and encourages faith in conducting business online as friends or colleagues you know have used a product or service, therefor they can recommend them to you. It’s a great way to begin building a solid audience and retaining website visitors with ease, however consistency is key.

Bad imagery

You see High Definition in many places these days as its available to display products and services to their fullest potential. You’ll be amazed at how successful good quality images can be and how people can interpret your brand based on the quality and quantity of the imagery you have used. If you use bad stock imagery, it can come across as misleading and confuse the website user, which would likely cause them to leave. Should you be using images that doesn’t solely reflect the tone and style of your content, image or brand then it’s likely to come across as confusing and misleading to your potential customers. This would prevent them from engaging further with you and completing the sales process.

These are just a few hints on what we recommend you don’t do should you be looking to have a website designed. We highly recommend you follow this little guide to help make sure you don’t make these mistakes in the future.

Should you have any questions or need help with any of the information discussed in this article then please get in touch via our telephone number or email contact information. Alternatively fill in our online query form and we will get back to you.