You’ve worked hard to build a reputation for providing excellent service. The last thing you want is a website design for your Calgary business that makes your customers think you don’t care about them or their time. Don’t let poor design choices get in the way. In the interest of helping you avoid the mistakes of others, here are some of the easiest ways to frustrate your customers with your website.
A Bad First Impression
We’ve all had the experience of going to a business we’ve never been to before and getting an uneasy feeling before we even get inside. Just like a store with dirty windows or too many sale signs shouting at customers makes a negative impression, if visitors to your site can’t get past the loud calls-to-action and special offers to find what they want, they will likely give up. Never underestimate appearances. Greet your visitors with a clean, uncluttered design.
Remember this maxim: An ugly virtual store is just as bad as an ugly real one. Your website should showcase your products in a way that makes users want to buy.
- Offer images with multiple views that can be zoomed in easily.
- If a product is complex, include a demonstration video that highlights its features.
- Always try to keep visitors within a single click of product information.
Confusing Layout
Your site’s content might be what brought your customers there in the first place, but you want them to stick around and keep coming back. If your website design for your Calgary business makes your content hard to read, they’re not going to bother. Improve text layout and readability by:
- Breaking content up over several paragraphs
- Using numbered lists and bullet points.
- Sticking to clear fonts and standard sizes.
Your content matters too! Make sure it’s relevant. We’ve got some great content marketing tips. Engaging your readers has an added bonus….the longer people stay, the better it is for your SEO rankings.
Complicated Navigation
Make getting around your site as simple and intuitive as possible. Take the time to analyze your design and categorize your resources logically. Your navigation bar could be the most important part of your design.
- Start with a content first methodology.
- Give people meaningful choices.
- Make links descriptive and easily understood.
- And whatever you do, don’t forget to make it all easy to search!
Slow Loading Pages and Images
Anything that slows down the user experience is bad for business. Don’t risk losing customers by making them wait.
- Use a reliable host for your site.
- Optimize your images to make sure they load quickly and properly.
- Include captions to encourage readers to keep reading and explore more of your site.
- For more, check out these 10 Tips For Image SEO.
Poor Mobile Experience
Just a few years ago designers only had to make sure a website worked well on a handful of different browsers. Smartphones and tablets changed all that. Today, mobile Internet usage is far more of a factor than anyone could have predicted. Your site needs to load quickly and be easy to read on a large number of different screen sizes. A flexible, responsive website design for your Calgary business is key.
Nowhere to Turn For Help
When you can’t find what you’re looking for in a store, you walk up to the counter and ask. On a website, if a search doesn’t give you the answer you need, you have try calling or sending an email, and that means waiting. Your customers have many choices online, and if they can’t get the answers they want when they want them, they’ll go somewhere else. Live chat can help you keep a lead over your competitors.
Successful online marketing begins with understanding your customer, and knowing how to use the right tools to manage that relationship. By incorporating a CRM into your online marketing plan, you can do everything from scheduling appointments to tracking clicked links in emails.
No one sets out to create a complicated, user-unfriendly website. If you spotted some of these mistakes in your website it’s not too late to do something about it. You know what your company has to offer better than anyone else.
