It is quite easy to build a website and it is even easier to really annoy your website visitors.
Poorly thought out and poorly designed websites can cost you…and you might not even know what’s putting your website visitors off. Here are some common pitfalls to avoid:
1. Pop-Ups
Pop-ups can really annoy a visitor as these advertisements that open automatically in a new window can be quite distracting. The visitor might be interested in looking at the content of your website but some pop-ups can force them to focus on other things. Even worse is having pop-ups that spawn more pop-ups when the visitor tries to close the first one.
2. Long-winded web pages
Most people want to digest information quickly when they read something online, so having mini thesis on one web page can be a real turn off.
If your website visitors have to keep scrolling endlessly down the web page only get lost in content that’s unrelated to what he or she was looking for in the first place, the next step if to exit your website entirely.
A better approach is to keep web pages short and sweet so that it is easy for readers to get right to the information that is being looked for. You can link to other useful related content and let them decide if they want to read it or not.
3. Excessive use of graphics and flash
Some web developers think that by using flashy graphics they can attract visitors to their site. Instead, the visitors are likely to get irritated…And these days many people are browsing from their smartphones and tablets so they may not even be able to view your website properly if you have all these fancy graphics on them anyway.
Too many graphics will make your website load very slowly, too, so visitors will think your website isn’t working, or they may just get fed up of waiting for it to load. And Google hates slow loading websites, so if you see your traffic start to take a nose dive, that may be a reason why, too.
4. Under construction
Websites that say “under construction,” leave a bad taste in the mouth of its visitors, who have probably spent time getting there in the first place. If your website isn’t white ready to show the world, give a timeline for when they can come back, and some contact details so its not a wasted effort.
If you have social media presence, add your Facebook, Twitter other social media links so they know they can get in touch with a human being to find out more.
5. Lack of content…or rubbish content
Most people like content-oriented websites that give information on specific topics. Even search engines love content-based websites and will rank content heavy sites higher in search results. Lack of proper content will put your users off, and they’ll go to your competitor’s website if they’ve got their house in order.
6. Music
There’s. oohing more cringeworthy than taking a sneaky browse on a website at work and loud, conspicuous music comes on that tells the whole office that you’re browsing the net.
You might think it befits your website, it unless your a musician, take the music off!
7. Inconsistent page design
If your website looks like Amazon one minute, then the BBC website the next your users will definitely be miffed.
It’s important to have a style that the website uses throughout its web pages, with a few tweaks for sales landing pages. S that your website visitors don’t feel like they are skipping from one website to the next… It really doesn’t look professional.
By paying close attention to factors that can annoy website visitors, you can keep your visitors feeling safe and happy and they’ll be more likely to return and buy your products and services, too.
