Business owners new to internet marketing spend a lot of time getting traffic to their websites. Traffic is very important, but what happens once visitors arrive at your site is what really matters. So much time is spent focusing on getting hits and studying traffic patterns that the entire concept of conversions is missed. One of the biggest mistakes people make that kills sales is bad web design.
Conversions, not traffic, are what actually matter in business. Conversions mean that people who visit the website actually buy the products or services offered. Hits and traffic patterns do not help a business without that follow through where visitors actually make a purchase. So what are the elements of good website development and what will kill conversions?
Too Much Too Soon
Having a landing page that is filled with information creates a confusion of clutter. Find a good designer who can make your page attractive and functional while organizing clutter from widgets, plugins and other gadgets.
Before the Release
Before uploading a website to a server a professional designer will make sure sites do not inadvertently direct users to competitor websites. One of the most common mistakes new website owners make when creating their own pages is that they add sites of interest to their sidebars or in their text. They think it makes them look more helpful and in touch with their consumer base. Helpful links may indeed be a good idea if they are providing helpful information on making good decisions, and not sending consumers someplace they can purchase a similar product.
Easy Access
A lot of sales are lost because websites are not easy to navigate. The internet is a vast marketplace, and when users get bored or frustrated they are going someplace else. It is also important to make sure, whether as an in-house designer or agency, your website design looks good and works properly on a wide range of browsers.
Websites that do not perform properly can also destroy search engine optimization. A lot of money is spent by online marketers on getting traffic to a website through SEO, but if your website does not work properly on a browser associated with a search engine, it is even more disastrous. Those search engines will drop sites in their indexes when they don’t perform well or are hard to navigate. Where serious infractions occur, search engines may even drop a site from their indexing completely making all of the expensive SEO efforts to get traffic worthless. Additionally, with mobile devices becoming the most common way users access websites, your designer also needs to make sure it works on different screen sizes.
What is Your Message?
Potential customers should be able to understand your business quickly. A good web designer will make sure your message is easy to understand, and that slogans and typography are artful yet compelling.
Testing the Effectiveness
The second biggest mistake online business make is to create a site and simply hope for the best. Good designers will encourage their clients to fully develop two designs using a variation of elements, and then test them each to see which performs better.
These designers are not trying to simply up-sell to make more money; they are incorporating a tried and true marketing tool that helps make sure the overall function and design eventually used by the client is going to perform the best. When a designer takes on a client with an existing website, a/b testing can be used to provide a solid comparison with the old site to see which converts better.
A/B testing covers a wide range of elements on a website. Testing could be to determine what colors or fonts are most compelling, what icons or information gathering designs get the best response. Testing will also show flaws in page design that keep visitors from being able to access the information on the site, and ensure that customers are being guided properly to the products that they are most likely to purchase.