5 Signs Your Website Design Isn’t Effective
Is your site set up to win the hearts and minds of your audience? Do you even know how to tell?
Here are five common design mistakes that can be fixed with less work than you’d imagine.
Not mobile friendly
As of 2015, mobile users make up roughly 27 percent of web usage. Going mobile costs time, but the payoff is providing excellent service for those 27 percent of users. Mobile-friendly sites are successful because they are convenient for users, and making things convenient for people is one of the best ways to create a good reputation. Don’t miss the opportunity and lose page views because of it.
Poor color scheme
While it may seem trivial, recent studies show that website color significantly impacts purchase decisions. Identifying who you’re targeting and what specifically you want them to take away from your page is crucial. Color has been shown to affect human behavior, and you need to know if you’re hitting inherent sweet spots with your color scheme, or unintentionally driving people away. Is your content organized by gender? Women typically have an aversion to gray, orange, and brown, and prefer blue, purple, and green. Most men don’t like purple, orange, and brown, and would rather see blue, green, and black. The first step is to know your audience, and you can then pick the correct colors from there.
Selecting the right image
Stock photos are convenient, but if you have a high-quality camera you’re better off taking your own photos. Custom images offer distinct advantages:
- No other website will have them
- They’re an opportunity to showcase creativity
- They’re less expensive
Custom or stock, any photo can be visually stimulating. The trick is selecting the right ones. It’s important to stand out, and a good place to start is with imagery. Just be sure that the images aren’t unintentionally humorous.
Bad layout
When it comes to a page that is presenting crucial information, you need people to stay on your site and read it. That means they have to actually be able to find what they’re looking for. The Nielsen Norman Group found that the average English reader reads a website in an “F” shape—left to right and top to bottom. Organizing your page to accommodate the way people read on the web can dramatically enhance the effectiveness of your site. If the reader can’t locate what they need to find immediately, they’ll leave immediately. Just remember to use the “F” shape. It works.
No “Contact Us”
Customers need to be able to contact you if they have questions or comments. Including contact information legitimizes your webpage and fosters customer-company interactions. According to the Harvard Business Review, “business buyers say direct interactions with providers influence their purchasing decisions more than anything else.” That said, be sure you’re not including a personal email address as your corporate contact information. Not only will this lead to an overflowing email inbox from spammers, if that person leaves the company, you’ll need to redirect to another account to avoid missing any future emails and confusing customers. Simply provide an email alias, and check it regularly. It will make a difference for your customers, and it will create a following for you.
A disorganized website will struggle to get visitors, and a website that has no visitors serves no purpose. These tips take a little effort and some resources to implement, but when you have only .05 seconds to win people over, it’s worth the investment.