You’re great at promoting your site. But how do you reduce site abandonment and convert website viewers into faithful consumers?
Make sure you’re not committing these website mistakes.
1. The overall design isn’t clean or user friendly
Your design matters. It needs to be clean, polished, and easy to navigate. Don’t be too creative with your color scheme, but also be true to your brand identity. Your design should allow for smooth navigation and easy reading.
2. The site is difficult to navigate
Your website viewers don’t want to hunt for hours on a topic. Society’s instant gratification mentality has people abandoning sites regularly when they’re struggling to find the products or services they need. Look at your navigation from a user’s perspective.
3. Content is old, hard to read, and misleading
Your font should be large enough for viewers to read with ease. Don’t get too fancy with your fonts, and definitely stay away from Comic Sans. Also, be sure to use contrasting (but not blinding) color combinations to prevent viewers’ eyes from straining while browsing your site.
Content needs to be high quality and easily scannable. Make content easier to skim by:
- Adding bullet points
- Including subheadings
- Breaking up your content
Always publish fresh content—no one wants old news. Keep your blog updated with breakthrough information and easy tips valuable to your target audience.
What you offer needs to be clear to your readers. They want to know how exactly it will benefit them.
Headlines shouldn’t be misleading, either. Make sure your content complements your headline.
4. Your load time takes forever
When the load time is slow, it can prevent viewers from even looking at your website. They may click, wait a few seconds, and close.
One way to speed up your load time is by reducing the size of your images. While you want images to be good quality, you don’t want them so large they slow down your load time. Even seconds matter, and the longer your website viewers have to wait, the more likely they are to abandon your site.
5. There’s no call to action
A good call to action (CTA) can keep viewers on your site longer and even convert views into sales. Never assume your visitors will automatically be motivated to contact you or read more. Use catchy CTAs to give the viewers a helpful nudge.
A CTA can be used nearly anything. Include one at the end of each blog post to prompt the reader to learn more about what you do or encourage viewers to sign up for your e-newsletter.
6. Your site is littered with ads
If you have ads on your site, they should be strategically placed. Your quality content should never be overrun by advertisements. Too many ads can send viewers running.
7. It’s not mobile friendly
Did you know more people are using the internet from their mobile devices than a desktop computer? It’s essential that your site transfer cleanly to a mobile device.
Take the Mobile-Friendly Test.
8. The site lacks personality
While your site shouldn’t be cluttered with too many bells and whistles, it’s important to have personality. You want your site’s design and content to complement your brand identity.
9. You have instant-play audio or video
Viewers want the option to click “play.” If a site automatically loads audio or video, website viewers may just close it, especially if they’re not in a convenient location to play sound.
Make sure to add descriptions to your videos. That way, if viewers are unable to watch the videos, they can read what they’re about. Adding subtitles is another option to help those who can’t play sound.
Are people leaving your website? Give them a reason to read on and become faithful consumers. You’ll build viewership by presenting a professional, clean site that creates trust. If you’re ready to build your audience and learn more about how to drive website traffic (and keep it), contact us at Headline Consultants. (Notice the CTA.)
