10 Website Design Mistakes That Are Driving Customers Away

Your website is often the first real interaction a potential customer will have with your business, even before they make an enquiry or pick up the phone to speak with you directly. As such, its power shouldn’t be underestimated in a digital world. While there are some sites that perform smoothly and have a great user experience (UX), there are others that only add unnecessary barriers, often without even realising it. In this article, we’ll be taking you through a few website design flaws that are driving customers away from your site and to that of your competitors. So, let’s take a closer look at those website design mistakes, along with how you can fix them:

1. Loading time is too long

People expect websites to load quickly. According to Shopify, a website should be optimised to load in three seconds or less on a desktop computer and less than five seconds on a mobile device. If visitors are left staring at a loading screen, then they’re likely to click off and choose a competitor instead. Slow loading times can be caused by a wide range of different things, but some of the common causes include:

• Large images
• Uncompressed images
• Poor quality website hosting
• Excessive animations
• Unoptimised code
• Auto-playing videos

A slow website creates a poor first impression. It can make your business appear outdated or unreliable, even when your products or services are excellent. So, what’s the fix? To try and mitigate slow website speed, you should:

• Optimise images before uploading them
• Remove unnecessary plugins and scripts
• Regularly test your website’s performance
• Review elements on each page of the site
• Ask yourself whether user experience (UX) has been improved (if not, it might be better to simply remove those elements of the site, but more on that in a moment)

2. Navigation is difficult or confusing

Visitors shouldn’t have to work hard to find the information they need to make a purchase or to enquire about a service. Confusing navigation can leave people feeling frustrated, particularly when they’re trying to answer a simple question like:

• What services do you offer?
• How much does it cost?
• Where are you located?
• How can I contact you?
• How do I buy this product?

If the answer is buried several clicks deep in your website, then your website visitors may simply give up. To fix this, you should keep your main navigation simple and logical. Also, look to group related pages together and use clear labels as opposed to clever or vague wording. Important pages should be easy to reach from anywhere on the site, and visitors should always have a clear idea of where to go and what to do next. 

3. It’s not mobile-friendly

A website may look fantastic on a desktop or laptop, but if it’s almost unusable on a smartphone, then it can be useless. In the UK alone, there are more than 63.2 million people who use a smartphone to browse the internet. That’s a lot of custom that you’re potentially missing out on because your website isn’t mobile-friendly. Common mobile design problems will often include things like:

• Text being too small to read
• Buttons that are difficult to tap
• Images that overflow the screen
• Navigation menus that don’t work properly
• Forms that are frustrating to complete
• Content that requires excessive scrolling or zooming

If mobile users have a poor user experience (UX), then you could be losing a significant number of potential customers. The fix, however, is simple. You should design your website with mobile users in mind, rather than treating mobile optimisation as an afterthought. Also, tests are important. 

Have a look at the website on different screens, including desktop, laptop, tablet and smartphone. Check that the navigation, buttons, forms, images and calls to action work and are displayed clearly. A visitor should be able to complete important actions just as easily on a phone as they can on a desktop computer.

4. The homepage is cluttered

There are many businesses that will try to pack as much information as possible into their homepage, thinking that this will make a positive difference. However, the impact is the opposite. Trying to communicate everything all at once with the use of large blocks of text, multiple competing calls to action, sliders, pop-ups, animations, promotional banners and images will make it difficult for visitors to understand what your business actually does and what they should do next. Instead, focus on the most important information. A visitor needs to understand: 

• Who you are
• What you offer
• Who you help
• Why they should choose you
• What action they should take next

To do this effectively, you need to use headings, have some white space and use clear sections in order to make the page easier to scan. Good website design is often about removing unnecessary distractions as opposed to simply adding more elements that aren’t needed. 

5. CTAs are weak or missing altogether

A website should guide visitors towards the next step in their consumer journey. Without clear CTAs, someone may read your content, like what they see and then leave without contacting you or making a purchase. A CTA instructs website visitors on what they should do next. 

While you might think that the next logical step would be to get in touch, it’s not likely to occur if it’s not a quick or simple process. As such, you need to guide your website visitors in the right direction by using a clear CTA with relevant information. Some instructions you might want to use in a CTA include:

• “Request a quote”
• “Book a consultation”
• “Shop now”
• “Contact us”
• “Get started”
• “Download the guide”
• “View our services”

6. Content is poor quality & difficult to read

A wall of text or blocks of copy can be intimidating. Not only that, but it’s not very user-friendly, and it can cause the bounce rate to increase as visitors click off your site in search of something simpler, quicker, and more straightforward to read. People want to get to the point, fast. 

Blocks of text don’t allow for this. Also, content that’s poor quality doesn’t scream professional. Instead, it demonstrates that there’s a lack of attention to detail and a lack of knowledge when it comes to the basics, like spelling and grammar. Here’s how to keep your content easy to read and quick to scan:

• Use clear headings
• Write shorter paragraphs
• Embrace bullet points
• Write descriptive subheadings
• Ensure adequate spacing
• Keep font sizes readable

7. There are too many pop-ups

Pop-ups can be useful when used strategically. However, a visitor to your website who is immediately confronted with multiple pop-ups may become frustrated at the amount of ads that appear on your site. This will render your website difficult to use, load or even read. Imagine landing on a website page simply to look at products or service details only to be bombarded with countless requests to:

• Sign up to a newsletter
• Accept cookies
• Download a guide
• Claim a discount
• Start a live chat
• Click on advertisements

Rather than encouraging website visitors to spend time on your website, they’ll be more likely to click off it, almost straightaway. This only increases bounce rates and decreases leads, sales and, subsequently, profits. The fix? Only use pop-ups carefully and when they provide some genuine value. 

Consider when and why a pop-up appears. A visitor may be more willing to subscribe to a newsletter after reading useful content than the moment they arrive on the site. The user experience (UX) should always come before aggressive lead generation. So, don’t rely on pop-ups, basically.

8. Design is outdated

Website design trends change all of the time. However, the bigger issue isn’t whether your website follows the latest fashion. The problem lies with how neglected your website looks. If it’s outdated, then visitors to your website will begin to question whether your business is still active. This then calls into question how trustworthy or professional your website is (we’ll touch on trust signals later on in this blog post). 

The best thing you can do here is to update your website. This can be a daunting task if you do it alone, so look to a professional digital marketing agency to do it for you. Here at Kumo, we have a team of experts in the field who have over two decades of experience designing websites for our clients. If you need a website overhaul, then get in touch with us today for help – we’re always able to breathe new life into your site and set you apart from your competitors. 

9. Contact information is difficult to find 

If your customers or clients can’t find a way to get in touch with you, then you will end up losing leads and sales in the process. Why make your contact information difficult to discover when you have nothing to lose and everything to gain? Even a simple phone number or an email address in the right place will make all of the difference. All you need to do is make your contact options easy to access and use. As such, you should place contact information, like phone numbers, email addresses and premises addresses on your:

• Website footer
• Website header
• Contact page
• Relevant service pages
• Relevant product pages

10. Trust signals are lacking

Visitors to your site, especially if they’re new, are going to be cautious. This is more prevalent if they’re required to spend money or share their personal information with you. If your website gives them no reason to trust your business, they may choose a competitor that appears to be more credible. 

You need to add trust signals here in order to persuade your customers to make a purchase or make an enquiry. Essentially, rather than claiming that you provide excellent service, prove it. So, what should you be adding to your site that makes you trustworthy? Some of those trust signals include:

• Customer reviews
• Customer testimonials
• Case studies
• Client logos
• Industry accreditations
• Awards
• Clear business information
• Secure payment options
• Professional photography
• Detailed service information

Kumo is pleased to provide a wide range of digital marketing services, including content creation, SEO, PPC, website design and more. You can rest assured that our team of dedicated experts can set you apart from your competitors with excellent content creation and copywriting services. If you’d like further information about how we can help you today, get in touch with a member of our friendly, specialist team – we’re always happy to hear from you.