Most small businesses rely on their websites to get leads and conversions. Not only does your website have to be amazing, it should be nowhere near to committing these common mistakes that small business websites fall victim to. These mistakes are often so simple and overlooked, even you would smack yourself up the head if you found yourself doing them. The devil is in the details, so to avoid making these mistakes in the future, the key is to be thorough. Pay attention to the details that can spell success or failure for your whole website.
Spelling and Grammar
Spelling and grammar are elementary. No pun intended. But even something as minor as using the contraction “you’re” instead of the possessive “your” (and vice versa), or spelling the word address with a single d instead of two, are mistakes your visitors would easily pick up. These mistakes may be minor, but if they crop up within your site like mushrooms after heavy rains, they make your website look so unprofessional and unreadable.
You instantly lose points on credibility. You’re also sending out a message that you don’t care about the details because you can’t even be bothered to spot and correct the simplest mistakes in your website. Users won’t take you seriously, and move on to other sites instead.
Poor navigation and linking
At least once in your life you’ve come across a website that’s as confusing to navigate through as a labyrinth. An important factor that can seal the deal for a pleasant visitor experience in your website is its usability. A well-designed website is also one that’s easily navigable with internal linking systems that have value and work properly. Seamless navigation is the key here. Users should be able to reach all parts of your website quickly and without getting lost and confused.
No Call-to-Action Buttons
Don’t settle for underutilized or unrecognizable CTA buttons buried within mounds of text. Attracting a significant amount of foot traffic into your website while being able to keep tabs on everything isn’t an invitation to put up your feet and leave the rest up to your visitors. If you leave it at that, they wouldn’t know what it is they’re supposed to do. You have to think about where you want to lead your visitors and what you want them to do, otherwise, the traffic you generate is useless. Invest time and research in crafting compelling and strategically-placed CTA buttons within your website.
Page clutter and useless content
Page clutter, and text that rambles on and on without a point is definitely a huge turn off for visitors. If you don’t know this yet, you’re in trouble: Content should be the first reason why users visit your website. That being said, your content should always be valuable, interesting, engaging, helpful, and relevant. It encompasses everything visitors see on your site. That’s why it’s important to form and follow a well-defined content strategy throughout your whole website.
No Business Address and Phone Number on the Contact Page
Again, this is pretty much basic. The Contact Page serves as your virtual business card. Forgetting or intentionally omitting your contact info could lead to loss of potential revenue due to lost leads and website conversions. As an entrepreneur, especially of a small or startup business, you should make it easy for your customers to reach you via the usual channels of communication like phone, email, and physical address. Also include your social media links because these serve as preferred points of contact as well.