Small businesses often face added pressure when it comes to establishing their online presence. This is because they are unable to put up an average website and rely on their reputation to make sales. Instead, they have to ensure that their website is able to attract as many customers as possible and make them interested in purchasing their products or services.
Simply put, small businesses have to double their efforts to make sure that their website gives visitors enough reasons to consider their range of services or products. This is easier said than done. In fact, in an attempt to grab as many customers as possible, many small businesses go on to make creative web design mistakes.
While some mistakes are seemingly harmless and can be easily fixed, there are other mistakes that could cause serious repercussions. To help you make the right decisions and judgements, here is a list of common creative web design mistakes that businesses make.
1. Not keeping your target audience in mind
Ideally, you wish for everyone to be your audience. But that can be seen as a rather unrealistic goal. Even if you were to cast a wide net in hopes of catching everyone, you should always keep in mind your target audiences that the design of your website will cater to.
For instance, if you are trying to design your website to cater to modern millennials, minimalistic and simplistic design is the way to go. One such example is Blood: Water’s website, where they emphasise simplicity and minimalistic design. Always brainstorm your design ideas and outline who your ideal customer is. Having a “buyer persona” can help to guide you on making the right web design choices for your website.
2. Slow loading times
As a general rule of thumb, your website should take fewer than 2 seconds to load. It is not always possible to go below 2 seconds, so that should be the load time to aim for. One way you can make your website load quicker is to invest in a proper server optimisation or develop a simpler website.
Always seek to make your website load as fast as possible so that your customers do not leave the page when it is taking too long for them to see your line of products and services.
3. Out of date content
One of the best ways for digital companies to gain views and traffic is through content marketing. When websites do not update the information found on their websites, they can end up losing out on potential leads.
It is best to be reminded that old content should be constantly updated and reviewed. In addition, you should also continue to post new content on your website. Your customers are always reading. This is important to help you gain traffic from organic searches as it shows that your website is being maintained and is currently active.
4. Not designed with mobile users in mind
Do you know that around 7 out of 10 consumers prefer to browse websites on their smartphones and tablets as opposed to their desktops? Not having a proper mobile responsive website can lead to poor online performance for your business.
If possible, you can always rebuild your website from the ground-up and keep mobile users in mind over desktop users.
Put Your Website Design in Good Hands
Good website design is the key to the success of modern small businesses. If you are ready to make the leap and invest in a proper, efficient, and secure website, then you can speak to us at IXEN Interactive! We are an interactive agency focusing on ensuring that your website doesn’t make the same mistakes that other small businesses make.
We seek to create an optimised and well-rounded mobile experience for your customers, ensuring that you are able to attract new customers and traffic. With our creative web design and mobile app development services, we are here to help you rise above your competition and succeed.
Talk to us today and let us help transform your website design to match the needs of your target audience!