Many times clients who come to us aren’t starting from scratch on their websites. A lot of times, they’ve either started the project in-house and need some additional help, or they’ve worked with another web design agency and weren’t happy with the outcome. We’ve seen our fair share of website do’s and don’ts, but some simply stand out more than others as common website pitfalls. By recognizing these red flags and knowing what actions to take to overcome them, you’ll be in good shape for creating a site that performs, informs, entertains and engages with your audience in all the right ways. Mistake #1: Not giving visitors a call to action (CTA). Every business has a goal that carries over onto their website. It could be sign-ups, phone calls or purchases, but if the goal isn’t clearly conveyed to visitors, the site may be a total miss. It’s best to communicate with your audience at every stage of the purchase cycle, so vary your calls to action depending on where they are on your site and how they got there is best. But remember, every page needs a call to action. Mistake #2: Burying CTAS or important info. Don’t expect visitors to scroll to the bottom of a webpage to take the next step or read through wordy text to get to the next step. Instead make sure that the most important information (especially the call to action or form) is viewable above the fold for maximum conversion and lead capture. Mistake #3: Too much going on. Just as a visitor enters a store and moves through the store in a certain common traffic flow, so does a visitor to a website. Once a visitor hits your site, they’ll decide within seconds if it’s a place where they want to stay – one that is well-organized and not overwhelming or annoying. Be wary of using features that may turn off your audience such as intros with Flash loading, video hosts or pop-ups. While some users will live with it, others will just leave. Therefore it’s best to use white space and not over-design your site. Mistake #4: Dated content. There’s nothing worse than going to a stale website. It may have been acceptable a decade ago to have a web presence alone, but today, visitors expect companies to be heavily involved and engaged on the digital front. Luckily there are so many ways to do this – through automated blog and social posts to live feeds – that many companies can put technology to work for them. Mistake #5: Failing to target content. No business has one single type of demographic that they are targeting. Within every audience is segmentation based on personal preferences, lifestyle habits, geography, age, etc., which is why messaging should be segmented accordingly. Make sure you are connecting with your audience in a way that fulfills their needs – after all, they all need something. It’s the companies that can anticipate this and tailor their sites accordingly that will achieve the most success. Many times clients who come to us aren’t starting from scratch on their websites. A lot of times, they’ve either started the project in-house and need some additional help, or they’ve worked with another web design agency and weren’t happy with the outcome. We’ve seen our fair share of website do’s and don’ts, but some simply stand out more than others as common website pitfalls. By recognizing these red flags and knowing what actions to take to overcome them, you’ll be in good shape for creating a site that performs, informs, entertains and engages with your audience in all the right ways. Mistake #1: Not giving visitors a call to action (CTA). Every business has a goal that carries over onto their website. It could be sign-ups, phone calls or purchases, but if the goal isn’t clearly conveyed to visitors, the site may be a total miss. It’s best to communicate with your audience at every stage of the purchase cycle, so vary your calls to action depending on where they are on your site and how they got there is best. But remember, every page needs a call to action. Mistake #2: Burying CTAS or important info. Don’t expect visitors to scroll to the bottom of a webpage to take the next step or read through wordy text to get to the next step. Instead make sure that the most important information (especially the call to action or form) is viewable above the fold for maximum conversion and lead capture. Mistake #3: Too much going on. Just as a visitor enters a store and moves through the store in a certain common traffic flow, so does a visitor to a website. Once a visitor hits your site, they’ll decide within seconds if it’s a place where they want to stay – one that is well-organized and not overwhelming or annoying. Be wary of using features that may turn off your audience such as intros with Flash loading, video hosts or pop-ups. While some users will live with it, others will just leave. Therefore it’s best to use white space and not over-design your site. Mistake #4: Dated content. There’s nothing worse than going to a stale website. It may have been acceptable a decade ago to have a web presence alone, but today, visitors expect companies to be heavily involved and engaged on the digital front. Luckily there are so many ways to do this – through automated blog and social posts to live feeds – that many companies can put technology to work for them. Mistake #5: Failing to target content. No business has one single type of demographic that they are targeting. Within every audience is segmentation based on personal preferences, lifestyle habits, geography, age, etc., which is why messaging should be segmented accordingly. Make sure you are connecting with your audience in a way that fulfills their needs – after all, they all need something. It’s the companies that can anticipate this and tailor their sites accordingly that will achieve the most success.