The best small business web design can be difficult to accomplish. Luckily, there are many steps entrepreneurs can take to control of their web design. Here are some of the biggest web design mistakes small businesses make when designing a website.
Worst Web Design Mistakes Made By Small Businesses
Not understanding the customer
Your web design is pivotal in attracting the right target market. Not understanding the customer usually stems from rushing the completion of the website in order to ‘go live’ as soon as possible. It is better to take your time creating the best website for your customers, instead of racing to finish a website that will not be the best fit for those customers.
Research your customers to avoid this pitfall. Who are they? What do they like? What is their age? What is their gender? Are they visiting your website from a desktop or smartphone?
All of these factors will affect how customers will view a business site. For example, men and women tend to prefer different colors. Millennials are more likely to be visiting a website from their smartphone while older people feel more comfortable on a website that uses larger fonts.
Neglecting the Contact Us page
The Contact Us page is a simple feature, but it is of the utmost importance and should not be neglected. If users can’t find your Contact Us page, they won’t contact you.
A web design mistake would be trying to collect too much information. Keep the focus on the customer and make their user experience as simple as possible. If they have a question, the process should be quick and easy.
The best practice would be to:
- Ask their name
- Ask for an email to contact them
- Include a space to type a message
Designing a complex website
Keeping it simple is a web design basic. Designing an overly complex website is a mistake small businesses make because they think it’s better. It’s not—since too much content or design complicates navigation and user experience.
Bringing in users to the web page is half the battle; the other half of the battle is keeping them on the website. A complex web design will most likely turn the user away from the website at the homepage.
Websites with complex design are often full of unnecessary content that can slow down the website. Research shows that nearly half of web users expect a website to load in less than two seconds. While 40% opt to leave a website if it takes more than three seconds to load.
Not paying enough
Like in the real world, first impressions matter. Your website and online presence set the tone to how customers will view your business. Think of your website as the face of your company. You did not spare an expense when designing a logo, so why would you take the cheapest option when designing your website?
It is easy to fall into the trap of hiring a cheap web designer to cut down on costs. It is the most dangerous mistake that small businesses can make because it can have negative long-term effects. A cheap web designer may rush your design and not revise hidden mistakes. Remember that re-designing website is more expensive than getting it right the first time around.
Avoid web design mistakes with Mvestor Media
Our team of WordPress web design experts specializes in creating the best small business websites. We avoid these web design mistakes all the time, so connect with us through our simple Contact Us page to learn more.
