When a website isn’t working, it tends to be obvious. Pages don’t load, images break, or links go nowhere.
Those are serious issues. They undermine your brand’s relationship with any website user who saw them. But there is an upside: they’re easy to spot, easy to diagnose, and usually easy to fix. They stand out so much that even if you don’t catch them on your analytics panel, a visitor will probably email you to tell you about them.
Those are the mistakes that look like mistakes. They can be embarrassing, but their impact is limited.
Then there’s the other category: website mistakes that don’t look like mistakes.
They’re a much bigger problem in business website design because they can fly under the radar for weeks, months, or even years at a time. Website performance can be negatively impacted without anyone – your customers or team members – becoming fully alert to the problem so it can be solved.
Often, these phantom website design issues will stick around until a company engages a marketing agency for a website optimization campaign. When someone is rebuilding your website user experience from the ground up, it becomes a lot easier to see how seemingly minor issues can detract from your website conversion strategy.
When you broaden the scope of a website design audit beyond typos and missing files, you can spot issues you never considered before. Having the right words for a phenomenon is a big part of identifying it, so review this guide to three major categories of website design problems that erode your brand’s credibility.
None of these will bring your website to a halt. Instead, they’ll:
- Create confusion that causes users to hesitate on your website.
- Cause friction that makes it hard for people to trust your claims.
- Throw up roadblocks to customer goals that lead to frustration.
When someone arrives on a business website for the first time, they usually aren’t there to give it the benefit of the doubt. If they don’t find what they’re looking for quickly, they will move on just as fast. With that in mind, a relatively minor tweak in the journey your website users take can lead to compounding benefits.
Let’s take a closer look.
1. Navigation Problems
Just about nobody enjoys getting lost. There are rare exceptions – diving down a rabbit hole on Wikipedia, for example – but your business website isn’t one of them. Navigation problems happen when information is hard to find: either it’s not where users expect it to be or the interface leads them where they don’t want to go.
a. Badly Implemented Mobile Layouts
Believe it or not, the majority of your website’s traffic probably comes from smartphones and other mobile devices. While content management systems like WordPress have many options for mobile compatibility, it remains wise to recruit your team into double-checking just how well your website renders on their phones. Websites can quickly become unusable if navigational elements translate poorly from desktop to mobile.
b. Poor Typography
Typography refers to how words are laid out on your website, including their font and the visual hierarchy that makes them flow. Good typography creates a sense of organization, making it easier for people to find exactly what they’re looking for even if they’re not reading every word on the page. Problems with font, size, colors, and consistency can make text harder to parse, leaving users more likely to abandon a page.
c. Deeply Nested Pages
Imagine your website as a physical space. Categories you can see on your main navigation menu are key points of interest. Pages linked from those categories are attractions, some of which are relevant to some visitors. Go any deeper than that – linking pages to a third level and below – and information easily gets lost. Not only is it difficult for real people to uncover useful pages at that level, but even search algorithms can miss them.
2. Trust Problems
A good website design facilitates communication. As a communication tool, your company’s website works like a conversation between your brand and the user. Yes, they can’t talk back to you directly, but the right approach means they’ll always be nodding along. Certain subtle issues can disrupt trust early on, stalling the relationship.
a. Focusing on Keywords Instead of Topics
For almost as long as Google has existed, keywords have been a crucial way to attract targeted visitors. A page’s keywords are the specific words and phrases a user might type into search to reach that page. For many years, keywords needed to show up prominently throughout a page to teach search algorithms what content was about. Now, conversational queries are essential to sounding human; keywords can sound stilted and artificial.
b. Not Enough Social Proof
Social proof is the evidence you show visitors that others “just like them” have succeeded thanks to your brand. Reviews are the most common form of social proof, followed by testimonials. A good video testimonial is one of the most compelling content pieces you can have, since customers get to speak in their own words. Not having enough social proof or not displaying it prominently at the right times can sabotage your efforts.
c. Inconsistent Messaging or Visuals
When people visit a new website, they navigate it just like they would an unfamiliar town. They are looking for familiar landmarks: website design patterns and signals that tell them they are in the right place. On the way, even small inconsistencies can convince them they’ve taken a wrong turn. Brand development is inseparable from website design: a recognizable color palette, logo, font choices, and brand voice all reassure users.
3. Choice Problems
Ultimately, your website user is trying to make a decision. They need to evaluate whether you’re trustworthy and if they believe your solutions are best for their situation. All along, they take a number of smaller steps to get the insights they need. At any point, that micro-journey through your website can become overwhelming.
a. Unclear Calls to Action
Most people arrive on your website with a specific goal in mind, but they can be surprisingly bad at seeing it through to the end. It’s not you, and it’s not your customers: it’s the psychology of buying. Since all the way back in the days of mail-order catalogs, marketers have known that would-be customers need a single clear call to action before they’ll take the next step. Often, this means repeating the same CTA multiple times on a page.
b. Choice Paralysis
Many studies have shown that, although people like having choices, there can still be too much of a good thing. After a certain point, too many choices become overwhelming. Some businesses can compensate for this – for example, an e-commerce store may have thousands of SKUs in inventory. By contrast, most companies can raise conversion rates by being precise and intentional about how offerings are introduced, grouped, and discussed.
c. “Last Mile” Friction
In technology, the “last mile” is where services like data or even electricity are most likely to break down, even if they’ve safely traveled thousands of miles. For a business, the last mile is the place where your prospective customers want to work with you, but they need to figure out how to get on your radar. Old-fashioned contact forms leave them feeling uncertain. Modern businesses should look for snappy, responsive touches.
It’s Never Too Late to Give Your Brand the Website It Deserves
What does it take to bring an underperforming website up to its full potential?
In some cases, you might need a complete website redesign. Other times, a website refresh can revitalize your website without changing its underlying structure. This is a particularly good job for a digital marketing agency: You benefit from a fresh point of view and a brand new approach to your website’s communication strategy.
Your website is your digital first impression. It determines whether would-be customers move to a relationship with your brand or move on. Unfortunately, once someone decides your website isn’t meeting their needs and “bounces” off it, they’re unlikely to ever come back. That’s why every decision must be made with care.
At New York Ave, we bring the science of marketing together with the artistry of design and the consistency of modern, data-driven technology. Contact us today to find out more about how we can elevate your website.