My wife and I sometimes joke that we learn how to parent by watching others and seeing what not to do. While there are different parenting styles, not all of them are helpful or beneficial. Just like that example, there are numerous things people shouldn’t do on a website. Whether you have a bad design, outdated content or even neglected your site altogether, these are ways to wreck your website. Don’t leave your site at risk.
1. Visual Assault
Let’s start with the obvious. We have all stumbled upon websites that have screamed at us.
- Bad Images – If there are images on your site that have nothing to do with what the content is talking about, it is time to swap it out or remove it altogether. Make sure the images used aren’t pixellated or too large, otherwise it can slow down the site.
- Not Responsive – Responsive means optimal viewing experience. It automatically resizes the website to fit any size screen (i.e. mobile, tablet, computer, etc.).
- Lacks Good Branding – Not having consistent branding on a website and social media pages can confuse users and give a bad impression. If you update your brand images and/or colors in one place, replace them on all platforms, including email!
What you should do instead:
Purchase meaningful images
Research WordPress theme or software to ensure it is responsive
Have consistency in your branding across all platforms
2. Haphazard Content & Layout
Another common mistake, along with visual assault, is having haphazard content and layout. This Includes poor design, grammar and spelling mistakes.
- Grammar and Spelling Mistakes – This might seem like a minor issue, but in fact, this can give a bad impression about your company. Having correct spellings and grammar can actually increase your rankings on search engines!
- Poorly Written Content – Having poorly written content on your site can impact your brand. Don’t leave users confused.
- Disorganized – It’s not a good idea to haphazardly put content on a site without thinking through the best way to lay it out to have the most impact. Don’t let time constraints, or using a new tool cause you to randomly put things on a site. It needs to make sense and serve a purpose.
What you should do instead:
Spell check!
Work with a copy writer or have content edited
Create a basic site map
3. Hiding Important Info
Obviously, I’m not suggesting to intentionally hide information. Put yourself in the shoes of your users. Why are they coming to your site? What are they wanting to find?
- Contact Info Hard to Find – Have you ever gone to a website looking for their contact info only to find it’s missing or incorrect? It shouldn’t be a wild goose chase!
- Complicated Nav Menu – Simplify the amount of pages on the main navigation. Consider merging or splitting pages as needed. This is where having a good site map comes in handy.
- Important Content Missing on Homepage – To best capture users, it’s essential to have the most important content on your homepage. Users should know who you are, what you do and how to contact you all on the homepage.
What you should do instead:
Consider what users want to find when they visit
Layout homepage for readability
4. Cheap Hosting
We all want to save money where we can. Many times people try to go for the cheap route when it comes to finding a good website host. You really do get what you pay for! Here are a few things people can get when you go cheap:
- Poor Customer Service – Nothing is more frustrating than being in a middle of a crisis with your website and calling customer support when you don’t know what questions to ask or what they are talking about.
- Slow Loading Times – When you don’t spend a lot on a good server (or hosting) you can experience slowness and random down times. This is because of shared hosting.
- Limited Resources (Shared Hosting) – Your website is stored on a server at the hosting company and those servers might house dozens if not hundreds of other sites. When another site on that server experiences a lot of traffic it can affect your site and cause it to be slow.
What you should do instead:
Research good hosting options
Consider investing extra money to secure a dedicated server
5. Doing Nothing
Probably one of the worst things you can with your website is to do absolutely nothing. Websites are like a car. Keeping up with the maintenance allows the car to run smoother and last longer. If you fail to maintain your website and keep it up-to-date, then you are asking for trouble.
- Outdated Design – Sometimes people get a brand new website with all the latest features only to fast forward years later and find their site design or functionality is outdated, complicated or broken. This is why keeping up with the latest technologies and keeping the design and images fresh can go a long way until you re-design your site.
- Not Updating Software or Content – Updating software or plugins on your website may not be glamorous or the things people want to spend their time on, however, neglecting to do so will leave your site open to hackers.
What you should do instead:
Consider a website re-design every 4-5 years to stay relevant
Check for software or plugin updates weekly
Backup site!
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