We’re all familiar with the phrase ‘less is more’. It’s wise to bear this in mind amid the excitement of building your website. Before you get started on that long list of things you want, take a look at these 6 things to avoid putting on your website.
Even if your website is already out there, why not take the website challenge and see how well you fair against our 6 things to avoid putting on your website.
- Fuzzy Headlines – Make sure your home page clearly states who you are and what you do. A visitor’s first question is usually ‘Am I in the right place?’
A cool page heading is pretty useless if it doesn’t tell the visitor what your business does at first glance.
Section Headers – It’s really important to break up large chunks of content. Having smaller sections with their own headings can be good providing that you give them careful thought. For example a heading saying ‘In this Section’ doesn’t really mean anything.
If the section heading is not going to add value, take it away and put more emphasis on the content.
- Staying with the theme of avoiding having large blocks of text – Most visitors to a website scan the page rather than read it word for word. Use short paragraphs, ideally less than four lines. It is also good to use a mix of bold text for key words and phrases, internal links and bullet points.
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Social Media Icons – Have you ever considered that placing icons for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc in your website header is a bit like shouting out, ‘Hey, the exit is here guys!’ Use your social media networks to generate traffic to your website, not away.
If a visitor clicks off your site on to a social media page they can soon get caught up in celebrity gossip, or video clips of cute cats and dogs, with all thought of why they visited your site in the first place forgotten. Let’s face it, you probably need the visitors more than Facebook or Twitter does.
That said; it is a good idea to have links to your social media platforms on your website, but put them in the footer, rather than the header, and only use those where you are active.
- Stock photos of people – Every website should have pictures of people; they help us to feel a connection. They should be pictures of your own people, not those ‘obviously not real’ stock images with their spotless office and perfect lighting. Get your staff on board and have a photo shoot day; dress up, hire a photographer, or take a few selfies if the budget is tight.
Be authentic and make a connection with visitors to your website, it will pay off.
- Testimonials give credibility to your business – This we know, but putting them altogether on one page is not the most effective way of using them. Testimonial pages are not visited as often as you would like to think. Instead add them to every page on your website, especially where it is relevant to a specific product or service. Visitors who don’t know your brand will look for social proof before buying; testimonials do just that!
Take action on these 6 things to avoid putting on your website and you will improve the visitor experience and possibly increase business too.
If you can see the benefits here, but are unsure how to go about implementing the changes on your existing website, get in touch, that’s where we can help!
