Website Design Mistakes You Should Avoid

You've worked hard to create a great looking website, but after launching, you find yourself with little to no traffic. Are you seeing visitors come in and find their way out in a heartbeat? These things are way too familiar to many businesses and brands trying to establish an online presence. As a startup company struggling to keep up with your competition, you cannot help but wonder what is wrong with your strategy. You think you are not doing enough marketing, or perhaps you are using the wrong platforms to reach your audience.  

Before you rethink whatever internet marketing strategy you are following right now, you should look further back and recognize the flaws of the very foundations of your campaign, which is your website. Ask yourself, “what could I be doing wrong?”  

Building a website to showcase a brand or company requires keen attention to detail, finesse, and a bit of psychology. The reason why many sites struggle is that they most likely were not carefully thought through from the visitor's perspective. And, with your competitors opting to spend thousands of dollars to pay for the services of professional web designers and content writers, you may find behind on your expected results, but confused as to why.  

The good news, is you CAN compete in your niche!  If you are not seeing the results you are wanting on your website, then you first must learn those common mistakes in web design. Arming yourself with this information means you avoid making the same mistakes again. Professional website design is effective when it offers a steady flow of targeted leads, user-friendly navigation, and consistent sales.  

If you are seeing good traffic numbers to your site, but not getting consistent sales from your website, then it is a telltale sign that you need to change things up a bit. Doing so means you should avoid these mistakes along the way: 

1 – Your site takes a lifetime to load. 

A website that takes too long to load usually has problematic design elements. A prospective customer will never be patient enough to wait for your pages to load. If it takes longer than two seconds to load an inner page, most people will consider it as an unpleasant experience. You may have thought that putting a ton of images and graphics on your landing page is the way to go, but those are the things that can potentially slow the site down.  

Google says that 53% of mobile users leave a website if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load.   And not only can you lose visitors if your site loads slowly, but you also could be taking a hit on Google's search ranking algorithms, too.

Kajabi offers some fantastic back-end programming to encourage a faster load speed, however, if you are using large image sizes, lots of video backgrounds, and certain custom coded elements that could bog down load times, then the user experience may be delayed.  In our competitive and fast-paced world, those precious seconds could be enough to be losing visitors before you can even engage with them!

Take a deeper look at the images and elements you have on your pages.  This is the #1 mistake I see on Kajabi sites.  Here are a few tips on optimizing your pages for better load speeds:

• Whenever possible, use jpeg rather than png as these tend to be smaller file sizes.
• GIFs often have huge file sizes.  If you really want that animation, try using a short video loop instead, or use the block animation settings in the Encore Page Builder.
• Resize your images to a more efficient display size.  Many times, Kajabi's recommended dimensions for an image block are for desktop, yet will slow down mobile load times.  For example, an image with dimensions of 1920 x 1080 px on desktop often displays on mobile as 320 x 180 px.  The key is to find a happy medium on your file dimensions and file sizes to keep the pixel quality on the display while reducing the load time for larger files.  You may need to experiment, or use custom blocks for your desktop and mobile versions.
• Try compressing images to the optimal file size using a compression software tool like Squoosh or Kraken.

Want to know how YOUR site is performing?  Do a quick speed test through PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix.  Then take some time to maximize your images, videos, and elements to improve website loading speeds.

2 – Your site is not mobile-friendly.  

A mobile responsive site scales and works well when viewed on a smaller screen like a smartphone or tablet.  And since an estimated 60+% of visitors to your site are on their mobile devices, if your website does not appear legible in a mobile device, it means you are losing the battle of engaging with potential customers.  

Kajabi has always been aware of the importance of a site being mobile-friendly, so regardless of your design, it will display well on mobile devices, however, have you previewed your pages on mobile and optimized all elements and blocks to display the way you want on mobile?  Now with the Encore page builder, we can more easily create "Desktop Only" blocks and "Mobile Only" blocks to ensure all visitors, regardless of the device, gets the best possible experience.

3 – Your website has a poor layout.  

Let us say you have the most compelling and exciting content for your audience. You are confident that once a visitor finds your website, they will be compelled to purchase and experience the results you offer from your program, coaching, or course.  YOU know the value of what you offer and to you it seems like a no-brainer.  Why are you not seeing the conversions you expected?  

Likely, your website is inconveniently mapped out for your visitors to find their way through the pages with ease. The lack of a straightforward layout usually means that a visitor gets stuck in a loop. No matter how engaging your content is, it will never make sense to a confused visitor.   

An effective website layout will strategically consider the journey you want your visitors to follow, then have a clear path for them to follow.  Much like a talented artist will beautifully paint a masterpiece with a focal point and a defined path for the eye to take, a good website will have a clear message and a strategic path a visitor will be drawn to take.

One of my favorite things to do in my business is help clients save their campaigns by assisting with strategically re-designing a business website. Here are a few key considerations to look at when designing the layout of your site:

• What is the primary action you want a visitor to take?  When designing your site, you must first have a defined primary action.  Normally, the primary action is to Optin to a Free Offer or Lead Magnet so you can capture their contact information.  This allows you to engage with them further, even after they click off your site.
• Is the Primary Action clear to your visitor?  Once you have the primary action identified and created, you'll want to design the site or page for that action.  This includes clear communication on the value you offer when they take that action as well as design elements like "calls to action" buttons to make it easy for them to comply.
• Is your website easy to navigate?  Part of a good website layout is making it easy for visitors to find what they are looking for.  Kajabi offers the ability to create custom menus and dropdown menus for your pages.  The Header Menu and Footer Menu should both be strategic on what navigation elements are included, so you can guide them on the path of your design.

4 – You have a messy setup.  

Is your campaign to establish an online presence for your brand all over the place?  You have a website, but do you have seamless integration to other stuff, including your social media profiles, email list, sales pages, and training courses and programs?  Do you have consistent branding styles, messaging, and follow up?

Of all the systems I have tried in my years of experience in web design, there has never been anything more helpful than Kajabi. Since I primarily work with online entrepreneurs who are trying to make a mark in a competitive industry, the one thing I needed was a platform that will incorporate all resources in one place. With Kajabi, I have helped countless online businesses come up with a “one-stop-shop” for their website, marketing funnels, courses, and webinars.  

Having so many resources in different places does not help your website’s success. Those other places will deviate your audience’s attention away from your money site. It is a mistake that some upstarts may not realize at the moment. But as their business grows, they tend to overreach, thereby causing disorder and havoc in their campaign.  

You avoid this mistake by having a defined brand, strategic designs for the client flow, and effective use of technology to streamline all the processes.  If you're not already using Kajabi, I invite you to try it for yourself.  Use this link to try Kajabi for free for 28 days with my partner link.  

5 – Your website lacks features that promote engagement while building value. 

This mistake is the most common and the most damaging.  If your website is designed to offer online courses to your clients, you want it to be filled with features that foster the exchange of information and engagement.  

In sales strategies, they say a customer needs to "know, like, and trust you" in order to purchase from you.  In brick-and-mortar scenarios, that may still be the case, but in the online arena, things have changed.  Sure, it helps if they know, like, and trust you, but ultimately it's more important that they quickly see the WIIFM (what's in it for me) with the value of what you are offering.  Online programs are intrinsically designed to help the client solve a pain or problem, improve an aspect of their life, or learn something new.  

The key to an effective website, is to quickly engage with a visitor through clear communication, images, video, colors, graphics, and other elements to share with them how you can help them.

I like to say that you have about 30 seconds or less to communicate who you are, why you are qualified, and most importantly what you can do for them... all without them having to scroll or necessarily take any other action.

Is your site capturing attention quickly while clearly communicating your value proposition, then offering an easy avenue to engage?

Final Thoughts 

Not that long ago, having a website for your business was basically an online business card.  The website didn't need to do much other than offer some information about your business.  

For your website to offer better conversions, you may need just a few minor adjustments on some of the mistakes offered above.  All are important yet if you were to ask me which one is the most important to address first, I would say hands down, look at your copy.  Are you building enough value in what you are offering?  Do you paint a clear enough picture of how purchasing your product or service will make their lives better?  Is the language clear and without technical jargon that could be confusing to those not as knowledgable about the subject as you?  Do you invite them to take action in a way that makes sense?

Take a moment to go through your website with a fresh perspective.  And, if you'd like assistance on strategizing ways to improve, create new designs, optimize your site for loading speed or mobile, feel free to connect with us for a free initial consultation.