As the central hub of your online presence, your website should be a well-oiled machine that brings visitors in and turns them into customers. If you find that’s not happening and your bounce rate is higher than you’d like, here are some aspects of your website you might want to tweak to make it more appealing to visitors.
Unclear Navigation
If a curious consumer arrives at your website and it isn’t immediately obvious where they’re supposed to go, that’s a problem. Your header navigation should be uncluttered and concise, and your home page should direct visitors to the information that will help them make a purchasing decision as soon as possible. While it’s a great idea to have informative resources on your site as well, visitors shouldn’t have to dig around through endless menu items trying to find out more about your products and services.
Distracting Design
You didn’t want your website to be boring or look like all the other sites, but did you go too far in the other direction? Clashing color schemes, weird fonts, and unconventional layouts look unprofessional at best, and can annoy your visitors and even induce headaches. This is where it really helps to consult a professional designer, at least to give your site a once-over and point out any glaring visual design problems that could be driving visitors away.
Too Much Stock Photography
The simple fact is, people can tell if your photos aren’t genuine. Businesses tend to overuse stock photography because it looks polished and professional, but the flip side of that coin is that your visitors know these are staged photos that you bought, and a lack of authenticity is not how anyone wants to start a business relationship. If you can’t afford a photo shoot at your actual place of business, then just pay very careful attention to the stock photos you use, and remember that less is more— use real photos of your business as much as possible.
Self-Indulgent Content
There’s a fine line between convincing people you’re the best solution for their problem, versus bragging about how great your business is and talking too much about things that have nothing to do with the buyer’s journey. Sure, customers like to know that real humans are behind the business logo, but they don’t need pages of team bios that go on and on about everyone’s favorite movies and their pets’ names. The About Us page only needs one group photo of the team, along with a short history of the company and a run-down of the things that set you apart from other businesses in your niche.
The rest of your website should be about your visitors’ needs, and how you can help them solve the issues they’re having. Keep the language accessible and relatable, especially if what your business does involves a lot of complex jargon that could scare people off if it sounds too complicated. Find a middle ground that’s not condescending, but that a complete beginner can understand.
Have you made any improvements to your website recently that moved the needle for your business? Let us know in the comments!
Any designer can make a nice-looking website, but your company needs a website that looks good and brings in new business. Contact us for a free consultation — we’ll look at your current site and make actionable suggestions that will help you retain visitors and convert them into loyal customers.
COGO Interactive is an award-winning digital marketing agency specializing in online marketing strategy, web design, SEO and social media marketing. We work with clients in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, DC and across the nation.
