Your website is a crucial part of your marketing strategy. For millions of websites, though, common mistakes in website design and content interfere with reaching the three goals every site must achieve: attraction, retention, and conversion. Anything that blocks those essentials can be a fatal mistake, causing your website to fail to produce customers and leads.

Far too many existing websites suffer from poor design and execution. The fatal flaws below are the most common:

• Annoying Content – Your website gets only a few seconds to capture and retain visitors. Music and videos that play automatically on landing pages are instant negative issues. Many visitors browse at work or in the company of others. If your website plays audio or video content on loading, those visitors will find their back button instantly. Failure to retain visitors is fatal.
• Incompatible Features – Even though Apple has recently enabled Adobe Flash website content in its latest operating system release, older Apple products and most Android devices cannot display Flash-based content. If your website relies on proprietary technology, you risk losing millions of visitors. Your website must perform properly on all platforms.
• Mobile Device Display Problems – Today, over half of your website visitors will view your website on a tablet or smart phone. While you may not need a specific mobile version, if your website looks terrible or is hard to use on mobile platforms, it will fail to retain and convert those visitors. Check this for yourself, and insist on mobile compatibility from your site designer.
• Inadequate SEO Content – It’s getting harder and harder to get top search engine result rankings. Google, Yahoo, and Bing are constantly improving their ranking algorithms to lead users to websites with plentiful, informative, and relevant content. If your website isn’t on the first search results page, it won’t attract visitors. Skilled web designers make SEO work for you.
• Hidden Navigation Features – It’s impossible to convert visitors into leads and customers if they can’t navigate your website to find the information they’re seeking. Inexperienced web designers often make navigation links hard to find and recognize. A well-designed website helps visitors find what they need immediately. Retention and conversion are the rewards.

Effective, Professional Web Design is Essential for Success

If your website isn’t producing the results you paid for, one or more of the mistakes above could be the reason. Check your own website for flaws from the point of view of your potential customers, using the devices they use. Search for your business with a range of relevant search keywords and phrases. If you find problems, it’s time for a redesign and update by a proven professional website design team. A well-designed and implemented website will give you the ROI you expect from your investment.