Only 64% of small businesses in the United States have a website. If you’re reading this, it’s probably because you fall into the minority of businesses that currently don’t. But, you probably already know that having an online presence is going to play a critical role in growing your business and increasing your revenue.
While professional web design is very important as you embark on your journey, so is knowing what to avoid. Here, we’ll be covering the 6 most common website mistakes that many businesses make and why they are too important to ignore.
Mistake 1: No SSL Certificate
A secure sockets layer certificate — also known as an SSL certificate — ensures that website traffic between your server and your site visitors’ browsers is encrypted and cannot be read. This is now more important than ever.
When an SSL certificate is in place, the URL changes from http://www.SITENAMEHERE.com to https://www.SITENAMEHERE.com.
In addition to protecting data, SSL can:
- Improve site visitor trust. To obtain an SSL certificate, you must verify who you are, which cuts down on phishing and scams.
- Satisfy PCI/DDS requirements. This is extremely important if you accept payments through your site.
- Help sites rank higher in Google search. In 2014, Google updated its algorithm to include HTTPS as a search ranking signal. So, changing your website URL from one with HTTP to one with HTTPS can increase how your site ranks organically.
Mistake 2: Slow Load Times and Poor Image Optimization
Speed is the name of the game when it comes to websites. In fact, for every additional second your site takes to load, you can expect your bounce rate to increase significantly. Bounce rate tells you the proportion of visitors who entered your site but left without looking at other pages. For example, if your site loads in three seconds as opposed to one, you’re looking at a roughly 32% increase in bounce rates. At six seconds, it’s a whopping 106%.
So, what’s one of the most common culprits for slow load times? It’s images.
Most people don’t realize this, but websites consist of roughly 64% images. And since images are traditionally large files, they can bog down site performance considerably, which is why they need to be properly optimized.
Outside of optimizing your site for a better end-user experience, however, quicker load times can stack the cards in your favor by helping your website rank higher.
Mistake 3: Not Mobile Friendly
Mobile users are goal-oriented and want to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible, which the search engine giant recognizes.
Mobile searches far surpass those on personal computers. In the Q1 of 2021, 54.8% of all global website traffic came from mobile devices (excluding tablets). What’s more, 40% of mobile users chose a different search result if the website they land on wasn’t user-friendly, 57% didn’t recommend a business with a shoddily designed or nonexistent mobile website, and over half of them bounced off the website if it took longer than three seconds to load.
This is before you factor in how much Google values mobile-friendliness in terms of organic search ranking.
Mistake 4: No About Us or Our Team Page
People buy from people they like. What does your website tell people about who you are and what you do? If it’s lacking an “About Us” or “Our Team” page, it’s telling them very little. These pages help you showcase your team’s skill sets and talents, explain what makes you unique, and drive free organic traffic to your site.
Mistake 5: No Clear Call to Action
A call to action — CTA for short — essentially tells people what you want them to do next. If CTA’s are missing, your site’s visitors will often leave without taking the action you had intended for them to take. These actions can include:
- Subscribing to your newsletters
- Downloading a free report
- Joining your SMS list for secret coupon codes
- Filling out a form to request a free consultation or demo
Mistake 6: Lack of Website Security
One of the most overlooked — and common website mistakes — relates to website security. Cyber-attacks happen a lot more often than you may think. For example, about 30,000 websites are attacked daily, with a new attack happening every 39 seconds. Moreover, 64% of companies worldwide have experienced at least one cyber-attack.
Most people think a hack will “never happen to them” until it does. In fact, in 2019, 43% of all hacks involved small-and-medium-sized businesses. Moreover, 60% of small-and-medium-sized businesses go bankrupt within 6 months of a cyber-attack.
In other words, you can’t afford to overlook security, so ensure that you are doing regular backups of all your important data.
What’s Next?
The next step to avoid these mistakes now and in the future is to hire a company that offers professional web design to create an aesthetically pleasing website to avoid any website mistakes.
At Idea Marketing Group, we’ve been building and designing websites since 2009 and maintaining a diverse portfolio of clients. Learn more about our services and offers by contacting our digital marketing experts, see how we can help you take your business to new heights!