When it comes to website management, digital marketing agencies are the pros. They understand the ins and outs of what makes a website effective for branding, lead generation, and customer conversion. However, there are some common pitfalls that these professionals know to avoid at all costs. Here are 10 things a digital marketing agency would never, ever do to their website.
1. Skimp on design and user experience
A website's design and user experience are crucial to its success. A professional digital marketing agency will never cut corners when it comes to creating a visually appealing, easy-to-navigate website. They understand that a poorly designed website can deter potential customers and hurt credibility.
Common design mistakes include:
Using too much clutter and distracting elements:
A cluttered website, full of unnecessary elements, can quickly overwhelm visitors and make navigation complicated. It can also detract from the main message or call to action.
A professional agency will always strive for a clean, minimalistic design where the key content and action points are clearly visible and accessible.
They avoid excessive use of pop-ups, flashy animations, or overly complex menus, ensuring the website remains user-friendly and focused on its objectives.
Using a poor color palette that is difficult to read:
One of the most subtle yet crucial aspects of web design is the use of color. A poorly chosen color palette can make the text hard to read, strain the visitor's eyes, and ultimately drive away potential customers.
A professional agency will be meticulous about choosing colors that are visually appealing, provide good contrast, and promote readability.
They understand the importance of color psychology in branding and will carefully select hues that enhance brand identity and resonate with the target audience.
Using outdated fonts and graphics:
Fonts and graphics play a significant role in defining the aesthetics of a website. Outdated fonts can make a website appear old-fashioned or unprofessional, while unsuitable graphics can disrupt the overall visual harmony.
A professional agency will ensure the fonts used are modern, readable, and in line with the brand's style. Similarly, they will use high-quality, relevant graphics that complement the website's design and enhance the user experience. They shun outdated clipart or clichéd stock images, opting instead for custom graphics or carefully selected images that accurately reflect the brand's ethos and appeal to the target audience.
Not optimizing for mobile devices:
In this age of smartphones, a website that is not mobile-friendly can significantly hamper a brand's online presence.
Users often access websites via their mobile devices, and a site that doesn't adapt to smaller screens can provide a frustrating user experience. This may lead to lower user engagement and higher bounce rates.
A professional digital marketing agency realizes the importance of mobile optimization and ensures the website is responsive, meaning it automatically adjusts to fit the screen size of the device it's viewed on.
They avoid using large files, or incompatible plugins that may not work well on mobile devices. They focus on touch-friendly design elements, easy navigation, and quick load times to provide a seamless mobile experience.
Common user experience mistakes include:
Having a website that is difficult to navigate:
One of the most frustrating experiences for a website visitor is not being able to find what they're looking for quickly and easily. A professional digital marketing agency understands the importance of intuitive navigation. They make sure that the website's layout is logical, with clearly labelled sections, concise menu options, and an easily identifiable search function.
They avoid using complex menus or non-standard navigation structures that can confuse visitors. Also, they ensure that important information like contact details or calls to action are prominently visible and accessible from every page.
By making the website easy to navigate, they not only improve user satisfaction but also encourage users to spend more time exploring the site, boosting the chances of conversion.
Having a website that is slow to load:
Page loading speed is a critical factor affecting user experience and search engine ranking. A slow-loading website can frustrate visitors, leading to higher bounce rates and lower user engagement.
Users typically expect a website to load in two seconds or less. Therefore, professional digital marketing agencies prioritize website speed optimization. They steer clear of bulky code, large unoptimized images, or excessive use of scripts that might slow down the website. Using techniques such as browser caching, image compression, and content delivery networks, they ensure the website loads swiftly and provides a smooth user experience.
Having a website full of errors and bugs:
From broken links and 404 errors to bugs that hamper functionality, a website riddled with errors is a surefire way to deter visitors and negatively impact your brand's image.
Such mistakes not only frustrate users but also signal a lack of professionalism and attention to detail. Furthermore, search engines like Google penalize websites with lots of errors, resulting in lower search engine rankings.
Reputable digital marketing agencies take quality assurance seriously. They conduct thorough testing across various devices and browsers to ensure the website functions correctly and delivers a seamless user experience.
Regular audits are carried out to identify and fix broken links or any technical glitches promptly. They also set up error tracking to catch and resolve issues before they affect the user experience or damage the site's SEO.
2. Neglect mobile optimization
According to a report by Statista, over 50% of all internet traffic now originates from mobile devices, underscoring the importance of mobile optimization.
A website that is not optimized for mobile viewing not only provides a subpar user experience but also risks losing a vast segment of potential customers who primarily browse the internet on their smartphones.
It's critical for businesses to ensure their website design is responsive, loads quickly on mobile devices, and offers an intuitive navigation structure that caters to touch controls. A professional digital marketing agency will prioritize this aspect, ensuring your website performs optimally across a range of devices, thereby enhancing user engagement, boosting SEO, and driving higher conversion rates.
Common mobile optimization mistakes include:
Not using a responsive design that adjusts to different screen sizes:
In the era of diverse mobile devices, using a static design that doesn't adapt to different screen sizes can severely impact your website's mobile performance and user experience.
Visitors may need to zoom in and out or scroll horizontally to view content, leading to a frustrating browsing experience. This can result in users leaving the site prematurely, leading to increased bounce rates and lower engagement.
Google has adopted a mobile-first indexing approach, meaning it predominantly uses a website's mobile version for indexing and ranking. Therefore, not having a responsive design could also negatively impact your website's search engine rankings.
A professional digital marketing agency will employ a responsive design that automatically adjusts layouts, images, and functionalities based on the device's screen size, thereby providing a seamless user experience across different devices.
Using text that is too small to read on a mobile device:
A common pitfall when optimizing websites for mobile devices is using text that is too small to read without zooming in. This detracts from the user experience, as visitors have to constantly adjust the screen to read the content, leading to frustration and possibly causing users to abandon the site.
Small text may not only be difficult to read, but also challenging to interact with, particularly if it's part of a menu or a clickable link. This can result in accidental clicks and an overall poor navigation experience.
A professional digital marketing agency understands the importance of legibility on mobile devices. They ensure that font sizes are large enough to be easily read on small screens and that there's sufficient contrast between the text and background to enhance readability. They also ensure that interactive elements like buttons and links are large enough to be accurately tapped on a touch screen, thereby enhancing the overall usability and user experience on mobile devices.
Using buttons and links that are too small to tap on a mobile device:
Mobile users navigate websites via touch, making it crucial for interactive elements like buttons and links to be large enough to tap accurately.
When these elements are too small, users may struggle to select the correct link or button, leading to frustration and reduced engagement. This could also result in accidental taps on the wrong elements, causing further annoyance and confusion.
To prevent this, professional digital marketing agencies ensure that all buttons and links are designed with mobile users in mind. They adhere to recommended size guidelines for tap targets and maintain adequate spacing between different elements, making them easily distinguishable and clickable. By doing so, they enhance the navigational ease and overall user experience on mobile devices.
3. Use slow-loading images and videos
Images and videos undoubtedly add a visual appeal to a website, engaging visitors and making the content more digestible. However, using media files that are too large can significantly increase page load times, which can lead to a sluggish and unresponsive website.
Slow-loading websites not only frustrate users, potentially pushing them towards competition, but are also penalized by search engines, negatively affecting a website's SEO ranking.
To combat this, digital marketing agencies apply various strategies. They use tools and techniques like image and video compression to reduce file sizes without noticeable loss in quality. They also leverage lazy loading, where the images or videos only load when they come into the user's viewport. This strategy can greatly speed up initial page load times and improve overall site performance.
Additionally, the use of content delivery networks (CDNs) can further enhance media loading speed. CDNs store media files on multiple servers around the world, serving the files from the server closest to the user, thus reducing load times. These techniques ensure that the visual elements enhance the user experience, rather than hinder it.
Common mistakes with images and videos include:
Not optimizing images for the web:
The web demands efficient and speedy delivery of content, which often means images need to be optimized for faster loading without compromising their visual quality.
Neglecting this optimization can lead to lengthy load times that frustrate users and increase bounce rates.
Large, unoptimized images can consume a significant portion of bandwidth, slowing down the overall performance of a webpage.
Search engines like Google also consider page load speeds as a ranking factor, meaning unoptimized images can negatively impact your SEO efforts.
Digital marketing agencies employ various image optimization techniques, such as compressing file sizes, using appropriate file formats, properly scaling images, and incorporating responsive images that adjust to different screen resolutions. By doing so, they ensure that your site delivers a smooth, visually appealing user experience that boosts engagement, improves SEO, and drives conversions.
Using videos that are too long or too high-resolution:
While high-quality videos can greatly enrich the user experience, they can also become a hindrance if they're too lengthy or have excessively high resolution.
Long videos can lead to extensive load times, especially on mobile devices or slower internet connections. This can result in a frustrating wait for the user, potentially leading to page abandonment.
Similarly, videos with excessive resolution can consume a lot of bandwidth, leading to sluggish website performance and negatively impacting the user experience as well as SEO ranking.
Understanding these challenges, professional digital marketing agencies ensure videos are optimally compressed and appropriately sized.
They often utilize adaptive bitrate streaming technologies, which adjust the quality of a video in real time based on network conditions and the capability of the user's device. This ensures that videos load quickly and play smoothly, providing an enhanced user experience without compromising the performance of the website.
4. Use too much jargon
Many digital marketing terms can be confusing to people who are not familiar with the industry. If you use too much jargon on your website, you will risk alienating potential customers and making it difficult for them to understand what you do.
Common mistakes with jargon include:
Using acronyms and abbreviations that are not explained:
Acronyms and abbreviations can serve as useful shorthand within industries, but for unfamiliar audiences, they can create confusion and hinder comprehension.
Potential clients may not be aware of the full form or meaning of these terms, which could lead to misunderstandings about the services or products offered. This lack of clarity could potentially deter potential clients and negatively impact the business.
For this reason, marketing agencies always make sure to explain any acronyms or abbreviations they use. They either write the term in full at the first mention followed by the acronym in parentheses, or provide a glossary of terms. This helps ensure that the website's content is clear and accessible, enabling potential clients to understand exactly what the company offers.
Using industry-specific terms that are not commonly understood:
Every industry has its own set of specialized terms or jargon that may not be understood by the average visitor. Using these terms without proper explanation can create a barrier to understanding, leading potential customers to feel confused and disconnected from the content. This could discourage them from engaging further or taking desired actions, such as making a purchase or signing up for a service.
To avoid this, marketing agencies make a conscious effort to keep the language on the website clear and simple. They use layman's terms where possible and provide clear explanations or definitions for any industry-specific terms used. This approach makes the content more digestible and accessible to a wider audience, thereby increasing the potential for lead generation and conversion.
Using overly complex language:
Some websites may use complicated language in an attempt to appear knowledgeable, but this can alienate readers. It's important for professional digital marketing agencies to use a conversational tone that connects with readers, communicates complex ideas effectively, and builds trust with potential clients. By using simple, clear language, these agencies prioritize accessibility and ensure that their content remains engaging and relatable to all.
5. Make it difficult to find contact information
A potential customer should be able to easily find contact information on your website. If your contact information is buried or difficult to find, the customer is likely to give up and go elsewhere.
Common mistakes with contact information include:
Not having a clear contact page on your website:
An accessible contact page is essential as it provides a direct line of communication between your company and potential clients.
If your website lacks a designated, easily navigable contact page, users may struggle to find the information they need to reach out, which could lead to missed business opportunities.
A well-crafted contact page includes comprehensive contact information, such as physical address, phone numbers, email addresses, and social media handles.
It’s also beneficial to include a contact form for visitors to conveniently send inquiries directly through the website.
Professional digital marketing agencies understand the importance of a clear contact page and prioritize its inclusion and visibility on the website. This not only enhances user experience but also boosts customer service and fosters trust and credibility with potential clients.
Not providing multiple ways to contact you, such as email, phone, and social media:
In an era where communication preferences vary greatly among individuals, it's crucial to provide multiple avenues for potential clients to reach out.
Some people prefer the immediacy of a phone call, others may favor the convenience of an email, while others still might opt for the informality of social media communication.
Limiting your contact methods can inadvertently hinder communication and deter potential customers.
Professional digital marketing agencies recognize the importance of diverse communication channels and ensure that email addresses, phone numbers, and social media links are clearly displayed on the website. This multi-channel approach caters to different user preferences and ensures that everyone feels comfortable reaching out in the way they prefer, fostering better engagement and customer satisfaction.
Making your contact information hard to find:
Concealing your contact information in the fine print or an obscure corner of the website can be a major deterrent for potential customers. If users need to dig through multiple pages or menus to find how to reach you, they may simply decide it's not worth their time and move on to a competitor.
It's essential that your contact information is prominently displayed on every page, preferably in the header or footer, and available with just a single click.
Professional digital marketing agencies understand this and ensure that the contact information is displayed in a conspicuous location on every page. This practice improves user experience, increases the likelihood of potential customers reaching out, and consequently leads to better conversion rates.
6. Fail to showcase client results
If you have achieved great results for your clients, don't be afraid to showcase them on your website. This is a great way to build trust and credibility with potential customers.
Common mistakes with showcasing client results include:
Not having a testimonials or reviews page on your website:
Testimonials from satisfied customers act as social proof, showcasing the value and credibility of your services.
If your website lacks a dedicated page for testimonials, potential clients may not have a clear understanding of the positive experiences others have had with your company. This can make it harder for them to trust your brand and make the decision to engage with your services.
A testimonials page featuring detailed reviews and case studies can dramatically enhance your credibility, provide tangible proof of your success, and create a positive impression on potential clients.
Professional digital marketing agencies understand the power of testimonials and usually dedicate a section or even an entire page to display positive reviews, ratings, and case studies, thereby nurturing trust and rapport with prospects.
Not including case studies on your website:
Case studies provide in-depth, concrete examples of your company's successes. They show potential clients not only that you can deliver results, but also how you achieve those results.
A website without case studies lacks this crucial element of credibility and transparency. Potential clients might question whether your agency can deliver the results they need. By featuring thorough, well-documented case studies, professional digital marketing agencies demonstrate their competence, showcase their problem-solving skills, and give potential clients a clear picture of what working with them might look like. Moreover, case studies often provide a narrative that potential clients can relate to, making your services more compelling and attractive.
Not using social media to share your client's success stories:
Social media platforms are powerful tools, enabling businesses to reach a larger audience and engage directly with potential customers. Failing to utilize these platforms to share your client's success stories can be a missed opportunity to showcase the effectiveness and value of your services. These stories serve as powerful endorsements, showing how your services have benefited real companies and produced tangible results.
By not sharing these stories on your social media platforms, you limit the scope of your social proof and may miss out on potential clients who primarily engage with businesses online.
Professional digital marketing agencies understand the importance of leveraging social media and regularly share client success stories, case studies, and testimonials across all their social media channels. This strategy not only amplifies their reach but also reinforces their credibility, demonstrating to potential clients that they can deliver real, measurable results.
7. Not have a clear call to action
Your website should have a clear call to action that tells visitors what you want them to do next. This could be something like "Contact us today for a free consultation" or "Get a quote."
Common mistakes with calls to action include:
Not having a clear call to action on every page of your website:
Visitors to your website should always be one click away from taking the next step with your service, whether that's contacting you, filling out a quote request, or purchasing a product.
The absence of clear and consistent calls to action across your website can create confusion, cause potential clients to lose interest, or prevent them from taking the desired action.
Every page should direct the user towards the next step in their journey. This could be as simple as a "Contact Us" button, or more specific prompts like "Request a Free Quote" or "Schedule a Consultation Now".
By incorporating clear and prominent calls to action on every page, professional digital marketing agencies guide potential customers through the sales funnel smoothly and boost conversion rates.
Not using strong verbs in your call to action:
The power of a call to action lies in its ability to incite immediate action.
Using passive or weak verbs in your call to action can dilute this sense of urgency and potentially reduce the effectiveness of your message.
Phrases like "Click here" or "Find out more" may not be as compelling as "Get started now" or "Download your free guide today". Strong, compelling verbs evoke enthusiasm, create a sense of urgency, and can significantly improve click-through rates.
Professional digital marketing agencies understand the impact of word choice on conversion rates and use strong, action-oriented verbs in their calls to action to motivate potential customers to act immediately.
Not making your call to action stand out from the rest of your website:
Your call to action (CTA) should be noticeable and distinct from the rest of the content on your website.
If your CTA blends in with the rest of your site or gets lost in a sea of other content, it may be overlooked by potential clients. This can lead to missed conversions and lower engagement rates. Effective CTAs typically use bold colors, large fonts, and strategic placement to catch the user's eye. Additionally, they are frequently surrounded by white space to make them stand out even more.
By making their CTAs prominent and eye-catching, professional digital marketing agencies ensure that potential clients know exactly what step to take next, improving the chances of conversion and engagement.
8. Ignore analytics
Analytics can provide you with valuable insights into how your website is performing. This information can be used to make informed decisions about website design, content, and marketing.
Common mistakes with analytics include:
Not setting up analytics for your website:
Analytics tools, like Google Analytics, offer invaluable insights into user behavior on your website, including where your traffic is coming from, what pages are most visited, how long users stay on your site, and what actions they take while there.
Ignoring these tools is a significant oversight that can leave you flying blind, making decisions based on assumptions rather than data. Without this information, you may struggle to optimize your website effectively, missing out on opportunities to improve user experience, enhance content, and ultimately, increase conversions.
Professional digital marketing agencies understand the importance of website analytics and set up these tools as standard practice. By tracking and analyzing this data over time, they can make data-driven decisions and continuously refine their strategies to maximize their clients' online success.
Not tracking key metrics such as traffic, engagement, and conversions:
Key metrics such as traffic, engagement, and conversions offer a clear picture of your website's performance and the effectiveness of your digital marketing strategies.
Ignoring these vital metrics can lead to uninformed decision making and missed opportunities for improvement.
Traffic data provides insights into how many people are visiting your site, and where they're coming from.
Engagement metrics, such as bounce rate and session duration, indicate how well your content resonates with your audience.
Conversion metrics reveal how effectively your site is compelling visitors to take desired actions, such as filling out a form or making a purchase. By not tracking these metrics, you lose crucial insights into user behavior and the success of your digital strategies.
Professional digital marketing agencies prioritize these key metrics, not only tracking them consistently but also interpreting the data to understand trends, identify areas for optimization, and devise strategies that drive measurable improvement in website performance.
Not using analytics to make data-driven decisions:
Analytics offer a goldmine of data that can help optimize every aspect of your website and digital marketing strategy.
Not leveraging this data for decision-making can result in inefficient strategies, unnecessary spending, and missed opportunities.
For instance, you might be investing heavily in a particular marketing channel, assuming it's driving significant traffic and conversions. However, without analytics, you can't be sure if this investment is truly paying off. Moreover, you could be overlooking other channels that are driving more results with less investment.
Analytics can provide you with insights such as which marketing channels are yielding the best ROI, what type of content resonates most with your audience, or at what points users are dropping off in the sales funnel.
These insights enable you to make strategic, data-driven decisions, optimizing your resources and efforts for maximum impact.
Professional digital marketing agencies prioritize analytics in their strategies, using data to inform decision-making, drive continuous improvement, and deliver measurable results for their clients.
9. Not update the website regularly
A website that is not updated regularly will quickly become outdated and irrelevant. It can also negatively impact user experience and SEO rankings.
Common mistakes with website updates include:
Not regularly adding fresh content:
Fresh, high-quality content is essential for keeping your website relevant and engaging to users.
Not updating your website with new content can make it seem outdated and uninteresting to visitors, leading them to look elsewhere for information or products.
Search engines also prioritize websites that regularly add new and relevant content, which can improve your site's SEO ranking.
Professional digital marketing agencies understand the importance of fresh content and incorporate strategies for consistently creating and publishing new content to keep their clients' websites up-to-date and engaging.
Not updating outdated information:
As your business evolves, so should your website. Outdated information, such as old pricing, outdated product details, or incorrect contact information can make your website seem unreliable and unprofessional. It can also lead to missed opportunities for conversions if potential customers are unable to reach you or receive misinformation about your products or services.
Professional digital marketing agencies regularly review and update their clients' websites to ensure that all information is accurate and up-to-date.
10. Fail to promote the website
Having a well-designed and regularly updated website is not enough to drive traffic and conversions. If you fail to promote your website effectively, it's like having a billboard in the middle of the desert - no one will see it.
Common mistakes with website promotion include:
Not utilizing social media:
Social media platforms are powerful tools for promoting your website and connecting with potential customers. Not having a presence on popular social media channels or failing to regularly share and promote your website's content can limit your reach and engagement opportunities.
Professional digital marketing agencies understand the importance of social media in driving website traffic and incorporate social media strategies into their overall marketing plans.
Not optimizing for search engines:
Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for driving organic traffic to your website. Not optimizing your site for search engines can result in low visibility and limited reach, making it difficult for potential customers to find you online.
Professional digital marketing agencies employ SEO techniques to improve their clients' websites' search engine rankings, driving more targeted traffic and increasing conversions.
Not utilizing pay-per-click advertising:
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a cost-effective way to drive targeted traffic to your website. If you're not utilizing PPC ads, you could be missing out on potential customers who are searching for products or services like yours online.
Professional digital marketing agencies utilize PPC strategies to reach a wider audience and drive more conversions for their clients' websites.
Conclusion
Avoiding these common mistakes can help ensure that your website is an effective tool for driving traffic, engagement, and conversions.
Constructing a robust, user-friendly website that drives substantial traffic and yields optimal conversion rates is no small task. It involves a strategic understanding of digital marketing metrics, regular updates, and a savvy promotion strategy. The common mistakes outlined above can be detrimental to your business growth, but they are avoidable with professional assistance.
The Diamond Group is a seasoned web design agency that understands these pitfalls intimately and knows how to navigate them effectively.
We are committed to ensuring your website not only looks good but also performs exceptionally on all fronts.
