Your website is your business’ most important tool in today’s online market. However, if you have great products or services, your website could also be the reason you’re losing customers. There are common mistakes that many businesses make on their websites that result in lower conversion rates and missed opportunities for sales.
At 90Leads, we work with businesses to help them get the best results possible from their websites. We’ve learned a lot about what it takes to improve conversion rates and wanted to share some of the most common mistakes we see on websites so you can make changes yourself.
Slow Load Times
People have become so used to getting what they want in the digital age that they expect websites to load at a lightning-fast pace. More than 40 percent of people will leave your site if it takes longer than three seconds to load. Slow page speeds can negatively impact user experience and, as noted previously, cause a decline in performance on the search results pages.
How to Fix It:
- Optimizing the images and media files will help in reducing the page size.
- Avoid using heavy scripts or plugins which would increase the load time.
- Leverage browser caching and optimize your server performance.
- Use tools such as Google’s PageSpeed Insights to highlight the exact issues that if fixed can lead to improved performance.
Poor Mobile Optimization
With mobile traffic now making up more than half of all global web traffic, a website that isn’t built to be mobile-friendly is quite the conversion roadblock. A difficult to navigate or bad loading website on smartphones and tablets will just annoy your potential visitors to no end.
How to Fix It:
- Make sure your website uses responsive design that automatically adjusts to fit the size of the screen it’s being viewed on.
- Regularly test the mobile usability of your site and fix any issues you find.
- Make buttons, forms and links big enough to tap on with your finger on a small screen.
- Ensure images and content load quickly by optimizing them for mobile.
Confusing Navigation
Confusing or cluttered navigation can turn potential customers away from a site before they’ve even had a chance to find what they’re looking for. If a user can’t locate something easily, she will most likely just leave your site and go somewhere else.
How to Fix It:
- Simplify your navigation. Keep your categories logical and clean.
- Make sure the labels of your menu items are clear, no jargon or vogue terms.
- Add a search bar so users can find the content they’re looking for easily.
- Keep the navigation the same on all pages to avoid confusion and make it easier to use.
Lack of Clear Calls to Action (CTAs)
A website without strong, compelling calls to action (CTAs) is essentially missing the opportunity to guide visitors toward conversion. Whether it’s signing up for a newsletter, requesting a demo, or making a purchase, CTAs should be clear and persuasive. Without them, visitors may leave your site without ever taking the action you want.
How to Fix It:
- Place strong, clear calls to action (CTAs) in key locations on your website—particularly above the fold, at the end of blog posts or articles, and near important product or service pages.
- Use action-oriented words (e.g., “Sign Up,” “Start Your Free Trial Today,” or “Download Our Whitepaper”).
- Make sure that visually your CTAs do stand out by different contrasting colors and button design.
- Keep the count of CTAs manageable, don’t make the visitors feel they have landed on a junction with too many signboards.
Unoptimized Content
Content is king, but not when it’s not relevant to what your users are looking for. Not relevant in the sense that if your content isn’t what’s answering the questions or needs of your audience then you’re going to have a tough time making that conversion. Also content isn’t doing all it should be doing for you when it’s not optimized for SEO and therefore will likely struggle ranking on Google.
How to Fix It:
- Do some keyword research in advance to find out what phrases your target audience are likely to use in a search, then include these phrases naturally in your content.
- Make sure your content is easy for people to read and scan through – you can do this by keeping paragraphs short, using subheadings and bullet points or numbering for lists.
- Add interactive multimedia: Text is great, and so are photos. But to truly engage users, you need interactive multimedia.
- Keep it fresh: The web changes and evolves at a breakneck pace. To keep your content relevant, you’ll also need to update it on a regular basis.
Poor User Experience (UX) Design
The design and overall user experience (UX) of your website plays a significant role in conversion rates. A visually appealing site with a positive UX encourages visitors to stay longer, explore your offerings, and ultimately convert. A cluttered, outdated, or hard-to-use design will have the opposite effect.
How to Fix It:
- Simplify your site’s design – it should be clean, appealing and easy for leads to navigate.
- Keep the design elements consistent on each page.
- Make sure your site is easy to navigate. This usually means that it should have a simple layout and design.
- Use results from user testing to find where the UX is falling short and make improvements based on real user feedback.
Ineffective Calls for Trust and Social Proof
Trust is a huge part of the conversion process. If prospects don’t trust you, they won’t buy from you. Period. Testimonials and trust signals are incredibly important at this stage; prominently feature your testimonials and if you have any trust/ security badges or client logos make sure to add them as well.
How to Fix It:
- Customer testimonials, reviews and case studies should be displayed prominently on your website.
- Use security logos that are familiar to visitors onsite on checkout or form submission pages to let them know their information will be safe.
- Feature logos of reputable clients or partners on the website to increase its Trust.
- Add trust indicators like certifications, industry awards, and social media proof.
Not Implementing Local SEO for Location-Based Conversions
If you run a business that targets customers in specific localities, it’s easy to brush off the idea of website optimization. It’s understandable to think that only local stores need to consider organic search as they don’t have world-wide shipping or customers driving in from the other side of the country. However, Google has been increasing the overall emphasis on local results year after year.
How to Fix It:
- Make sure your website is optimized for local SEO by including location-based keywords in your content.
- Claim and optimize your Google My Business profile to boost your visibility in local search results.
- Add location-based pages or content to attract local users.
- Start collecting reviews on Google and Yelp for that local Google credibility.
Conclusion:
A website that’s not optimized for conversions is like a store with a broken door. You can have the best products in the world, but if people can’t get inside to see them, then you’re not going to sell anything. Luckily, by fixing all of the most common mistakes I’ve outlined here today, you should be well on your way to converting as much of your own website traffic into customers and clients as you could possibly ever hope for.
We specialize in technical SEO auditing & consultation, content strategy and optimization, as well as marketing funnels — so this probably won’t be your last time clicking on us.
