Frazer Blog

Top Website Design Mistakes To Watch Out For

by | May 22, 2018 | Funeral Home Websites

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Today’s families are more web-savvy. They want a website that’s both beautiful and usable. That means even a subtle mistake that impacts a website’s usability or aesthetic can be off-putting. And these mistakes, no matter how small, can cause your families to look elsewhere. Look at the list below and see the top website design mistakes that hurt website traffic.

Unexpected Locations for Content

You might have some great, informative content on your website. But it won’t matter if families can’t find it easily. And if families can’t find what they are looking for, they’ll search elsewhere. For example, let’s say a person is searching to learn more about the different personalization services you offer. But they can’t easily find that information directly on your homepage. Instead, they have to search through a layer of different menus or click several links to get to what they want to know. They’ll eventually get frustrated and search another site.

Your website’s site structure — or how the individual subpages of your website are linked to one another and how a user navigates through them — impacts both SEO ranking and site traffic.

So, what does having good site structure mean? You want to start by thinking like your families. What are they visiting your site for? Your menus and site structure should be laid out in a way that makes sense to them and their search needs. Check out Yoast’s Ultimate Guide to Site Structure for more information.

Too Much Information on a Single Page

Another problem is having too much information. You’ve probably heard that a goldfish has an average attention span of 9 seconds. But a human loses focus after only 8. Having website pages look like a college term paper, with paragraphs that go on forever, is another design mistake that costs you traffic.

Don’t overwhelm families with information. For example, if you have a page titled Services, and it lists every single service you offer including pricing options, memorial options, veteran service options, and so on, then consider splitting it up into multiple pages with related links to each page. If families can’t find what they are looking for and have to scroll through islands of text, then they will often look elsewhere.

Relying on a Free Website Platform

Everyone likes free things. But the adage “You get what you pay for.” is all too true. Some common problems of a free website platform include:

  • Extremely slow websites. This is because the providers put hundreds of the websites on the same server, which is bad for SEO and site speed.
  • Hidden charges. Sometimes free doesn’t always mean free. Free website providers might roll out new features, but usually at a price.
  • Locking down your data. If you ever decide to move your website somewhere else, they might make it difficult by not offering tools to migrate your site content elsewhere.

Not Using Responsive Design

Responsive design is now the standard of all website design. And for good reason. It makes your website work — and look good — on any device. Mobile searches now account for more than half of all website traffic. Having a website that’s easy to navigate and use on any device means you’ll retain — and gain — mobile traffic.

It also provides a seamless user experience. A family can search from a smartphone, tablet, or desktop, and still get the same experience from visiting your funeral home’s website. According to an article in Forbes, “This is by far one of the greatest benefits of having a responsive website. Unresponsive websites usually distort the way your website appears on devices like mobile, and tablet…” Having one unified look across all devices increases a family’s trust with your brand and helps your funeral home’s website look more professional and polished.

In addition to the above, a responsive site gives a boost to your search engine rankings. Google recommends responsive sites as a best practice and rewards websites that are responsive. Which could mean your website starts appearing above your competitors in the search engine rankings.

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