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Top 3 Business Website Design Mistakes
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Below are the top 3 most common usability mistakes we see on business websites. They are usually the result of businesses thinking about their websites from an internal viewpoint, rather than stepping back and looking at the site as would a potential customer who has never heard of the company or been to the site before.
| Mistake #1: Irrelevant Images/ Photos |
Use of stock images that are not relevant to the business do not help a user understand what the website and/or company does/sells/provides.
The use of images is necessary and useful on sites but, as with every word on the site, they should be there to serve a purpose. A user should be able to scan the picture and form an idea about your business that is supported by the content on the page. Images help tell your story by helping a user understand the content on the website.
Generic stock photos of random business people doing what business people do - shake hands, sit around a conference table, talk on the phone, sign a contract - are rarely if ever useful or necessary.
Bottom line - Images should help users understand the content on the website. If a picture is worth a thousand words, make sure yours is saying something that will help a visitor along his/her path to becoming a conversion.
| Mistake #2: Incorrect “Contact Us” Page Format |
A common mistake can cause damage and is easily avoidable.
Most businesses fall into one of two categories here:
Some businesses display their corporate contact information as names and/or titles with corresponding email addresses. This results in a page that can create spam because the bots can click on the email addresses the same way the users can. Contact pages set up in this manner are often unwieldy with too many rows of names, titles and email addresses for a user to choose from which, in turn, makes it more difficult for a user to gather information.
Other businesses use the correct format which allows users to fill out a form. Frequently, however, they will create far too many fields for users to fill out in an attempt to fully qualify each user. These business may have 8,10, or more fields for a user to fill out, requiring everything from phone numbers (a usability no-no), to the company’s size, address, the user’s job title and role, what department they wish to speak to… they toss in everything but the kitchen sink.
When creating a contact us page, have the user fill out a form, and start with as few questions as possible, and make only the absolute necessary ones requirements. This usually means making only two or three fields requirements. As leads start to come in, if you notice trends that are time-wasters, then you can address those by adding a field as a requirement that will filter those out those problem leads or route them to the correct department.
Bottom line – Less is more on a “Contact Us” page. Wait to find out what problem areas you have before creating additional required fields on your contact us page.
| Mistake #3: Lengthy Flash Introductions on the Home Page |
Use of a long flash introduction on the home page is distracting to your user’s primary mission.
Users who are searching for a product or service are on a mission. You cannot provide all of the detail about your company to someone the second they arrive at your site, and you should not try. Most users will not sit there and watch for 30 seconds, and there is the additional, very real, risk of annoying potential customers.
Flash is a program, and it should be used to provide features that are unavailable in a static page, which is rarely needed the second a visitor arrives at your site. If you are going to use flash, it has to be quick and to the point, and provide just enough information to make the user want to spend a little more time on your site. And it should work without audio.
Bottom Line – Avoid using Flash introductions. While they may look cool to company insiders’ they could be driving potential customers away if they’re too long, loud, or aren’t serving a true informational purpose.
The underlying reason companies make these usability mistakes is that they are looking at their corporate website as an insider would:
- Images that look nice but do not help explain what the company is about is no problem for someone inside the company who already knows what the company does.
- Contact Us pages that ask “what information do we – the company – want from outsiders,” rather than understanding what information users want to provide and making it as easy as possible for them to do so.
- Flash intros that make the company feel like they are on the cutting edge, but simply annoy users who are looking for useful information.
So take a step back and look at your website with fresh eyes. You might be surprised at the changes you would make to help users get a better understanding of what you do, and why they might want to contact you.