Website development projects can be the real-life version of Chutes and Ladders. Make all the right choices, you climb up, up, up. Prospects find you in online searches. Your web copy converts visitors into prospects. But the danger of one bad roll is always lurking in the background, ready to catapult you back to the bottom. As you slide down, your business plans and growth opportunities slip away with you.
When developing a website, it’s easy to botch the user experience. This single mistake carries real-life consequences for your B2B lead generation efforts and business growth plans. Those visitors from SEO? Gone. The people who do find you could end up so frustrated by poor design that they quickly leave to seek out a competitor who offers your services.
Some user experience chutes are obvious. Others are hidden unless web design is part of your job. That’s why we’re peeling back the curtain and sharing 13 common website development errors that impact user experience and drive away prospects.
If any of the points below apply to your current website, it’s time for a refresh.
13 Ways Poor User Experience Drives Prospects Away
1. Over-the-top creativity
Adding too many breathtaking videos and eye-popping graphics sacrifices clarity for creativity. Visitors think you have a pretty website, but they can’t figure out what you do. Remember, you want content that brings in leads – not just likes.
2. No recent update
Yep, it’s superficial, but prospects judge you by your website. If it looks ready to party with Prince like it’s 1999, they won’t want to work with you.
3. The design is perfectly on-trend
Trends are fleeting. Going all-in on the latest trends guarantees you’ll fall into the trap of having a website that looks outdated in no time.
4. You aren’t memorable
Carbon copying your competitor’s website limits what your lead generation strategies can achieve. Prospects will struggle to distinguish between you and other providers. You won’t be memorable, and leads won’t feel compelled to contact you as they browse your pages.
5. Content is all me, me, me
Prospects don’t want to read about you on your website. They want to know how their life will improve after working with you or purchasing one of your products.
6. It’s impossible to find your solution pages in the main menu
You could have a product or service that immediately solves a prospect’s problem. If they don’t see it in your main menu, it doesn’t exist.
Prospects aren’t going to click around to find your site map or hope they stumble upon the right internal link. They’ll leave and move on to your competitors.
7. There’s no search function
Denying prospects search functionality on your site is unnecessarily frustrating to visiting prospects who want quick answers and shortcuts.
8. Pages don’t have enough content
Solution pages with a few hundred words, no videos, and bland graphics are a double-edged sword. First, they’re unlikely to convert prospects. Second, Google wants to send searchers to websites with rich, engaging content.
9. You overwhelm prospects with information
Filling pages with thousands of words isn’t your best bet either. Walls of content intimidate readers and can negatively impact SEO.
10. Internal links are MIA or broken
Internal links help users navigate your site, improve SEO, and encourage visitors to spend more time exploring your content.
11. Prospects don’t know how to contact you
I’ve seen business websites without contact us pages. If your prospects can’t figure out how to reach you, how do you plan on bringing in new business?
12. Calls to action lack oomph
Calls to action are all about combining psychology, design, and a strong understanding of the Client Buy Cycle. You can’t rely on 1 single call to action. You want multiple, compelling options across your site, so you hit prospects at every stage of their Buyer’s Journey.
13. Mobile and desktop share a design
Over half of all web traffic comes from mobile devices. Without a responsive design, mobile visitors will get the desktop version. They’ll experience slow load speeds, poor navigation, and struggle to read small text on a small screen.
Need more guidance? Reach out to KLA Group to hear about our tested, transparent four-step process that delivers your site on time. Web design issues are avoidable. Current problems can be solved.
Author Kendra Lee is CEO of KLA Group. Read more contributed blogs from Kendra Lee here.
