You invested days if not weeks getting a website online. WIX said it was so easy – No web designer needed! Now things are looking bleak. You have a little traffic coming in. Nothing is converting. You have no leads, no clicks and your bounce rate is pushing 75%.
There’s a lot of reasons why your website may not be converting. Some of the reasons of low conversions may be obvious while others not so much. I’ll give a basic break down of the top reasons why your website may be performing poorly. These reasons could apply to descriptive websites as well as eCommerce websites. From local upstate South Carolina websites to nation wide targeted sites. The key factors to low website conversions and high bounce rates are pretty universal. In no particular order. I’ll break down the most common website flaws.
Non-responsive design, broken layouts, browser bugs
Does your website look good on mobile phones, laptops and tablets? If not. Shame on you! Its 2018. If you haven’t upgraded to a responsive website yet then you are behind the times! No one likes a broken website! There are 4 or 5 major browsers and each and every one renders the web a little different. Check out your Analytics and looks at the top browsers that visit your site. Test your website with different browsers and make sure there’s no site breaking layout bugs!
Slow loading speed
This one goes without saying. If your landing pages take more than 3 seconds to load. You have people hitting the back button before they even see your website! Theres no reason to have a slow website. No one likes waiting.
Bad Design – Fonts and Color Schemes
Bad design choices can lead to bad user experiences. Are you selling Eye Glasses but using a light weight thin font? Are you using light text on a light background? A lot of people have bad and low vision. If visitors cant read your website – they wont be sticking around on your website.
Lack of customer trust
Building trust is a huge issue with new eCommerce sites. Be sure to get up privacy, returns/refunds, terms of service pages. Also double check that your phone number, email address or physical business address are provided and easily accessible. Get your SSL, BBB and customer reviews up. If a visitor doesn’t feel like youre a legit business with a reputable past – they’re gone!
Unclear shipping cost
Shipping cost are huge for eCommerce shoppers. If your shipping cost aren’t clear. Its killing your cart abandonment rates. Clearly state your shipping cost and be sure to simplify the shipping as much as possible. If you can cover the cost of shipping in the product price and offer Free Shipping then absolutely do it! No one likes to go to a checkout page and get hit with a unexpected cost increase.
Broken Links
Not only are broken links bad for SEO but they are killer for conversions. Broken links are like dead ends. When a user hits a broken link, they turn around and go back or leave the website completely, as in closing the browser tab. Dont let this happen. Check your Google Webmasters issues and fix any broken links before they cost you customers! A great tool for checking for links is Screaming Frog
Meta titles and descriptions
If your meta titles and meta descriptions don’t match the page you’re linking to then that page will definitely have a high bounce rate. Be sure to write relevant descriptive titles and meta descriptions that serve as a entry way to more a more detailed page or product description. Not only is it good for conversions but it’s great for organic search engine SEO.
Grammatical errors
Nothing says unprofessional like a slew of spelling errors. Write your content in a word processor or Google docs. Anything that provides some sort of spell checker. No ones perfect but spelling errors should be few and far between when checkers are so readily available.
Bloat
Less is more. Build your website like your target customer is a 8 year old. The more distractions you put on your website the less likely it is for a customer to click the Call to Action that actually matters. Make your CTA stand out, Make your Add to Cart stand out. Limit the content on key pages to include only critical content. It’s easy to confuse users and overload your design. Keep it simple!
Amateurish Graphics and Bad Pictures
For most websites. Pictures absolutely make the website. If you have bad low quality images then hire a professional photographer or get some nice stock images. You can use a site like https://www.shutterstock.com/or pexels https://www.pexels.com/ to get high quality pictures for little to no cost. Bad pictures scream low trust and low trust equals low conversions!
Duplicate Content
Don’t repeat yourself over and over! Say you sell shirts on Shopfiy. Don’t give each product the same exact description. Its horrible for SEO and customers want to know what they are actually buying. Try to give each and every product or page its own unique description and story. It helps with organic rankings and it gives end users a better idea of what you are offering.
Pop-Up Windows
95% of the time Popup windows are conversion killers. If you don’t need the pop ups, don’t use them! They are intrusive, annoying and down right horrible for most websites. Browsers like Firefox are blocking popups by default now and even search engines like Google are punishing websites in the search rankings for using popups. Just don’t.
All Around Unprofessional and Low Effort
Lets face it. The reality is the websites at the top of Google rankings are professionally built. It doesn’t matter if your nephew took website classes in the 9th grade or that your cousin knows a guy who knows a guy that’s great with computers. Websites are complex and building a professional well performing website takes experience and expertise. Give your website a chance by starting with a good foundation and hire a professional that has proven results.
Dont get sold on bullshit and techincal lingo that makes no sense. Find a developer that has proven experience generating results. Find a developer that explains the process, problem and solutions to you in terms you can understand. I’ve worked with clients from Greenville SC, Anderson SC, all the way to New York City, and even foreign clients as far down under as Australia (queenoftickets.com). Each and every successful website has one thing in common – the owners hired professional help! Clemson Web Design! Check out my pricing, why you should consider hiring me and give me a call. If I cant get you started on the right track, I’ll gladly refer you to someone who can!
