5 Web Design Mistakes That Are Costing You Customers (And How to Fix Them)

When it comes to running a successful online business, your website is often the first point of contact between you and potential customers. And just like in real-life interactions, first impressions matter. In fact, studies show that users make judgments about your website within the first 0.5 seconds of landing on it. If your site fails to make a positive impact in that crucial moment, you could be losing valuable customers before they even get a chance to explore your services.

Five common web design mistakes

Here are five common web design mistakes that might be costing you customers, along with actionable solutions to fix them:

1. Slow Loading Times

 

Cute turtle

The Mistake

A slow website is one of the quickest ways to lose potential customers. In a world where we expect instant gratification, even a delay of just a few seconds can lead visitors to abandon your site in favour of a competitor’s faster-loading page.

Example

Imagine you’re a local coffee shop with a website full of beautiful images and product descriptions. But when visitors try to load your homepage, they’re met with a spinning loading icon. Frustrated, they give up and move on to the next search result.

Solution

  • Optimise Images

Large, unoptimised images can drastically slow down page load times. Use tools like TinyPNG or ImageOptim to compress images without sacrificing quality.

  • Minimise HTTP Requests

Every element on your webpage (images, scripts, stylesheets, etc.) requires an HTTP request. Reducing these requests by combining files or using CSS sprites can speed up your site.

  • Use Caching

Set up caching to store static resources like images or stylesheets locally, so returning visitors don’t need to reload everything.

2. Poor Mobile Experience

 

Frustrated man looking at his phone

The Mistake

With over half of web traffic coming from mobile devices, your website needs to provide an equally seamless experience on smartphones and tablets as it does on desktops. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, users may struggle to navigate, read content, or complete purchases.

Example

A user searches for your online store from their phone, but your website is difficult to navigate on a smaller screen. The buttons are too small, the text is unreadable, and they can’t find the product they were looking for. They abandon the site and shop elsewhere.

Solution

  • Responsive Design

Ensure your site is built with a responsive design, which automatically adjusts to different screen sizes and devices. Frameworks like Bootstrap can make this easier.

  • Test Mobile Usability

Regularly test your website on various mobile devices to ensure buttons are appropriately sized, content is readable, and navigation is intuitive.

  • Simplify Navigation

Mobile users prefer simple, thumb-friendly navigation. Use hamburger menus or sticky headers for easier access to key sections.

3. Confusing Navigation

 

Maze

The Mistake

If users can’t find what they’re looking for quickly, they’ll leave. Poor navigation design can frustrate visitors and create unnecessary barriers between them and the information or products they need.

Example

A visitor arrives at your website, intending to find your pricing page. They spend several minutes trying to figure out where it is, but the menu is cluttered, and the link is buried under several layers of subcategories. Eventually, they give up and look for a competitor with easier navigation.

Solution

  • Simplify Menus

Keep your navigation bar minimal with the most essential links (e.g., Home, About, Products/Services, Contact). Use dropdowns sparingly.

  • Use Descriptive Labels

Don’t use ambiguous menu items. Label sections clearly so users know exactly where to click.

  • Add a Search Bar

Incorporating a search feature allows visitors to quickly find what they’re looking for without sifting through your entire site.

4. Cluttered or Overwhelming Design

 

Cluttered things

The Mistake

A visually cluttered website can overwhelm visitors and distract them from your key messages or calls to action. When there’s too much going on, users tend to leave because they don’t know where to focus their attention.

Example

Your homepage features a mix of different fonts, colours, pop-up ads, and an overwhelming amount of text. While you’re trying to promote multiple offers at once, users don’t know where to click first or what to read, so they abandon the page.

Solution

  • Prioritise Simplicity

A clean, organised design makes it easier for users to navigate your site and absorb your content. Stick to a cohesive colour scheme and limit your font choices to two or three styles.

  • Use White Space

Space between elements is vital for readability and focus. Don’t cram too much information into a small area. White space helps guide the user’s eyes and makes the content more digestible.

  • Focus on Key CTAs

Limit the number of calls to action (CTAs) on each page. Make sure each page has a clear, primary action that you want visitors to take, like “Shop Now” or “Request a Quote.”

5. Neglecting SEO and Content Optimisation

 

Search Engine Optimisation

The Mistake

Even the best-designed website can fail if it’s not optimised for search engines. Without proper SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), your website may be buried deep in search results, making it harder for potential customers to find you.

Example

Your website looks great, but when someone searches for “best restaurant in [your location],” your site doesn’t show up anywhere near the top. As a result, you’re missing out on valuable organic traffic.

Solution

  • Optimise Meta Tags

Ensure each page has a unique title and meta description with relevant keywords. These elements help search engines understand the content and rank it higher.

  • Improve On-Page Content

Include relevant, high-quality content that addresses the needs and queries of your target audience. Use proper header tags (H1, H2, etc.) for better structure and readability.

  • Mobile-Friendly & Fast

Google ranks mobile-friendly and fast-loading sites higher, so improving these aspects will help with both UX and SEO.

  • Use Alt Text for Images

Search engines can’t “see” images, but they can read alt text. Make sure all images have descriptive alt tags for better search visibility.

Conclusion

Your website is often the first impression customers have of your brand, and it can be a deciding factor in whether they stay or go. Avoiding these five common web design mistakes will help improve the user experience, build trust, and convert visitors into customers.

By optimising your website for speed, ensuring mobile responsiveness, streamlining navigation, avoiding cluttered designs, and focusing on SEO, you can create a website that not only looks great but also performs well and keeps visitors coming back.

If you’re unsure where to start, consider getting Alexander Marketing to conduct a website audit. We can guide you through the process of optimising your site for both aesthetics and functionality.

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Our top 5 tips to get the best response from your marketing emails

1. Craft Compelling Subject Lines

The subject line is your first impression and the key to boosting your open rates. It should be attention-grabbing, clear, and concise while providing a glimpse of what the email offers. Keep it under 60 characters, use action-oriented language, and, if possible, personalise it to increase relevance. A/B testing subject lines can help identify which styles or phrases work best with your audience.

**Example:**
– “Unlock Your 25% Discount – Limited Time Offer!”
– “Don’t Miss Out on Exclusive Tips, [First Name]!”

2. Personalise the Email Content

Personalised emails resonate more with recipients. Beyond addressing the recipient by their first name, use dynamic content to tailor the message based on the user’s behaviour, preferences, or past interactions with your brand. Segment your audience and send targeted content that is relevant to their interests and needs, whether that’s product recommendations, exclusive deals, or specific updates.

**Example:**
– “Hi [First Name], we thought you’d love these new arrivals based on your recent shopping spree.”

3. Optimise for Mobile

Over half of all emails are opened on mobile devices, so it’s essential to design your emails with mobile users in mind. Use responsive email design to ensure your emails look great on all screen sizes, and keep the layout simple and easy to navigate. Large fonts, concise copy, and prominent CTA buttons ensure your emails are readable and clickable on mobile screens.

**Tip:** Test your emails across different devices and email clients before sending them out.

4. Include Clear and Actionable Calls to Action (CTAs)

Your email’s call to action (CTA) should be prominent and easy to understand. Whether it’s clicking a link, making a purchase, or signing up for an event, the CTA should be clear and actionable. Use action verbs like “Shop Now,” “Get Started,” or “Learn More,” and ensure the CTA button is visually distinct, making it easy for recipients to take the next step.

**Tip:** Avoid multiple CTAs in the same email to prevent confusion; focus on one primary action.

5. Timing and Frequency Matter

Timing is crucial in email marketing. Send emails when your audience is most likely to engage. For example, B2B emails perform well on weekdays in the morning, while B2C emails may see higher engagement in the evenings or weekends. You should also consider the frequency of your emails—too many can lead to unsubscribes, while too few can result in lower brand recall. Experiment with sending times, day of the week, and frequency to optimise for your specific audience.

**Tip:** Use automation to send triggered emails based on user actions (e.g., abandoned cart emails, welcome sequences, etc.) to increase relevance and response.

By combining these strategies—attention-grabbing subject lines, personalised content, mobile-friendly design, clear CTAs, and smart timing—you can significantly improve your email marketing performance and get the best response from your recipients.

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GDPR – Getting your business ready

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Get your business GDPR-ready with expert advice and practical steps from Alexander Marketing. Ensure compliance, protect customer data, and avoid penalties.

Read more
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Get your website ready for 2018

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As we come to the end of another year now is a good time to give your website a quick health check and make sure it’s ready for the year ahead. Here are 5 easy things to look at and what to do if they need fixing.

1. Speed
In the age we’re now living in everyone wants information in a split second and gets frustrated if they have to wait. We’re very much a ‘now’ society. With this in mind Google has really pushed on to include website speed as one of their major ranking factors. Forget Google for a minute (if you can), no-one likes watching a wheel spin as a site loads… if it doesn’t flash up in front of your eyes pretty quickly, most will move on to one that does.

There are various reason’s / excuses why your site might be slow; bad code, large images that haven’t been compressed enough, slow server… but the bottom line is that if it is slow you will be losing out. All our sites run on fast reliable servers and use the latest technologies to enable them to run fast and smooth… making your content readily available to your customers in a flash!

2. Mobile Responsiveness
This is a given but you would be amazed at how many sites still don’t work properly on a mobile or tablet. Apparently it is as high as 80% of UK sites are still asking you to pinch and zoom to view their content. I don’t know about you but I will leave a site instantly if it isn’t mobile responsive. Don’t get left behind… If you are in this category now is the time to talk to use about an upgrade.

3. Security
We all want our information to be secure and so does Google. This year has seen them really push hard on security to the point where they now say that being on https has become a ranking factor for websites. So if you’ve not got an SSL certificate for your site then now is the time to do something about it. So what is an SSL certificates? It basically encrypts the data sent between visitors and a website. So for example it helps keep your sensitive information, like credit card information from being intercepted. It’s essential to use an SSL certificate if you are selling online and now Google will even flash up security warnings on contact forms if there isn’t one present. As approximately half of the world’s web users are on Google’s own Chrome browser this is a big deal… would you enter your details on a site with a great big security message… I know I’d think twice.

If your site is hosted with us ask about getting an SSL certificate added for FREE. If you don’t host with us… we can sort you out as soon as you see the light and move to us :)

4. Promotion
Don’t think that once you’ve spent all that time and money building an amazing website it will automatically get lots of traffic, sell loads of products, or fill your hotel rooms… it won’t. Once you have a website that is only the beginning. You then have to market it… to tell your customers about your offering and convince them to buy from you. You need to do this in different way, frequently and in a creative way that will engage them. If you aren’t doing this one of your competitors certainly will be.

How many different ways are customers able to find out about your website – Google, Facebook, email newsletters…talk to us about things that work to increase traffic, both volume and quality, to your website. You won’t regret it!

5. GDPR
Say what? GD what? If you haven’t heard about it yet then listen up. GDPR comes into force on 25th may 2018 and if you haven’t heard much about it yet you soon will. It’s a very big deal.

“The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) is a regulation by which the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission intend to strengthen and unify data protection for all individuals within the European Union (EU).”

Even if you only use Google Analytics or a simple contact form on your website you still need to be aware of this and comply.

Don’t leave it to the last minute and deal with it next May… start now and save yourself a whole load of stress and grief. Talk to us about your options and what it means to you and your marketing.

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Facebook Live: Game Changer for Social Media Marketing

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The dynamics of social media marketing are quickly evolving, as more and more customers crave social connectivity with the brands and businesses they like and support. 2016 has seen more businesses become more intimate and transparent with their followers through livestreaming and with Facebook Live, it changed the game altogether.

If you are not yet utilising this amazing feature in Facebook, you are potentially losing out. Here’s why Facebook Live made a dent in the social media stratosphere in 2016:

Facebook Live Grabs Attention… Instantly
You don’t need to worry about being lost in your follower’s newsfeed. Facebook Live commands your followers’ attention immediately because once you go live, their phone lights up to notify them that you are live.

Instant Engagement with Your Audience
Your audience is already on Facebook and the moment you go Live, notifications are sent and they can just tune in and watch. Facebook Live eliminates any third party app or a link you have to click and download to view the video. Everything is just there – plain and simple.
While your audience is watching you live, they can send you comments and ask questions and you can answer them in real time. In a world where everything is instant, this is instant, real-time engagement in the social media world.

Facebook Live Allows You to Repurpose Your Video
One good thing about Facebook Live is that the videos stay on your page. In case your audience missed your live broadcast, they can view it again on your page. Comments are not removed either. In addition, there is an embed feature in the video, allowing you to repurpose your broadcast to your website or blog. To push your marketing further, you could now start your own video blog or vlog – same video, different audience, and different reach. How amazing is that?

A catchy title is very important!
When using Facebook Live, there’s an important marketing tip to remember: Create a catchy title for your live broadcast. Why? When people get a notification that you are or were live, the only thing that they see in their notifications is the title. A compelling title is the perfect bait for them to click on your video.

Have fun!

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Why Blogging is Still Important

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You might have read recently that blogging is old school and hasn’t been useful as an online marketing strategy for a long time. With the proliferation of social media sites that allow you to blog or post down your thoughts, why waste time blogging in a WordPress site, right?

While social media sites offer convenience and a readily available audience, think about this: would you ever build your castle in someone else’s land? I guess not. Building your audience on somebody else’s platform is only as good as the platform’s existence.

For a business, blogging, along with your own social media presence, is of utmost importance now, and in the foreseeable future. Here are our top reasons why:

Blogging drives more traffic to your website. Your blog is a great way to give your audience relevant, up to date content. If your content is useful, interesting and valuable to them, they might decide to share it with their online community. Obviously this would give you free additional traffic! On the technical note, search engines love fresh content. Regular blogging gives search engines new content to index, and can help to improve organic visibility across multiple keywords (that is, if you plug in those keywords wisely).

Blogging helps you to rank for those long-tail search queries and keywords. A regular website without a blog may find it difficult to rank this way. Your business website might rank for your industry-specific keywords (e.g. ‘IT Company in Lancaster’), but without more specific blogs might struggle to rank for longer terms such as ‘How to Recover Accidentally Deleted Files’. While long tail search queries are less common, they are generally considered to be get higher conversion rates.

Blogging helps to position you and your business as experts in your industry. A good business blog answers questions your consumers may have. If you create content that gives value to your audience, they will see you as a go-to resource and this can establish you as an industry authority.

Blogging humanises your brand and business. An ‘About Us’ page on your website is no match for a regular blog in terms of showing your personality and ideas. Blogging gives readers a better insight into your company, values, employees, ideas, and much more. A blog is a place where you get to share your voice and personality, building up trust and in the long run, increases the likability quotient of your brand or business.

Blogging supports and reinforces your social media presence. You cannot maintain a consistent social media presence without good, high-quality content. While it is good to share the content of others, you are just directing more traffic to their site. At some point, you’d want a share of that traffic, too. If you have a blog and share it on your social media platforms, you drive more people to your site. You also win clicks, leads, and visitors when your posts are shared.

In addition, if you have a regular newsletter, your blog posts can come in handy. Part of your email newsletter content can be the top blog posts for the month. Incorporating your blog posts in your social media and email marketing campaigns can bring great results to your business.

So with all these benefits, blogging remains a key aspect in your overall marketing strategy.

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Google’s Mobile-First Indexing: What You Need to Know

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There has been a lot of chat in the online community about Google’s Mobile First-Indexing. If you have a website that isn’t mobile responsive should you be worried? Technically, yes, because as the name suggests, Google will create its rank and search listings based on mobile content.

Here’s what you need to know about Mobile-First Indexing:

Mobile-first indexing explained.
Google has stated that mobile searches now exceed desktop searches. However, Google’s algorithms are set to evaluate rankings and search listings based on the desktop version of a particular site – causing a discrepancy in search results especially for those who took the time to make their websites mobile. To fix this, Google will now look at the content, link structure, etc. of a mobile site first if it is available. If you don’t have a mobile site, it will revert to your site’s desktop version but may rank your site behind those that do.

Mobile-responsive sites are your best bet.
The good news is that if your website is mobile responsive there is no need to do anything else. Just make sure that all SEO factors are in place – proper link architecture and structure, good and high quality content, etc. However, if you do have a different mobile version of your website that carries just the basic content compared to your desktop version, you should have a rethink… as the mobile site is the one Google will crawl and focus on.

To be safe, make sure your website is fully mobile responsive with exactly the same content as your desktop version.  

Hidden content on mobile sites is fine.
Good user-experience is best practice!

Design elements that hide your content, such as accordions will now be crawled and the content read by Google. You will not be penalised for creating a site that is designed primarily for mobile users.

Mobile-first indexing is still at the beginning stages of roll-out.
Google has started rolling out the mobile-first indexing policy. They haven’t specified dates yet for a full roll out but it’s going to happen very soon. It is still in the experimenting process but if all goes well, it will be rolled out in the next few months.

In 2017 it is highly likely that Google will only use the one indexing model – mobile.
At the moment, and during  rollout and experimenting phase, Google will use two indexes to determine search and ranking results: desktop-first and mobile-first.

BUT – we won’t know which. When Google is confident that  their mobile-first indexing is working, they will drop the desktop-first index.

So what does this all mean?

Mobile-first indexing is still in an experimental phase – but it is coming!

Be prepared for such this huge change in how Google ranks your website by making sure it is mobile-responsive.

More people are using their mobiles to search now than using a laptop or desktop – so don’t fight it, embrace it!

If you would like to find out more about how to start optimising your site for mobile, you can follow Google’s recommendations listed on their blog post.

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Search Engine Optimisation – what’s relevant today

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A lot had predicted the death of Search Engine Optimisation, but SEO is nowhere near its demise – it has just changed its form in the last few years.

Gone are the days of keyword repetitions through content and meta tags, and no longer do countless directory and social bookmarking submissions counted as quality link building. Rankings – as what was once believed to be the goal of SEO – is not the be all end and be all these days.

What then should we expect in the world of SEO now, and moving on into next year?

Localisation is now more important than ever.
Search results vary due to different factors. When a person is logged in Google, more customisations in search results occur such as location, city, preferences, interests, etc. From country to country or city to city, search results vary too. Make sure you optimise for geographical location in the content and meta information.

SEO is less about ranking, it’s more on the return of your investment (ROI).
As search results now vary based on your location, it gets more and more challenging (and quite impossible!) to obtain top rankings in all cities, countries, etc as these are factors beyond our control. At times, high traffic and ranking do not necessarily mean more conversions. It’s now also important to set up Google Search Console, optimise your Google Analytics, and start tracking and reporting. When all has been set up, that way you can really drill down into the data and understand what’s working and what needs more attention.

Mobile responsive, and now there’s AMP (Accelerated Mobile Page).
You may have heard this over and over again: more and more people are using their smartphones and tablets for shopping, searching, etc. If your site is not mobile responsive, you are sure to lose a large chunk of the mobile-using market. Now, as well as being mobile responsive, there is AMP to consider. Google introduced AMP last year to address the importance of speed in the mobile platform. The AMP format removes all the extras from a site, allowing it to load as quickly as possible. So it’s worth considering incorporating the AMP framework into your mobile sites.

HTTPS encrypted websites are now a ranking factor.
A while back, Google announced that securing your website using HTTPS is becoming a ranking factor as this search engine giant is really pushing for secure websites. At first, it was only for ecommerce sites but just recently, with security being a top priority, all websites must be HTTPS encrypted. Unsecured websites show signs of untrustworthiness, and as such can affect a website’s ranking position.

Quality content wins over keyword variation and density
Back in the day, SEO content had to contain keyword variations, both short and long, and with a density of 3% to 5%. As we move forward, Google now puts more emphasis on relevant content that engages readers. While keywords must still be the backbone of SEO, these should be placed strategically, tastefully and seamlessly throughout the content. When creating content, always remember to write for the people reading it, not the search engine robots.

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Email Marketing Is Still Very Much Alive

“Email marketing died a long time ago.” We’ve all heard this phrase countless of times before. With the proliferation of different forms of communication like WhatsApp and all other social media platforms, many had predicted the end of email marketing.

However, despite the growing number of messaging apps and platforms, email marketing still remains the basis of the success of any business – from your neighbourhood shop to large corporations. Also, the mere fact that there are billions upon billions of emails circling the globe each day goes to show that email marketing is still alive.

Below are top 5 reasons to believe that email marketing is not going to perish soon or even in the future.

  1. Your customers actually like and expect emails.

Of course, these are for the emails that they choose to receive. Recent studies reported that majority of people sign up for newsletters from their favourite retailers – a sure sign that they do expect to get promotional emails from companies of their choice.

  1. Emails are extremely mobile.

Aside from texting, calling and looking at social media updates, people check their emails on their smartphone or tablet at least once a day. Your promotions will always be seen even when the customers are not on their desks. A side tip: make sure to optimise your email marketing campaigns for mobile users.

  1. Email marketing is clearly measurable.

The effectiveness of mail-based or direct mail marketing can never be determined. When it comes to social media, there are just to many factors to look at – likes, shares, re-tweets, subscribers, etc. You’re never too sure of what you actually need to look at to determine how your campaign went. In email marketing, however, the metrics are specific, timely, and measureable. You know who opened your message, what email client was used, and what specific item or button they clicked on.

  1. Email marketing is highly customisable.

The recipients of your email marketing campaign can be properly segmented with content tailored to suit their preferences. You can greet them by name, allowing your brand or business to connect with your customers on a more personal level, ultimately leading to higher conversion rates. With email marketing being relatively inexpensive to do and the high conversion probability it can offer, this form of customised marketing can really give businesses a huge ROI.

  1. Email marketing seamlessly integrates with all other online efforts.

If you have a store promotion ending soon, emails can easily send alerts about the deadline of an offer. If you have a social media post or a blog entry that you wish to share, emails can remind customers of new activities on your site. If you conduct webinars and online tutorials, emails serve as a reminder of an event a customer signed up for. In whichever activity there is, email marketing will always play a big part.

Face it. Email marketing is here and will be here to stay. As long as your email campaigns offer something useful and of value, readers are more than willing to give your message the time and attention it deserves.

 

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SEO for Foodies

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Each year there seems to be more and more  food and drink festivals, and as an out and out foodie I’m really loving it!

So how do Independent food and drink businesses go about marketing themselves in this era of supermarket offers and special deals? How do you make your products stand out from the rest? Here are a few questions and suggestions that you will hopefully find useful / thought provoking:

  • Have a clear strategy and plan – this involves understanding your target market, your competition and how you get your products in front of your audience.
  • How good are your marketing materials – packaging, point of sale, posters, flyers, website etc..
  • Are you capturing your customers’ and your potential customers’ email addresses? If so are you sending them a regular monthly e-newsletter?
  • Are you using Social Media to full effect? – This will primarily be Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
  • How good is your website? Is it set up to sell, and are you easily found in Google search results?
  • Do you write a regular blog?
  • If you travel to festivals and markets – can your customers easily see when and where to find you?
  • Do you give your website visitors reason to keep coming back to your website – free downloadable recipes, how to videos etc..
  • Do you stage events to promote your products?Just a few ideas and questions to get you thinking about your marketing. You may already be doing some or even all of these things, if you are then great. The question is how often and are you able to quantify how effective they are?
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