Chester-le-Street based Design & Marketing Agency Jak Inc share their insight into making the most of your online presence…

As veteran website designers and experts in mobile optimisation, we often get to see behind the scenes of some of the best and worst web presences.

In doing so, we’ve identified five of the biggest mistakes that businesses are making online. Read on to find out what they are…

1. Websites aren’t mobile-friendly.

Let’s start with a biggie. On average in the UK, we each spend nearly two hours per day browsing the internet on our mobile devices, and in the last few years, mobile shopping has surpassed desktop shopping.

The trouble is, users are still being turned away by sites that aren’t optimised for mobile screens. If a site isn’t intuitive to use on the devices that are now becoming the standard, potential customers are inclined to go elsewhere.

Mobile-optimisation isn’t an option or a recommendation anymore. It’s a necessity.

Plus, Google has recently begun penalising non-mobile-friendly websites by moving them further down in search results. It’s a big price to pay for failing to keep up with digital trends.

2. Web and social media is rarely updated.

The internet is a fast-paced environment, and users are always hungry for new content.

The really successful web presences are the ones that are never short of an update or two, and the ones that are well-practiced in delivering fresh, exciting, entertaining, and original content. As you’d expect, it keeps audiences coming back for more.

Unfortunately, however, keeping content moving is a time-consuming process, and is difficult to keep consistent. If you haven’t already lost your audience thanks to your non-mobile-friendly site, chances are your lack of updates will do it, so make sure you set aside some amount of time every day to update your presence.

3. Imagery isn’t utilised where necessary.

They say a picture can say a thousand words, and the phrase has never been truer than in the context of the internet and social media.

These days, users have neither the time nor inclination to read more than they have to. The web is endlessly scrollable, and nothing can make a viewer click the ‘next’ button faster than a wall of text. Images, however, are far more effective at grabbing attention and communicating a message.

Don’t take your audience’s attention for granted.

A great place to utilise imagery is Twitter. Thanks to the platform’s 140 character limit, a well-chosen photograph or graphic can help get across a message that wouldn’t otherwise have fit!

4. Websites aren’t user-friendly.

When somebody visits your website, there are usually only a handful of things they’re really looking for. In most cases, they want to know who you are, what you do, and how they can obtain your services.

This is the information that should be immediately available to your visitors, and not buried behind a slew of pages and hyperlinks. If it takes more than five to ten seconds to have their questions answered, you may have lost their interest for good.

Assess exactly what your own visitor’s objectives will be, and ensure you meet them. Check out our guide to a great homepage for more tips.

5. Call-to-actions are vague or non-existent.

Let’s assume that you’ve successfully lured visitors to your website or social media pages. Now what? What exactly do you want them to do?

Your call-to-action will depend on your business, but it could be that you want visitors to book an appointment, buy a product, or download something. Too often, visitors have no immediate indication of how to do any of that.

Let’s say you want visitors to fill in an appointment form. That form needs to take centre-stage on your website homepage, right next to a brief explanation of who you are, and why anyone should fill in this form.

6. Download speeds are unnecessarily slow.

This one is a classic.

Designing your first/new website can be exciting, and there’s often the urge to fill it with as many fancy images, videos, and widgets as possible. All of those things are great, but are they really worth slowing your website down?

Simplicity is often key with website design. Implement what you need to implement. Slow loading times caused by extra content can very quickly put a visitor off returning.

7. Stuck in the past.

If you’ve made it this far into this article, chances are that this one doesn’t apply to you, or that it doesn’t apply to you anymore. By now, you’re already considering whether or not your own website is ticking the right boxes, and wondering how you can use our advice to improve it.

But despite the now considerable age of the internet, there are still a lot of business owners out there who write it off as a luxury. The truth is, however, that an online presence is now critical to success, and ignoring that fact can be a big mistake.

If you aren’t already doing so, keep on top of the ever-changing digital landscape. It’s a business owner’s best friend.

Not sure how to avoid these mistakes? Want to find out exactly how to best utilise your digital presence?

At Jak Inc, we’re putting the #DigitalRevolution into motion. Book a consultation to find out how you can become a part of it, and how we can reinvigorate your online marketing.