Built a new website for your business and worried about getting the content wrong? With so many different content choices to think about, it’s easy to make mistakes. To help you out, I’ve picked out five common content mistakes businesses and charities make so you know how to avoid them:
Not having calls to action
So a visitor comes to your site, then what? Without any calls to action, that visitor will leave again without engaging with your business in any way. One of the most important things to think about is the user journey through your site. What page are they reaching first? What page are they visiting next? Are you directing them to the right content? You might be missing huge opportunities to reach people because you’re not leading them on a journey. Including calls to action helps to build that journey.
Too many calls to action
The opposite is also true. If you’re asking people visiting your site to do too much at the same time, it can be overwhelming and confusing. In the end, no engagement happens. Do you want them to share content? Donate? Purchase? Contact you? Refine down exactly what you want website visitors to do on each page and keep it simple. Remember, even after they’ve completed an action, such as a purchase, there’s an opportunity to continue that user journey.
Just using stock imagery
If you don’t have the budget to have your own photos taken, stock photography (particularly public domain images) are often the next best option. The problem with just using stock photography is that the images won’t be personal to your organisation and your audience will know it. Stock photography can be quite obvious, especially if there are lots of cheesy smiles or awkward poses. It looks fake and doesn’t truly reflect your organisation. Instead, find the money to build a solid bank of photography specific to your business and use stock photography only if absolutely necessary.
Writing too much
The attention span of website visitors is a lot shorter than you might think and huge paragraphs of text can be pretty off-putting. If website visitors can’t find what information they’re looking for quickly, it’s highly likely they will leave and go to another website. To avoid this, keep your text short and snappy. The information should be no more than a few sentences rather than paragraphs. Use your analytics to understand what information your website visitors are most interested in and make it more obvious. You can also use clear titles and images to direct people to what they’re looking for.
Not thinking mobile first
I’ve mentioned before just how important it is to have a mobile friendly website but it definitely bears repeating. Many of your website visitors will now be viewing the site on their mobile or tablet. It’s not only important to make sure your website is easy to access on mobile but also to check that it’s easy to read and navigate. When creating new content for your website, always preview it on a mobile screen to see how the content is arranged. The most important information should be near the top to avoid people having to scroll down too far.
Looking for some feedback or advice on your website? Get in touch with me for a site review.
Looking for more digital marketing advice for your business or charity? Check out my marketing advice tag to view all blogs on the subject.