We’ve all clicked on a link in Google and come to a website that was either outdated, slow to load, or poorly designed. How did it make you feel? Probably frustrated, like the business was not trustworthy, or worst case [for the business], you went back to the search results to try your luck again.
A well-designed website communicates trustworthiness in four ways that a poorly designed website doesn’t: its design quality, up-front disclosure of information, comprehensive and current content, and engagement with the rest of the web.
Ailments of Poorly Designed Websites
Poorly designed websites have many common traits that, as web designers, we can spot almost instantly. If you’re designing or redesigning your website,, you must avoid these common downfalls.
Have Bad or Bloated Navigation
If you have ever clicked on a navigation link and a large menu opens that seems to include links to every page on the website, then you’ve been a victim of a mega-nav. In many cases, a website designer or information architect was told by the business owner that “every page” was important, but we know this is rarely the case.
Users are learning new systems daily, so they appreciate an interface they can understand quickly and with little effort. The key to to a great navigation structure is balancing what, in psychological terms, is called cognitive load (the amount of information that a person can process at any given time) with the mental models (the assumptions people carry in their minds before interacting with a website) of the user.
Lack of An SEO Foundation
At some point, every business searches for its products or services within Google. If a solid SEO foundation was not built when your website was designed, you can expect to be disappointed with what you find. This lack of exposure in the search results usually causes the business owner to explore the benefits of SEO and find a top-rated SEO professional to help them get their website to the top of the search results.
Our most valuable tip is, if you want to do SEO in the future you will need to involve an SEO expert at the beginning of your design process, and have them work closely with your team throughout the process to ensure a solid SEO foundation is built for future strategies.
Have Thin or Generic Content
We believe that great content drives brand growth strategies, positions you as a leader in your industry, and is at the core of any great website.
If all you’re publishing are short articles that provide no additional information beyond what users can find on other websites, don’t expect your users to view you as a thought leader.
Questions To Ask Yourself About Your Website Content
- Did an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic write the article well?
- Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
- Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?
- Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic, or are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
- Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
Have Inconsistent Design
Google determined that it only takes about 50 milliseconds for users to judge your website and determine if they want to engage with your company or buy your products.
Drastically different layouts, colors, typography, icons, etc., between different pages can create a jarring, unsettling effect. Visual consistency, with familiar tones, color schemes, and visuals on every page, creates a sense of stability, reliability, and trust.
Have Poor Image Quality or Overuse
With more than 65% of the population identifying themselves as visual learners, image quality on a website can make or break a user’s experience when they get to your site. There are two major issues with poorly designed websites related to imagery: image type and image use.
Image Type
Eye-tracking studies have documented a dramatic gap in how users approach website images. Some types of pictures, including generic stock photography, are completely ignored. Other types of pictures, such as custom product photography and images of employees at your company, are treated as important content and add to a website’s visual value.
Image Use
Visual bloat continues to annoy users. Users prefer websites that utilize images to get them the information they want and not websites that use images just to use them. For example, in e-commerce, product photos help users understand products and differentiate between similar items. On personal websites, users want to see author photos and personal images.
Lack of a Publishing Schedule
There is not much more frustrating than going to a website or blog and seeing it has not been updated in months—or sometimes years. Print publications have used editorial calendars for many, many years to help them define and visualize their content plans. Bloggers can take note of this strategy, too.
There are many tools and WordPress plugins for creating a publishing schedule and editorial calendar – a few we use are listed below.
- Trello is a project management tool that provides a visual way of using a system of lists and cards to manage what’s being worked on, who’s working on it, and where something is in the process.
- CoSchedule is a WordPress editorial calendar that allows you to schedule your posts, social media, and team tasks.
- Google Sheets are easy to use and familiar to most people. This is probably the most customizable system.
A consistent publishing schedule is a good idea if you want to increase traffic to your blog and its reach within Google.
Bury Conversion Points
You have found the perfect service or product, and all you want to do is contact the company to get more information or buy it, yet you can’t find any forms or the Contact Us page. Below are a few stats about converting visitors:
- You have 8 seconds to make a compelling case for your product or service.
- Approximately 96% of visitors to your website are not ready to buy, so you need to help them decide by providing great educational content.
- Videos can increase purchases by 144%.
- A 1-second delay can result in a 7% reduction in conversions.
Having buttons or links to your Contact Us page – or better, having a form – on each page is key to capturing leads and helping users when they are ready to buy.
Lack of An Internal Link Strategy
Internal links have many benefits, some for SEO and some for UX. These benefits include allowing users to navigate a website contextually, establishing information hierarchy, and spreading link value around your website to help with rankings.
To create an internal link strategy
- Create a data dictionary of key topics related to your services or products.
- Use those topics when writing blog posts.
- Link those keywords to your key product or services.
Need Help?
If you need help fixing your poorly designed website or building a new website that users want to engage with, looks great on mobile devices, Google wants to rank, and drives sales and leads, feel free to contact our CEO/Founder directly.