9 Mistakes to avoid when building a website

Building a website is an important and significant step for any business. Whether you plan to create a personal blog, eshop or a business representative website, there are a number of technical aspects to consider. In this article, we will discuss the main mistakes to avoid when developing websites to make your online project a success. We will share practical tips to help you avoid common mistakes.

1. Website is not mobile-friendly

One of the most common mistakes in web development is the lack of adaptive design. With 96.2% of all internet users browsing on mobile devices, it is essential to optimise your website for mobile devices. Missing this important step can lead to an increase in bounce rate and a decrease in organic traffic.

Google search prioritises mobile-friendly websites. So without an adaptive design, you could hurt your SEO results.
Websites that do not adapt to mobile screens are negatively perceived by users as they are awkward to navigate and navigate.

2. Slow page-speed

Vartotojų kantrybė internete yra ypač trumpa. Jeigu Jūsų svetainė pasižymi ilgu krovimo greičiu - vartotojai paliks Jūsų svetainė, net nesužinoję, ką Jūs siūlote. A slow website is not only frustrating for users, but it also hurts SEO results, i.e. Google prefers fast-loading websites.

Users expect website pages to load in less than 3 seconds. Longer loading times will increase the bounce rate.
Slow websites rank low in search results, which means less organic traffic.

To reduce the loading speed of your website, reduce the size of image files, website code. Tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights will point you to areas of the website where you can improve performance.

3. Cluttered design and poor site navigation

A website that is visually cluttered or uncomfortable to navigate will discourage visitors from continuing to browse. Simplicity and intuitive navigation are key factors in retaining users on your website. Too many graphic elements, eye-catching colours, too many colour choices or too much functionality can prevent users from finding what they are looking for.

Cluttered design is distracting and frustrating for users.
Poor site navigation reduces the likelihood of users browsing your site and increases the number of users leaving your site.

Keep your website design simple and clear, use your brand colours, and don't clutter your website with excessive functionality and graphic elements. Ensure easy navigation between the site's menu section, the blog and the homepage.

4. Lack of clear CTA

Unless a clear call-to-action is presented to visitors, they will not know what action to take next. If they don't find a button to register, consult, buy or whatever, there is a good chance they will leave your website. Clear CTAs guide users to the next step.

Without a clear CTA, visitors will leave your website without taking the action you want them to take.
Poor or no CTA leads to unhappy users and missed opportunities.

Include clear guidelines for the CTA. Put them in clear places on the website so they are clearly visible and understandable.

5. Not optimising for SEO

Developing a website without considering search engine optimisation (SEO) is like building a house without a door - users won't find your website. SEO optimisation is essential to grow organic traffic to your website and be visible in search results.

A website without SEO optimisation will not rank in Google results, making it harder for potential users to find you.
SEO optimisation not only affects search results, but also the overall user experience - site speed, navigation and more.

Conduct keyword analysis, create useful and engaging content, review the technical aspects of website SEO (meta titles and headings, image formats, alternative texts, etc.)

6. Lack of website protection

A website must comply with certain security requirements to protect against cyber-attacks, hacking or data loss.

An unprotected website can be an easy target for hacking, viruses and cyber-attacks.
Google applies penalties to websites that do not use the HTTPS protocol, which also affects SEO results and user confidence.

Make sure your website has SSL encryption (HTTPS) to ensure data security. Regularly update your existing content management system, integrations and other site management and security tools to protect your site from potential threats. It is also worth considering hosting with certain security features.

7. Weak content

When focusing solely on the technical aspects of a website, it is particularly easy to overlook the importance of content. The content you create must not only be search engine friendly, but also provide relevant information to the users themselves.

From both a user and a search engine perspective, poor content reduces visitor engagement and undermines the credibility of a website.
Content that does not provide information or answers to users' questions does not rank high in Google search results.

Strive to provide quality and relevant content to users. Create a blog section and regularly post posts related to your activities, making sure the content is easy to understand and read. This is important for both users and SEO results, as Google tends to favour websites with regularly updated content.

8. Launching a website without testing

One of the key steps that should not be missed is website testing. Broken pages, grammatical errors, broken links and functionality errors can immediately damage the user experience.

Launching a website with technical errors can make the site look unprofessional from the users' perspective.
Broken links and 404 error pages hurt SEO results.

Before launching your website, carry out a full site audit. Test whether all pages are generating 200 code, whether all buttons are leading to the right pages, and more. It is recommended that the website is tested by someone who has not run the website. This can give you valuable insights into the performance and functionality of the site.

9. Ignoring analytics

Most businesses do not have analytics tools in place when they launch a website, so they cannot monitor performance and identify opportunities for improvement.

Without analytics tools, you won't know where changes and improvements are needed. Analytics also tells you how users interact with your website, how long they spend on it, etc.

Connect Google Analytics or a similar analytics tool to your website and use it to track user behaviour, where traffic is coming from and other valuable data. Regularly analyse this data to make effective decisions to improve your website and improve performance.

Conclusion

By taking these common mistakes into account, you can ensure that your website is not only visually appealing, but also functional and safe to navigate.

Every step - from designing for mobile to integrating analytics tools - contributes to a better user experience, higher SEO results and increased website performance.

We advise web development leave to us. That way, you'll have peace of mind not only about the design, but also about all the technical aspects of your website. We'll take care of your website's loading speed, optimised design for mobile devices and all the other important aspects of your website!