If you're having a hard time reaching customers through digital mediums, you may want to take a long, hard look at your website. A poorly designed or outdated website can quickly cause a would-be customer to close the window and take her business to a competitor who is more hip with the times.
In a recent Mashable piece, 12 successful entrepreneurs discussed which web design trends are well past their expiration dates. We've detailed a few examples below:
- Automated popups – Potential customers are visiting your website presumably because they are in interested in your product or service. Don't push them away by forcing them to read about your upcoming sale or watch a how-to video. This type of content has a place. If it's truly important, place it front and center on your homepage.
- Extraneous elements – Some small business owners – especially those who have had a lesson or two in HTML – can get a bit carried away when it comes to what should be on a page. There should always be a substantial reason why you add any feature to a page. If want to include something because it looks "cool" but does not offer value, you may want to skip it.
- Separate mobile sites – There are many people who spend more time looking at a smartphone or tablet than they do a desktop computer. Just because they're using a mobile device, however, doesn't mean that they don't want the same rich experience. Bare bones "m." subdomains are quickly being replaced with sites that offer a responsive design experience, meaning that they can adapt to whatever device that the viewer is using.
The digital marketing sphere is changing quickly. Small businesses that want to stay ahead of their competitors should consider partnering with KeyMedia Solutions.