17 Things That Drive Us Crazy About Your Website

In the fast and busy world of Internet traffic, there is no shortage of websites, which exist for a variety of purposes. Some are very useful and popular websites, receiving a high amount of traffic every day. Others have many annoying attributes that make visitors want to leave.

Do you want to develop a website that is an enjoyable experience for visitors, ensuring that they return again and again? This is much easier than it seems! Just make sure to avoid the twenty things that will transform your visitors into haters.

With a bewildering variety of devices in our possession, we now have the ability to access a vast array of information from work, home, the car, or a park bench. Often we find web pages that are so helpful and enjoyable that we will keep visiting. But just as often, we have an unpleasant experience such that we won’t return to that particular website again. Here are the top twenty things that people may hate about your website. Use this guide to help you create a site that your audience will love to visit.

COMMON WEBSITE PROBLEMS

1. You Don’t Use Social Media Icons

If you are sincere about connecting with your audience, do not neglect the power of social media. It is one of the best ways for your customers to let everyone else know how great you are. A few social media icons on your page will be familiar to your visitors and make it easy to share your website with their family and friends. If people love your site, you want them to be able to instantly share it with others.

Besides, linking to multiple social media platforms will improve your site’s SEO and page rankings.

At a minimum, all online business should include social media icons for:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Imgur
• Tumblr
• Google+
• Flickr

2. Videos That Burst Out of Nowhere

There’s nothing worse (well, not many things) than peacefully surfing the web only to be startled by the loud, intrusive sound of an instant-play video. Website visitors from all over the world are united in their dislike of this intrusive advertising technique, so much so that it is reported to be one of the most hated digital ad tactics.

3. Non-Functional Internal Links

Internal links (also known as crosslinks) exist within a web page to either keep visitors on the site or link to another useful website. These are very helpful for visitors who want to learn more about your product or to search for related topics. It’s very frustrating to click on a link just to find that it leads nowhere. Many visitors will simply give up and just leave the site altogether. Thus a simple matter of functionality can leave a lasting negative impression on your visitors.

Check any of your internal links to ensure that they open in a separate tab.  This way, customers can remain on your website even after clicking a link. They can then continue reading or looking at your website exactly where they left off.

I recommend using LinkWhisper for managing your internal links. Check out Link Whisper Reviews

4. Takes Too Long to Load

Internet users are not accustomed to waiting for anything. Most people are searching for instant gratification. If it takes longer than blinking three times, people will just lose interest. In fact, a study found that 40% of Internet users will leave the site if it takes longer than three seconds to load.

There are some things that you can’t control, such as a slow Internet connection. Otherwise, there is a number of steps you can take to get your site to load faster. It includes testing the site’s load time. This process can help you adjust any problems.

Once you have tested your load time, look for these problems, any of which may be causing your site to load too slowly:

• Are too many people trying to use the site at the same time? This will slow it down.
• Are you sharing server space? Sometimes if you are sharing space with a more active site, that will result in a slowdown. If possible, hire a private server space to make your site run more efficiently.

• The total number of the HTTP requests your site receives.

Also Read: How To Speed Up Your Blog

VISUAL PROBLEMS

Visual appeal (or the lack of it) is the first thing users will notice when they visit your page.  Take a few steps to make sure that your website is visually appealing enough for visitors to keep returning.

5. Over-Use of Stock Photos

It certainly makes it easier to download that cheap (or even free) stock photo image to use on your website. There’s nothing wrong with this practice if it’s used sparingly, but be careful about over-using it. While they may appeal to some of your visitors, a large proportion of people will disconnect from an over-abundance of stock photos, finding them generic and cliché. At worst, your website can end up with the exact same photo that tons of other websites are displaying, making your visual content appear unoriginal. To be visually appealing, a site needs unique content.

6. Animations That Distract

Animations are fun, but be careful of the effect that they are having on your website visitors. Sometimes animations can distract people from other components of your website that you really want them to see. Keep in mind that it takes just three seconds for a visitor to decide whether or not he or she wants to stay on your page. Animations that detract from your message could cause visitors to disappear. If you really want to use animations on your web page, make sure to learn how to do so effectively.

7. Too Many Pop Ups!

I guarantee that you will never find a person who says he or she likes pop-ups! Do whatever you can to remove them from the site. They are intrusive. Sometimes it’s even hard to close them!  They will also distract visitors from the main message or purpose of your website.

8. Waiting for Sliders to Load

Image sliders, done correctly, are a wonderful tool to make your website more visually appealing, but be careful.  If your site is 90% loaded but your visitors are still waiting for the slider image, they will quickly become bored and go somewhere else.

Also Read: Best Slider Plugins For Your Blog

CONTENT PROBLEMS

Here are some common problems that affect a website’s text content (also known as a copy).

9. Your Text is Crammed With Too Many Keywords

It used to be the case that search engines found web pages solely through the number of high-volume keywords in the text. But search engines have become much more intuitive and no longer need an abundance of keywords to find what someone is looking for. While it’s a good idea to include some keywords for SEO (search engine optimization) purposes, too many of them will actually make it difficult to read your website.

To avoid this, you can use LSI Keywords.

10. The About Us Page Lacks Clarity

Ideally, the about us page should precisely reflect the content that visitors will find on your website.  A clear and comprehensible about our page helps your visitors understand exactly what products and services you offer.

11. Calls to Action Do Not Match Offers

Any calls to action should clearly reflect actual offers and promotions. Your visitors will rapidly lose interest, and you will lose credibility if you tell them that you’re offering 20% and they then find out there is fine print or strings attached. This will affect your reputation and your number of page visits.

12. Misleading Headlines

Headlines are an important tool to engage the audience’s attention. But don’t succumb to the trap of becoming “clickbait:” writing headlines that do not match your website’s content.  It’s frustrating to visit a web page expecting to see information on a specific topic, only to find out that it isn’t there at all. Once they reach the website, they quickly realize the information they were looking for is not there and they will leave. They will also feel that they have been cheated and will lose trust in you.

13. Contact Forms

Basic contact information (email, phone number, etc.) is important for users to know how to contact you with questions. But occasionally websites make the mistake of including a contact form. This contains fields for website visitors to fill in with their contact information, which is then stored by the website. This method of connecting to visitors is unreliable. It can also make visitors feel unsafe. Many people do not want to give out personal information over the Internet.

14. Descriptions of What Your Company Does Are Unclear

This mistake is in the same genre as a confusing About Us page. Your website needs to know exactly what your company does in order to create feelings of trust in your audience. If it takes more than fifteen seconds for a visitor to learn about your company from the website, they will be very unlikely to return.

USER INTERFACE PROBLEMS

A website that is user-friendly and easy to use will be much more likely to keep visitors coming back.  A poorly-designed user interface will be frustrating and lead to very low numbers of page visits.

15. We Can’t Contact Customer Service

We have become accustomed to websites that provide instant connections with customer service agents, sometimes live. By the time a user needs to contact customer service, he or she is probably already feeling frustrated about something.  For that reason, it’s imperative that the online customer service system functions smoothly and offers quick assistance with problems. It can really anger customers if they are looking for help and can’t find it.

Also, make sure that any customer service contact information listed on your site is accurate and that it puts customers in touch with someone who can help them.

16. Not Mobile or Tablet Optimized

Nowadays, most people are using a variety of smaller devices (such as smartphones and tablets) to browse the Internet. But website developers have not kept up with this trend; many sites simply do not function on mobile phones or tablets. This has to do with the way the code is written on these websites. Some are coded or built in such a way that they cannot adjust to smaller screens. These websites may load only partially or not at all. To get the most of your website, make sure then it can function on each of the following devices:

• iPhones
• Tablets
• Android phones
• Laptops with small screens

To get the most visitors, make sure your site can be accessed using any kind of device.

Also Read: How To Make Your Website Mobile Friendly 

17. Poor Navigation Tools

Poor navigation within a website leads to confusion and frustration, as visitors find it difficult to locate what they are looking for. A functional and easy-to-use navigation bar will go a long way to helping guests find what they need quickly. You can phrase the navigation copy and analyze visitor’s flow to increase ease of use in your site. Proper navigation makes a big difference in user satisfaction, so take the time to design yours thoughtfully.

No matter what kind of website you have, your goal is to build a steady following of regular visitors. Small mistakes may seem trivial, but in fact, they can lead to a frustrating and unsatisfying user experience.  Avoiding these small mistakes can make a big difference to your traffic, online sales, and conversion rates.

Word travels quickly, especially on the Internet. If you have a great website, users will keep coming back and they will share it with others. However, the word may also travel if your website is fraught with problems.  If you put the time into creating a site, make sure you also take the time to make it an inviting place that people love to visit.