What to avoid while designing website?

Being a freelance writer, I come across many clients who have websites but they often complain of not getting good quality sales leads from it. Upon evaluation I find that majority of them make similar mistakes and though they load their website with information, an innovative design that can distinguish the website from its competitors is missing.

Many people overlook the simplest requirement of placing the information intelligently on the site. Whether your business is a retail venture, manufacturing firm or a service provider’s firm, your website is the strongest marketing tool. A sound thought if conceived with astuteness, can shape a website nicely to encourage sales, strengthen relationship with customers and boost your branding efforts.

Here are 4 common pitfalls that you can pay attention to while getting your website designed:

One side communication: Most small business websites are made only to give information- like a corporate brochure website. There is no way for people to communicate online with the company and the social aspect of the site where people can give their views is not taken into consideration. If such is the case with your website, consider adding a comments page or a blogs section, this would allow visitors to share their views and ask questions.

Overlooking audience expectations: People make a mistake of designing the website for themselves. They forget that for designing, it doesn’t matter what you like, give importance to what your customers would like to see. You might be a rock star fan who likes to use dark colours but it wouldn’t suit your website if you are selling educational services. Every subject demands a complete attention while deciding on the design.

Assist customers find your site: Use the power of search engines to your benefit. Include a site map link on every page so that if users get lost while navigating, they can click the site map to find what they're looking for.

Build site optimization into the site design. Some businesses are only concerned about the artistic features of their site and later on discover that there is no traffic and hire someone to optimize the site. This issue can be resolved if a good quality web design agency is hired which works at the right optimization techniques from the beginning.