4 Web Design Elements You Should Remove from Your Website Immediately

If you’ve got your business website up and running, and drawing in customers, congratulations! You’re ahead of the game.

But things change. They evolve – nowhere more so than the internet.

Which means that, after a few years, your website will probably need freshening up. Certain web design elements, which may have been helpful in the beginning, even essential, might’ve gotten stale with time.

Let’s take a closer look at 4 web design elements that have outlived their usefulness and should be changed out from your website.

 

1: The Homepage Slideshow

This element is known by several names – including image carousel and sliders – but no matter what you call it, if your website has a rotating slideshow on its homepage, it’s time to get rid of it.

Although it may have started as a trendy web design element, studies show that these slideshows simply don’t help with conversions. In fact, more often than not, they’re ignored by visitors. How often? A shockingly low 1% of visitors click on a homepage slideshow – and of those people, 84% only click on the first slide.

So, what went wrong? Why are homepage slideshows so ineffective?

For one thing, people tend to scan pages quickly for the information they’re looking for, rather than pausing to watch a slideshow play out. And slideshows are usually placed at the top of the page, which means they often resemble banner ads – giving visitors a big reason to ignore them.

What You Can Do Instead: Rather than scattering people’s attention with the multiple-choice options of a slideshow, focus on highlighting your most important or top-selling product – which, odds are, is the reason folks have come to your website in the first place.

 

2: Long Paragraphs

Depending on your business, you may have a lot of information to convey to your customers. But if you present it all in thick bricks of text, folks are going to tune out. In fact, there’s a popular rule-of-thumb that comes up a lot: “People don’t read websites. They scan them.”

There’s even a shorthand that’s become the modern equivalent of “Cliff’s Notes” – TL;DR. Which means: Too long; didn’t read.

What You Can Do Instead: Now, this isn’t to say that you can’t put all your company’s important information on your website. It just means you’ll want to be a bit strategic in how you present it. Try some tips like this:

• • Use bullet points to break up the text
  • Keep paragraphs short and punchy
  • Add images to help convey the point
  • Use headings to help organize your content into easy-to-digest bites

Using tips like these will help your visitors quickly find the information they’re looking for, and stay engaged with your content.

 

 

3: Social Media Icons in the Header

Social media icons are a great way to direct visitors to your business’s social media profiles. Maybe that’s why so many websites still place them up high, front and center, in the header of the homepage.

But this web design element has overstayed its welcome.

Why? By presenting a visitor with social media links right off the bat like that, you’re basically showing them the exit. They can follow the shiny, candy-colored icons right off of your site!

But you worked hard on your business website – and now that a potential customer has found it, you don’t want to send them off to a social media site. You want them to stick around and see what you have to offer.

What You Can Do Instead: Consider placing social media icons in the footer of the page.

Most people expect to find contact details down at the footer anyway, so placing your social media icons there will make them accessible without distracting users from your main content.

You can also add social media icons to your “Contact Us” page, and at the bottom of your blog posts, so readers can share your content.

 

4: Popups That Disrupt Your User Experience

Popups can be a useful tool for capturing email addresses or promoting special offers. But they can also be really annoying. In fact, popups are among the most hated forms of online advertising.

Another problem is when popups appear so quickly, they interrupt the visitor before the main page has even loaded. It might be a potential customer’s first time visiting your site, but before they even get the lay of the land, they’re fighting off popups.

It’s a highly intrusive web design element, disruptive to the user experience, and often frustrating. That can lead to high bounce rates as visitors run off to other sites that won’t drive them up the wall.

What You Can Do Instead: Focus on providing your visitors with something of value (like great content) before asking them for anything, like their email address.

And if you have to use a popup, try these tips to improve the experience:

• • Use only one popup at a time, so you don’t overwhelm your visitors.
  • Pick your timing wisely, only allowing a popup after your visitor has completed a task or had time to check out your content.
  • Use caution if you’re thinking of putting important information in a popup, since people tend to click out of them without reading.

 

Making Way for Fresh, New Web Design Elements

By removing these older, crustier web design elements, you can significantly improve the user experience for your visitors. Think of it as spring cleaning online. It shows your adaptability and dexterity as a business, ability to keep up with the times, and make key changes when you need to.

If you’re looking to improve your business site’s web design, Smart Link Solutions can help! We specialize in creating websites that are both visually appealing and user-friendly, helping local businesses like yours thrive online since 1994. We succeed when you succeed!

To learn more, call (866) 757 – 5100 or visit us at Smart Link Solutions!