We’re so focused on our business and what we want to achieve that sometimes it’s easy to forget about the person viewing our website.

We see business owners and personal brands do the following five things all the time. But you could be harming your website conversion, SEO and user experience.

1. Your About Page is Just About You

I get it. About pages are meant to be about you, right?

Wrong, but I’ll be the first to admit that our about page was all about us at one point.

I’m not saying it shouldn’t include anything about you, of course it should! But I am saying that it shouldn’t just be about you.

Your about page should discuss your target audience’s pain points. What issues are they facing in their lives and how can your product or service help?

It’s also an opportunity for you to reaffirm to your audience that they’re in the right place. This makes them feel like your website is for them. On our about page we say the following…

“If you’re looking for a web agency that ‘gets’ your business, who aren’t afraid to say what works and what doesn’t, then you’re in the right place.”

Why you should shift the focus of your about page onto your reader

Your about page is a popular page on your website, and it should be used as an opportunity to connect with your reader and build trust.

Quite frankly, most people don’t care where you went to university or about your philosophy on life. They care about solving their issues.

If it helps, when you come to write or rewrite your about page, at the top of the page don’t put ‘About’, instead put ‘About how I can help you’. This will reframe your mind when you come to write your about page.

Finally, I’m not saying you shouldn’t talk about your journey or why it is you do what you do. This can help build authenticity and trust too.

2. You Offer a ‘Newsletter’

‘Sign up to my email to receive my monthly newsletter!’

I hate to say it to you, but no one cares about your newsletter. The reason I’ve included this is because it’s about you and your newsletter. But when have you ever received an email and thought, ‘Ooooh, a newsletter from B&Q, I must pop the kettle on for this.’ I’m going to guess never!

What’s the big deal? Why shouldn’t you offer a newsletter?

Ultimately, you need to give your end user something more than just ‘sign up to my newsletter’. You need to make it worth the exchange.

If you give something in exchange for someone’s email address you’re going to increase your email subscribers. You’ll also build trust and position yourself as an authority.

You could give away a free guide, email challenge, video series etc.

3. Using silly names for normal stuff

It’s not a blog, it’s a ‘Growth Zone’. It’s not a ‘Buy Now’ button, it’s an ‘Invest in Me and Grow’ button. It’s not an ‘About’ page it’s a ‘My Journey’ page.

You get the picture.

We want to be different and quirky, however, sometimes this can get in the way of your website success.

Replacing standard words and phrases with something more creative risks confusing your audience.

Instead, stick to common words/phrases, such as…

Home
About
Blog
Buy Now

The same goes for the services you offer. Be clear about what services you provide and get your audience to the right page and fast. If you offer copywriting as a service, then say it. Don’t call it ‘The Wondrous Wordsmith Package’.

Why Can’t You Have Fun or Creative Names?

Are we not being a bit harsh here? Is it not more fun and creative to have your own way of saying things?

Well, yes it is. But with web design (and technology in general) people want what they want and fast.

By using non-standard names, your audience may need to take an extra few seconds to deconstruct what you’re saying. Those extra few seconds can make the difference between progressing to the next page or hitting the backspace button.

You’ll also want to consider SEO. I mentioned before about making it clear what services you offer. Someone may type ‘business copywriter’ into Google. They would definitely not type ‘The Wondrous Wordsmith Package’.

Now I’m not saying don’t ever be creative. There are ways you can balance it. If you want to call your service something quirky, make sure you put a word in there that makes it obvious what it is.

To summarise, just remember, it’s not about you it’s about your customers.

4. You Care More About How it Looks than User Experience

Your website is not a painting to be looked at and admired. It is a vehicle that should drive your audience to do something.

I get it, you want a beautiful website to show everyone, but don’t forget about your end-user too. Web design is about balance. Often, you’ll have to balance design with SEO and user experience.

Just look at one of the most successful websites in the world, Amazon. Quite frankly, it’s bloody ugly. But it works.

Does that mean you can’t have a beautiful website?

Of course it doesn’t. I’m not saying you should design an ugly website. Far from it. But think about how to direct your audience to where you want them to go.

Look at Apple’s website, it’s both beautiful and easy to navigate with clear headings and call to actions.

I don’t care what industry you’re in, even if it’s one where aesthetics are super-important like high-fashion, art or photography, if your user can’t navigate your site it will fail.

5. You Try to Please Everyone

I get it. No one wants to offend. Most of us like being liked, and we certainly don’t want to be hated.

But in an effort to avoid the haters, we risk sitting on the fence and not making it clear what our opinion is. We can sometimes let our ego get in the way, and it can make us sound boring or unmemorable.

You may do this out of fear of being disliked but remember, you know your business inside-out. You live and breathe it every day, and you’ll probably know more than your customers too.

Don’t shy away from saying how you feel and even disagreeing with others.

Why do you have to have an opinion?

As well as differentiating yourself and making yourself memorable, having an opinion helps build a loyal following.

It should strengthen your connection with your target audience. Yes, it may polarise and some people might not like it. But those people aren’t your customers anyways, so why would you care?

Finally, I’m not saying you should be purposefully controversial just for the sake of it. Just don’t be afraid of stating how you feel.

Conclusion

There you have it. Five ways your ego could turn off your website visitors. Can you think of any others? Are you guilty of any of these? I’d love to know! Just comment in the comments below…

Lyndsay Cambridge

Owner at Jammy Digital, Digital Marketing Specialist and Writer of Young-Adult Fiction.

jammydigital.com

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