Is Your Digital Presence Helping or Hurting Your Brand Credibility?
Every day, we see organizations making mistakes on their websites that drive away users, erode engagement, and ultimately damage their brand. Here are the “dirty dozen” most common missteps we see — and tips for how to fix them.
1. Lagging Load Speed
Whether browsing on mobile, laptop, or alternate devices, users expect quick results when they visit a website — and so does Google. In fact, it’s one of their Core Vitals metrics affecting how sites rank on search results pages.
Unsure of how your site speed measures up? Find out using a free online tool like Google PageSpeed Insights or Semrush.
Don’t violate the 3-second rule: 40% of users will leave your site if it takes >3 seconds to load.
2. Confusing Navigation
Using internal jargon and overly broad or ambiguous terms to name the sections of a website is a common mistake and a big turnoff to users. For example, a section labeled “Solutions” could lead to product/service offerings, a customer service center, or something else entirely. And “Innovations” could refer to research, thought leadership assets, or organizational news.
Likewise, stuffing menu categories with too many unnecessary layers of sub-pages leads to complicated and painfully drawn out user experiences.
Rule of Thumb: Your main navigation menu should have no more than 5-7 items with sub-pages logically organized into drop-downs or megamenus.
The bottom line? If users have to struggle to understand what you’re saying or find what they’re looking for, they’ll give up and jump to a competitor site in quick order. If you’re struggling to determine how you can add more clarity to your naming conventions or navigation structure, usability testing and audience research can help.
3. Low-Quality Content
Your website and related digital properties are no longer one-way information streams for visitors. In addition to assisting users with conducting on-site searches, navigating pages, and engaging with content, AI tools and virtual assistants make meaningful interactions and conversations possible in any digital experience.
4. Value Propositions That Are Missing — or Simply Miss the Mark
If users don’t understand within a matter of seconds who you are, what you do, and how you differ from peers and competitors in your space, they’ll bounce from your site. Important: Use prime real estate space near the top of your homepage to establish these important differentiators — and back up your claims with social proof like customer reviews and testimonials to cultivate trust in your brand.
5. Inconsistent Branding
When the design, logo, and messaging found on an organization’s website don’t align with their brick-and-mortar presence, social media platforms, digital marketing channels, and other properties within the same brand family, users may experience doubt and confusion about their values, mission, and offerings.
Our advice? Think about branding as it applies to your entire organizational ecosystem — and prioritize creating a cohesive experience that spans everything from your name and wordmark to your messaging, voice, color palette, typography, imagery, and more. (Note: Brand and messaging style guides can help!)
6. Uninspired Visuals (or Just Plain Clutter)
On one hand, walls of long-form text with minimal images, videos, or white space make a site boring and unappealing. On the other hand, too many graphics, fussy layouts, and excessive pop-ups create a frenzied visual experience. The solution: Seek a balance of compelling imagery, video, and other graphic elements that support your copy, being careful to avoid using too many stock photos, which often feel dated, generic, and inauthentic.
7. Excessive Broken Links & 404 Errors
If users keep running into dead ends, they’ll think your site isn’t well-maintained — a poor reflection on your organization and brand. Audit your site regularly to fix these issues using a free online tool like Dead Link Checker, Broken Link Checker (by Ahrefs), or Dr. Link Check.
8. Missing Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificate
We’ve all clicked a website link and received the warning shown below telling us the site we’re visiting does not have a private or secure connection. If your site doesn’t present as a safe destination (indicated by “https” instead of “http” in the URL), users and search engines will distrust it (with good reason). Most web hosting services provide SSL certificates, either for free or as a paid add-on. Make sure you get one and renew it annually.
9. Ignoring SEO Best Practices
If your site isn’t ranking highly on search engines because you’re not up to speed on optimization optimization strategies — especially in light of ever-evolving AI capabilities — you’re missing out on traffic (and future brand loyalists). In fact, you may as well be redirecting users from your homepage to your competitors’.
10. Accessibility Infractions
Digital experiences that aren’t accessible to people with disabilities (e.g., missing alt text for images, insufficient visual contrast and font sizes, poor keyboard navigation, and more) are not only alienating audiences; they’re breaking the law. WCAG/ADA compliance should be a top priority for every website owner, designer, developer, and manager.
11. Unclear, Ineffective, or Missing Calls to Action (CTAs)
If users can’t easily understand the next “right step” to take — whether that’s submitting an application, scheduling an appointment, contacting a representative, or something else — they won’t spend any measurable amount of time trying to figure it out. They’ll simply take their business and their loyalty elsewhere.
Make sure that CTAs are thoughtfully placed in areas where they support the content of each page. And instead of vague language, such as “Learn More” or “Explore More,” try more specific directives like “Read the Article,” “Download the Report,” “Apply Now,” etc.
12. Overlooking Analytics & User Feedback
Organizations that don’t track their site’s performance (via tools like Google Analytics) or address customer complaints about usability issues miss out on easy wins in building return traffic and increasing brand loyalty.
How We Can Help
Need help creating a clean, fast, mobile-friendly website with clear messaging, engaging visuals, and strong security that keeps users happy and reinforces your brand? Let’s work together — reach out today.
