Did you know, on average, visitors will only spend up to 15 seconds on your website?

That’s how long you have to capture their attention.

So, if you don’t generate interest within those 15 seconds, then you probably won’t at all and they’ll head over to your competitors instead.

Now, this can be very frustrating. Especially when you’ve written some really good copy, used polished images and have a great design overall.

So, why is it that very few of those visitors convert into leads?

Well, there are many mistakes you can make that pushes visitors to leave your website almost immediately. If you’re having trouble getting visitors to stick around, it could be because of these 5 reasons… 

Your Website Takes Too Long to Load

To get your visitors to steer clear of the back button is by not making them wait.

Unfortunately, websites that take too long to load pushes visitors away.

With technology constantly evolving, 5G internet and more, this new digital age means visitors want access to information right now. They don’t have the time or are not willing to wait for your website, if they can get the same information elsewhere.

Research reveals that consumers expect a web page to load within 2 seconds or less. In fact, 40% of people will leave a website if it takes over 3 seconds to load.

With that in mind, minimise the code running on your site as this can help to reduce loading times. Also, avoid using large image files as this will take your site longer to load.

Lastly, consider your web host: if you’re serving a lot of traffic, then you may well need to invest into something that can deliver your pages in a timely manner.

Your Website is Hard to Navigate

How many clicks does it take before you lose a visitor?

3 clicks. That’s all.

Consequently, if your website is hard to navigate and has been structured poorly, users are not going to find what they’re looking for. As a result, they’ll be frustrated, give up and go somewhere else.

To avoid this from happening, you need to really understand what your visitors are most likely looking to access: one of the first elements of good user design is access and availability.

When designing your website, make sure there is a clear path that takes your visitors directly to the information they’re after: this path needs to be easy to understand, quick and useful during their experience.

Moreover, having a clear call-to-action can inform visitors what they need to do next: are they supposed to sign up for a newsletter, fill in contact details or make a purchase?

A good way to do this is by asking someone new to review your site and ask them what they think they’re supposed to do, and then you can make changes accordingly.

Your Website is not Mobile Friendly

It’s safe to say: a lot of people now access the internet on their mobile devices.

And, if your website doesn’t function properly on mobiles or tablets, it will put your audience off and they’ll be quick to hit that back button within seconds.

Sometimes, bigger companies that have the resources available will create a new, mobile friendly version of their websites, but this is not feasible for most small businesses.

Instead, implementing a responsive web design makes far more sense for small business owners, as this ensures content is displayed differently depending on the size of the screen.

Luckily, you can check if your design is suitable for mobile devices by checking it with Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.

Your Website has too Many Pop-ups

To be frank, pop-ups are annoying. Yes they can increase conversions, but generally they disrupt the visitors’ experience and distract them from the content they were consuming.

Honestly, you shouldn’t interrupt what your visitor is doing just to ask them to complete a survey. Rather, wait until the user is approaching the end of their visit, because pop-ups that appear before the visitor has had a browse around will put them off and make them leave.

However, those pop-ups that prove to have a positive impact should have the option to be easily dismissed by the visitor (like a little cross in the corner).

Audio or Video Content Auto-plays

If someone is browsing on the internet whilst in the office, they don’t want music to start blasting all of a sudden.

And if audio or video content is to automatically play and the visitor can’t turn it off quickly, then they’ll just leave the site altogether.

In addition, content that automatically plays will make your site’s loading time a lot longer. For instance, if they land on a page and a video starts to buffer, it’ll be enough to put your visitors off completely and head to your competitors.

For this reason, it’s better to make the content available and give visitors the option to consume it as they wish.

Concluding Thoughts

Above all, your website should be designed with your target audience at mind so give them exactly what they are expecting.

Ultimately, conversion rates rely on user experience: a bad experience and they’re not going to stick around long enough to convert.

So, always design a website from your visitors point of view, focusing on increasing loading speeds, providing a clear navigation and avoiding misusing pop-ups. The more you give your visitors a good experience, the happier they will be which means more sales for you!

In the meantime, check our Web Design services here.