In a world where a company’s website is so important for getting and maintaining customers, professional web design is a must. In fact, your web design mistakes may actually be driving people away. If your website is guilty of one or more of the following, it’s time to make a change.

Lack of Mobile Responsiveness

With tablets and cell phones becoming increasingly dominant in the marketplace, lack of mobile responsiveness is one of the biggest web design mistakes you can make. Customers using them will leave your site immediately if it does not display properly on their device. For companies in niches where knowledge of the latest technology and trends is critical, you’ll also run the risk of damaging your credibility.

Too Many Different Colors, Styles, or Fonts

If you want customers to keep reading and looking at your website, it must be easy on the eyes. Making good use of white space is important. Avoid using too many colors or having color everywhere. Using too many formatting styles and fonts creates a cluttered and inconsistent look. Good use of color and style not only gives your site a more cohesive and professional look but it also helps with consistent branding.

Lack of Customer Engagement

All the persuasive sales copy in the world won’t do any good if customers can’t figure out how to contact you. If they have to search all over your site for a quote or a contact form or even your phone number, they probably won’t search for long. Contact information should be obvious, readily accessible, and easy to read.

Make it easy for your customers to engage with your company via social media. Links to your social media accounts should appear on your website, and social share buttons are a must for blog posts. If you already have loads of happy customers, they’ll likely do some advertising for you without you even asking. If they can’t easily express their appreciation for your firm on Facebook or retweet your latest blog post, you’ll be missing out on new opportunities.

Navigational Problems and Cluttered Pages

These are two major web design mistakes that together often make for a poor user experience. Too much clicking, links that don’t work, navigation that doesn’t make sense, and pages that load slowly are your enemies. All will make visitors leave your site quickly. Too many pop ups, ads, animations, and auto-play videos compete for customers’ attention when they should be paying attention to your message. When visitors have to wade through them to find the information they really want, they’ll probably just leave. These features also contribute to slowly loading pages, so using them incorrectly or unecessarily will double the negative impact.

Not Paying Attention to SEO

Traffic is the lifeblood of any website, so search engine optimization (SEO) is extremely important. Having bad SEO (or ignoring it completely) means you are literally making it harder for customers to find you, and no business wants that.

RELATED: How Content Marketing Helps SEO

Not Using Analytics and Testing

If the purpose of your company’s website is to bring in customers and generate sales, analytics and testing will let you know what’s working and what isn’t. Not using them means you’re probably wasting time and money on something that’s less effective than it should be.

Avoiding these web design mistakes takes time and effort and can be tedious or difficult for business owners. Rather than trying to do everything yourself, hiring a professional can help ensure that your website is sending the right message and that your customers have the kind of experience that will keep them coming back.