So – you designed your own website and you don’t want it to look DIY. Cool, cool, cool. Here are 3 mistakes to check for…

You left out your name

You know what’s super annoying? Scanning through a whole page looking for somebody’s actual name.

People make this mistake all the time! Go check your website right now and make sure your full name is on your home page! If your name is not in your logo, just lead with your name right in the main hero section of your website, like this:

‘Hi I’m Carissa and I help entrepreneurs uplevel their websites’

So that’s number one. Don’t leave out your name.

You used nested menus

So what I mean by nested menus, is basically a new list of choices that pops up when you hover over one of the menu options.

For example, when you click or hover over SERVICES, and then a whole new list of options falls down, and you have to decide within those options where you really wanted to go.

The problem is – there’s no context around this new list of options. I clicked services because I wanted to find out more about your services. Now I’m left guessing which of the new options to go to. I have to decide which one I care about without having any idea what they all mean.

Plus it’s an extra click and it’s probably just going to make me leave.

You included too many options for where to go next

The third mistake that you need to stop making on your on your homepage is that you’re giving too many options for the next place to go. Here’s what it usually looks like.

I scroll down your home page a little ways, and I see a bunch of blog posts I could click away to. Then I see your Instagram feed, which often takes me right off your site if I click there. Next, I see a freebie I could sign up for. It starts to feel kind of random and confusing.

You need to have a goal for your website, and you need to make it super clear what the next step is for your visitor to take.

If your goal is to sign more people up on your email list, then be super clear about directing people to sign up for your freebie. But if your main goal is to book clients, then you need to direct people visit your services page.

So if you want your website to look less ‘DIY’, these are the three mistakes stop making: stop leaving your name off your home page, stop using those annoying nested menus, and stop giving me way too many choices of places to go… because I’m going to get lost and confused!

Not sure which website style will reflect your vibe, personality and values? Take the quiz to find out!