9 most common website mistakes creatives make

Are you struggling to get online sales for your craft or design business. Your website is so important for presenting yourself professionally, for getting interest which then leads to sales and commissions.

But do you know what’s stopping your website visitors buying from you online? Anne-Marie Shepherd, The Design Trust Business Club & Social Media Manager regularly works with our online course clients to review their websites. She often sees the same website mistakes being made. In this detailed post, she shares the 9 most common website mistakes creatives make and how you can fix them.

1. Is your homepage super clear about what you do? 

I regularly land on a home page and get confused about what’s on offer. What’s this creative business offering? Who is this aimed at?

Your home page is the front door to your online shop, it’s that crucial ‘first impression’ and it really needs to grab your visitor’s attention immediately. You have 10 seconds to impress them and try and keep them on your website!

Often a homepage is just too distracting; it has too many images, or way too many words, or a broad variety and style of work being shown, or lots of headers to look at, or too many categories to click on. It’s vital that your homepage is clean and clear and lets visitors know what you are about – with your images and your text (strapline)

Did you know that the average website visitor leaves a website within 7 seconds?

Your website visitors are asking themselves (often unconsciously!) the question: “Is this for me?” and if they don’t feel it is, then they will quickly move on.  Focus your brand message and what you want to be known for with a few well-selected words and high-quality images, so as not to confuse your visitors or lose their attention.

Take action

Make it super clear on your home page what you do and for whom – with strong, generous and professional images and concise text.

Dare to position yourself more clearly with what you do, and share what’s important to you and your values. Attracting YOUR ideal clients, and putting the wrong people off is a good thing! If you are too many different things to too many different people then you will confuse your audience.

Select one big hero image, or a scroll of images. Add a short, impactful tag line to let your website visitors know what you are about to entice them to stick around and explore your website more.

2. Is your website really easy to navigate?

When we ask our workshop clients the question “What makes a good website?”, one of the most common answers is “That’s it’s easy to find your way around”.

No clear menu or headers and confusing categories on websites are really annoying and make visitors leave.

It’s vital that your website has strong headers or an easy-to-navigate menu that’s accessible on any page. With a one-click way back to the home page from any page (this usually involves clicking on your logo or name header). A call-to-action on every page to buy, get more details, or to sign up for your newsletter also helps users navigate their way around.

Remember, the fewer times that a user has to click, the better your website is in terms of ease of use.

How easy is it for a website visitor to find specific products on your site? How many clicks does it take from your homepage for someone to actually buy from you?

Take action

You might want to do a 30min experiment to see how easy your website is to navigate. You can either do this yourself and pretend that you are a first-time visitor to your own website, or ask 2-3 people to use your site and observe how they get on (you might get some interesting insights that way!):

• Look at the main menu and headers on your website. Are they easy to see? Is it easy for visitors to find your shop page, commissions page, ‘about’ and ‘contact’ page?
• Are you using the right language for your categories? If you are selling very high-end craft pieces then naming the category ‘gallery’ might be better than describing it as ‘store’ or ‘shop’.
• Can you minimise your shop categories to a maximum of 5 or 6 ? Lots and lots of categories can cause confusion, plus viewing long menus on a mobile phone makes it cluttered.
• Are your categories in a clear order of importance? Where do you want visitors to go to first? Most people in the west read from left to right, so put your ‘shop’ and other key categories on the left, and ‘contact’ or ‘about’ towards the right. Can you put categories such as ‘terms & conditions’ or your privacy policy (a legal requirement by the way!) in a footer rather than in the top banner?
• If you have got different client types (e.g. individuals, workshops, trade) or styles (e.g. bohemian and classic) then make these headers clear too so that visitors know where to go immediately.
• Don’t just give the option to view your collections by their collection name, but also make it possible for your potential clients to see all the product types together e.g. necklaces, earrings, rings. This is especially important if your collection names don’t give clues as to what potential shoppers can expect.
• Is your shopping process from product page to checkout page clear?

3. Is your photography professional?

I cannot stress enough the importance of quality images on your website.

Not only your hero images on your home page but every single image; from product photos to a portrait of you!

Your product photos are what will really sell your creative products.

So your images and videos need to be really professional. One product photo is not enough.

Your photography needs to be the ‘eyes’ for your potential client, so that they can see your product from all angles (literally and figuratively).

Have at least 4-6 product images, showing:

• The front: to show the shape or overall picture.
• The inside: to show detail, the colour or inside of a bag.
• Underneath or the back: to show your craftsmanship and eye for detail.
• Close ups to show textures, the thickness of your glazes, the detail in your stitches, the quality of the paper you print on.
• Lifestyle images to emotionally connect with your ideal clients and to inspire them and sell them a dream. Create aspirational photography that they are used to from their favourite interior design or fashion magazines and blogs.
• Show your work ‘at work’: Show your painting hanging in a living room above the sofa, someone wearing your beautiful earrings, your tableware on a stylishly laid table ready to be used. This also shows the context and size of your work.
• Have you included some portraits of you? Your website visitors love to see you face, to know the person behind the brand. They also love behind-the-scenes images of your workspace, surroundings and your creative process too.
• Do you show other products within the same collection? Showing more than one product from a collection, encourages upselling and the collecting of your work. Show a necklace and earrings being worn together. Doing this also shows the variety of work you make, at different price levels and the different sizes.

Use your images to show your ideal clients what they can do with your products. How your products can enhance their lives. Sell a feeling.

Make sure your images are as large as they can be, especially on your home page. Be generous and show off the quality of your work. All your images need to be super sharp. I can’t believe how many poor quality and blurred images I still see on people’s websites. It’s very off putting.

Take action

Make some time to do a photography review of your website:

• Does your homepage have the wow factor?
• Are your images as professional as they can be? Are they in focus, clear, and do they highlight your products? Is it clear from your images what you are actually offering?
• Are your images giving enough detail about your products and showing what customers can do with them? Do they inspire your website visitors to buy from you?

Do a photography review once or twice a year. Make a list of images that you need. Either work on improving your own photography or work with a professional photographer.

Professional photography is one of the best investments you can make in your creative business.

It will pay for itself really quickly.

Sub standard photography is one of the biggest website mistakes creatives make, and most likely the reason why they don’t sell well online. Your images have to show you and your work at its best.

4. Is it easy to buy from you online?

I often see creative websites where I don’t know how I can shop!

Very often creative business owners assume that potential clients will get in touch if they are interested. However, most website visitors won’t because they can’t be bothered, they aren’t yet convinced that they want your product, or they are shy or even a little scared. If you don’t make it convenient for them to buy, they will go elsewhere.

Some creatives try to sell work that’s actually not that easy to buy online. It’s obvious that if you want to sell highly unique pieces or expensive work that you will need to work a little harder to show your profile and credibility to your clients. It’s much more likely that your website visitor already knows you or has seen your work at a craft event or trade show, or in a magazine before they will buy online. You will need to show that you are ‘worth’ the investment. Show your reputation with events, awards or press coverage. And show how you will post very delicate or expensive work to them safely.

Maybe less obvious is the problem with selling rings. Do you show how people can measure their ring size? Because if you don’t make it obvious and easy for your potential client to do so, it’s likely they’ll walk away.

Another very common mistake creatives make is trying to sell individual cards online. These can sell really well at events, but selling cards online is simply too cumbersome for you and for your client! Customers have to spend time to find the right card, order, pay relatively a lot in postage, and then have to wait for a few days until they get it. It’s easier for them to go to a shop! Also, are you making any money from selling one card? By the time you have packed it and been to the Post Ofice, your profits are gone! Instead, offer packs of postcards, combine various designs or create a theme, and turn them into a gift pack.

Did you know that not including the postage and packaging is one of the main reasons your potential client will abandon their cart? Although it’s not always financially possible, do try to include the UK postage within your prices as people don’t like nasty surprises when they get to check out. A good solution is to have a minimum order (e.g. £30) to qualify for free UK P&P. Promote this clearly on your website to encourage your visitors to spend a bit more.

You really do need to make it as easy as possible for people to buy from your website. Convenience is king!

Take action

Are you assuming that your visitors will get in touch with you? Be very careful with that as it might cost you online sales or commissions. Can you turn (part of) your website into an e-commerce site where it becomes much easier to buy from you online?

Do you make it super clear how people can get in touch with you? Do you offer phone and email contact options, and do you let people know that they can see you at events too?

Do you make suggestions about other related products? This is a really useful feature on most websites that can help your clients to look for similar or additional products.

Do you let your website visitors know that they can get in touch if they would like to have items personalised or that you can offer products in different colours or sizes? That you do commissions? Many of your website visitors might not know that this is an option, so you will need to explain to them on relevant product pages that you are open to commissions and personalisation. Include a clickable link to your email so that they can get in touch easily.

Do your images and text give all the details and answers to your website visitor’s questions? What are they expecting to see and learn about you and your work on your website before they will purchase? The more you know who your ideal clients are and what your niche is, the easier it is to give them the answers they are looking for.

Do you share images of your packaging to show that you are super careful when sending your delicate work or to show how beautiful the gift will be?

What do you think is stopping your ideal clients buying from you online? Do you know who your ideal clients are? And what they are really looking for?

How can you improve your profile, credibility and trust online to increase your chances of online sales? Make a clear list of issues and improvements and work on fixing them.

5. Do you give enough product detail?

This is another common website mistake creative business owners make!

Product descriptions that are often very short, too formal and mostly factual.

Your potential clients need much more detail. They want an emotional connection to your products. They need to warm to you and your work.

Start with the product title: Does it really sum up the product you are selling? Is there any emotion behind it? What makes your product different? Naming your collections and products is really important for positioning them and for building a connection with your ideal client. Product titles with the right keywords are also crucial to get found, especially on popular marketplaces like Etsy. 

Buying creative products is very personal.

Online purchases are often a gift – for somebody else or for the buyer themself.

Really connect with the emotion behind your creative work.

In your product description introduce your product properly, and focus on the key words: What is it? What can I see? What are the colours? Who is it for? When or where would you use it?

But go beyond the facts! Use more emotional and descriptive words to describe your product so that your website visitor connects more with it, and so they can imagine how it would look on them or in their house. Help them to buy for themselves or as a special gift for someone else.

Take action

Imagine that you are in front of a potential client. What would you tell them about this product that they are showing interest in? What is special about it? Why did you create it? What can it be used for? Is it a great wedding gift, or somethig for a garden lover, or a beautiful Valentine’s Day gift? What questions do you think they have about you and this product before they will buy it? Share all that in your product description, and it’s very likely that your online sales will go up.

If you are struggling to write, then I recommend that you record yourself talking about your products and then transcribe it and edit it down. There are loads of free apps available to do this. This little trick can really help to make your product descriptions friendlier and more unique.

Aim to include at least 200 words per product description as this will also help with improving your website ranking on Google too.

6. Do you offer clear callS-to-action?

Imagine you walk into a shop. The products are displayed nicely and they look good. You are interested. Then you look around.

There’s no staff.

You have a question, but who can you ask?

You can’t see the till.

You have something you want to buy, but there’s no checkout.

So you leave.

This is exactly what happens on websites when you don’t put clear pathways and calls-to-action on them. Often, I go to a website homepage, like the look of it, but then simply don’t know what to do next.  There are no clear instructions.

Your website can look amazing, but if you’re not making it easy for people to navigate around and engage with you, they won’t hang around, and they won’t come back!

Take action

You will need to guide your visitors and show them what the next step is. Make it easy for them to stay longer on your website to browse and to shop, and make it easy to contact you and stay in touch.

Here are some simple, yet vital call-to-action to include as headers on your website:

• Shop: This is the most direct way to tell your potential clients that they can buy from you (not always as obvious as you might think!).
• Contact us: Visitors expect and want to easily find your contact details. You want people to start a conversation with you so be as friendly and inviting as you can. It’s often the first hurdle to overcome before they will buy or commission you.
• Subscribe: Not everybody is ready to buy from you yet. Encourage sign-up to your email newsletter can start the process of engaging people with your business and products.

Can you include (seasonal) popups too to highlight popular items or to invite them to an event?

In a product description do you show what other similar products are available? Or to get in touch if the visitor wants to discuss something specifically? A short, friendly sentence with a clickable link directly to your email will encourage your website visitors to take that next step to buying or commissioning you.

Have you connected your social media to your website and do you invite your website visitors to follow you on Instagram or Pinterest? Do you make it easy for website visitors to share your images on Pinterest?

7. Are your texts difficult to read?

Reading online is much harder than on paper. The majority of your website visitors will only skim read, and those that want more information don’t want to spend too much time or effort, so make your texts as inviting and as easy to read as possible.

Blocks of text can be really off putting. Small font sizes are really hard to read online – font sizes online should be about 16-20px.

Take action

Review your website and make reading easier and more enjoyable for your website visitors:

• ‘Walls of text’ can be very off putting. Break up long pages of text into paragraphs, with bold text, or beautiful imagery.
• Use sub headings. Make the sub-heading is bold or in a slightly larger font. Most people skim read so ensure that your headings will get the key points of your content across.
• Bullets points make text easier to read and are especially good for lists.
• Vary the lengths of your sentences. Keep them short when possible, and turn passive sentences into active ones.
• Think about the contrast between the text and the background colour. Black text on white background is the easiest to read, however dyslexics prefer a light (not white) background.
• Think about the size of your font. Larger fonts are easier to read than small fonts.
• Avoid capitals and centralised text to improve readability. Use a maximum of 2-3 different fonts: One for your headings and another one for the main copy.

8. Is your website compatible with mobile phones & tablets?

As of July 2024, people using mobile devices contribute to 61.95% of all website traffic.

67% of shoppers are more likely to buy from a website that is compatible with mobile devices. So it’s no surprise that 63% of businesses who designed their website for mobiles and tablets saw an increase in sales.

When was the last time you viewed your website from a (different) mobile phone or tablet? Especially if you have had your website for more than 2 years then take a couple of minutes to review how your website shows up on different screens and computers. Even on different servers (e.g. Google Chrome, Firefox).

You might be surprised how your website looks on different devices. You might not be aware of these issues but it can be really damaging for your reputation and online sales.

Take action

Do check your website on different computers (PC and Apple), tablets and in different servers too. Ask a few friends with different phones or tablets too to have a look at your website and tell you the outcome.

• Has anything been resized in an odd way?
• Can you read all the texts? Do they overlap or are they squashed? Are some texts really small on mobile phones?
• Do any graphics, sign up forms, or photos look out of place? What happens to your images when they are in a horizontal line?
• Does your website fit the screen?
• Is it difficult to zoom in or use the menu?

You might need a rethink and even a complete redesign. Updating your website to be mobile phone and tablet friendly can be a huge task.  It is sometimes easier, cheaper, and quicker to start from scratch. The most common website software and online market places (e.g. Squarespace, Shopify, WordPress, Etsy) will automatically create web pages for any device so move to these options if your website is old.

Whenever you make changes to your website, check before you go live how these changes will look on a mobile phone and a tablet.

9. Do you use analytics?

How do you know if your website is performing as well as you would like it to be? How many visitors do you get? Which pages are popular? How many visitors abandon their cart?

You need to know what’s working and what isn’t on your website, so that you can fix it.

Basically: Is the lack of online sales due to lack of visitors? Or do you get enough web visitors, but they simply aren’t buying?

If your website isn’t bringing you customers, or your visitors are not taking the action you would like them to be, then using analytics is the only way to know how to improve things.

Your own website platform’s analytics or Google analytics can let you know where your visitors are coming from, how long they stay on your website, which pages they stay on longer than others, which key words they used to find you and much more.

Take action

Have you connected your website to Google Analytics or your platform analytics?

There is so much data that you can track, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed.

On a very basic level, track the traffic and call-to-action click rates before and after you make any changes.

Monitor your analytics on a monthly basis. Get to know and understand them, and focus on what impacts your visitor numbers (e.g. summer holidays, Christmas, promotional campaigns or events). In addition you can:

• Monitor pages that are successful, so that you can create more like them. Why do you think they are popular? Are they popular all year round or are the visits seasonal? Have you included good key words or fantastic images?
• Monitor pages with a high bounce rate. This gets noted when someone visits one page, and then immediately leaves your website. You should aim for a bounce rate of between 41% – 55%. You can get the bounce rate down by trying to attract your specific niche clients by making your titles clearer, by giving your web visitors a good online experience, by captivating them and encouraging them to stay on your website longer by including links to other pages or videos, and by going slow on annoying popups!

Your website is one of your business’s most important assets. You need to make sure it creates a great first impression and that it makes people want to stay, look around, and shop.

What will you do next? Will you review your website in detail against these 9 common website mistakes to give you better insights into how to improve your website, and to give you some detailed actions to do? We truly hope so! Let us know in the comments box below what you will do next. We always love to hear from you.