Have you ever looked at your website and wonder, "Where is everybody?" Or Google your business and question why you are so hidden 4 pages in? All the while, you continue to watch you sales stagnate and people leave your site without ever engaging with you.
There is nothing more frustrating than have a person cyber-browsing your products and services, and then walking out without buying.
Or, what's worse are the moments you ask why and you hear, "It's your website."
You may not have made it, but you own it. Here are the biggest problems websites face, and some fixes we can suggest.
Your Site Looks Terrible On Mobile
Most people who create websites tend to do so on their laptops. You may even be used to working on your website content yourself on your PC. The problem comes when you design your website specifically for that.
Nowadays, almost 60% of web traffic comes from a mobile device. This means that, if your website is not mobile-friendly, you're missing on a ton of trafic.
THE FIX: Mobile-First Design
Go with a mobile-first design. On the low end, this means getting a better website theme, which is especially easy if you are using a common website system like Wordpress. On the high end, you may need a total redesign.
Your Site Has A Poor Design
If you ask people what drives trust in a brand or company, one of the top items on the list is how their website looks. A website the looks old tells consumers that the company is out of date, if their open at all. A website without outdated information tells users that you don't truly understand your market.
THE FIX: Quality Design and Content
Think about the story you want people to know when they see your website. And then walk your design through that story, making sure you have a clear path from entry to call to action. This should be reflected in your imagery, flow of your site, and especially your content (we'll hit that more in a second).
Your Site Has No Call To Action
Ok, your analytics look good. Your visitor numbers are steady. But people still aren't buying.
This was me for a number of years. I finally asked someone out of frustration, "Why does no one purchase this thing?"
He looked at me and said, "Oh, you want people to buy?" I was dumbfounded: I had never asked people to react to what I was showing them.
The same may be true about your site. Is your call to action, your CTA, crystal clear? Does it gain you an email address? A new user with a free account? A new user with a discount they're itching to use?
THE FIX: Add That CTA!
Make sure you have a CTA prominent in the story of your website. Make it an easy enough "yes" that they can give you what you need to begin converting customers.
Your Site Has Poor SEO
Small business marketing is getting more competitive, and small-business owners need every advantage they can possibly get. Making sure your customers can find you onine is crucial. However, at least 26% of small businesses can't be found in online searches because their small business websites earn a Google Page Rank of zero or have no Google Page Rank at all.
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is an ever evolving field of getting your small business website noticed.
THE FIX: Hit the SEO Basics!
Though SEO strategies are constantly changing, there are a number of simple ways to get started on this. Engauge has a tool you can use for just this purpose!
Your Site Has No Content Value
Small business websites that get updated frequently and regularly are not only more engaging for visitors, but they rank higher on search engines! Curating appropriate content and updating even a basic website can be time-consuming and frustrating for many small-business owners, but has great reward when done regularly!
THE FIX: Get a Content Strategy
64% of small-business owners find the time necessary to update their website a major challenge, and 24% say the cost of maintaining their site is a big hurdle. And when small-business owners maintain their own site they run the risk of wasting time they could be using to cultivate new business.
But every time you update the content, search engines will index and begin to consider you more and more of an expert in your field. And your customers recognize that!
Start figuring out a plan around the key words and topics that drive your specific market, and start creating content!