why does my website suck?
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we have a website. what else do you want?
three things for starters:
- Good design: mobile friendly, professional and cohesive, not confusing
- Good content: pointed, researched, persuasive, often blending informative facts and emotional storytelling
- A search engine optimization (SEO) strategy…done by a professional
Investing in a good web developer can get you all of these things, but it truly is an investment, just like a prime business location or a good suit for client meetings. For example, if you have a website built before 2005, it’s kind of like showing up to an industry conference in sweatpants. It begs the question, “How serious are you, really?”
design
having a bad website is often worse than not having one at all.
As a virtual representation of you and how you operate, your website will affect your business. Take a look at your current site. Online authorities tend to agree that visitors form an impression within 5 seconds of seeing a web page. Look at your own homepage. What assumptions would you make about your business? Does it convey what you want it to? If not, consider a redesign.
If a customer discovers your business online, they will likely visit your website several times before making a purchase or contacting you directly. Their time is spent skimming your sales content and getting an overall feel for your business. By the third time they’re back at your site, it’s clear they are, at the very least, interested in your product. At this point, how they feel about you and your brand can mean the difference between them looking elsewhere and putting money in your pocket. A well-designed website builds trust with potential customers and promotes the idea that they are dealing with an authority. Trust in a company is like Crisco for customers at the small end of the buying funnel.
The bottom line is that having a professionally designed, well-organized site is crucial to your customers’ perception of you. Don’t skimp on design.
content
web users search for information like wild animals hunt for food; quickly and deliberately, with not a moment to waste. is your content meaty enough to get potential clients to stay?
DON’TS DO’S
1. DON’T skip the research…
Visit a site like copyblogger.com, and check out their blog (an amazing resource) to learn what customers need to hear from you.
2. DON’T ignore your customers’ questions…
Put yourself in their shoes — what questions would they have? Answer them up front and lead them further into the site with greater detail.
3. DON’T set and forget…
Update your site with fresh content from time to time — the more frequently the better. Your potential customers might be a little dubious if they read about an event from 2 years ago on your homepage.
4. DON’T avoid the about page…
It’s the Internet! Even though you may never meet your e-customers face to face, remember that people try to connect with the companies they use (even online ones) because it makes them feel good. Sometimes choosing a company to do business with comes down to the one that gives off the nicest vibe. So fill out that About page.
search engine optimization (SEO)
the basic and most important SEO is built into the design.
You need legitimate SEO built into your website so it’ll show up in Google searches. If you piece together a web page yourself without knowing a lot about SEO, it’s likely your site will end up on results page 42 and never meet the eyes of a potential customer, no matter how much content you write — rendering it effectively useless.
The best SEO incorporates the organization of your site pages and the data within them, as well as descriptors about your site for search engines to read and reference. Make sure your designer knows about all of these aspects and more before deciding to go with one that’s offering SEO. It’s best to do some research on the practice of search engine optimization before going into that meeting. There are a lot of SEO “experts” that will claim anything and promise the moon, knowing most people don’t have the knowledge or inclination to challenge their assertions.
before they come to us, our clients are all dealing with a combination of the same three issues: poor design, lackluster content and absentee SEO.
For example, Lake Geneva Country Meats asked us to fix their underperforming website. We redesigned it for a more cohesive image and better organization, then filled their site with great content like recipes and wine recommendations they provided. We also made their site responsive to mobile use and set them up with a social media strategy. The outcome was phenomenal. They showed a 66% increase in social visibility and a 92% increase in viewed pages per visit; all translating to a “20% growth in month-over-month revenue that we just can’t attribute to anything else,” they told us.
Another client of ours, The Columbia Center, received a 45% increase in traffic within 2 months; while yet another, Vicí Capilli, a salon and spa, received a 96% increase in visit duration with a 100% increase in leads generated. It’s amazing what a bit of retooling can do.
the wrap-up
Don’t give up on your website! It has the potential to market your business and generate revenue in big ways. Remember, a website is not just a single expensive advertisement, it’s a long-term investment, and a powerful marketing tool to wield as you see fit. View it as a blank canvas to fill with whatever you represent. When it’s done, it will be placed before the roughly 2.5 billion people who have a digital connection to it — something you have a strong connection to as well.
