All businesses today should have a website. Period. Even if it’s just a simple website, it’s critical that your business has an online presence in today’s internet-driven world. And while we are happy to see when businesses do have a website, we cringe when we come across a website that makes us want to click off it as fast as possible.
Obviously, that’s not a feeling you want your customers to have.
Sadly, we still see this quite often as we search the internet. So today, I wanted to share with you some ways that your website could actually be hurting your business and what you really need to do about it.
Your Website is Not Mobile Friendly
I may be a marketer, but I’m also a consumer. And a heavy internet user. I cannot tell you how frustrated I get when I’m on the go and searching something online (which is most of the time) only to click on a website that is not mobile-friendly.
Did you know that more than half of all website traffic around the world is now through mobile devices? And the number is only growing! Think about it, when was the last time you searched for something on the internet? Unless you are sitting at your computer right now (which you could be…) it was probably on your mobile phone!
I mean, come on…if I have to pinch my fingers to zoom in on your page so I can even read it…
Or if half your page is off my phone screen…
And heaven help me if I’m actually trying to click on your button or link and it won’t recognize my fat fingers!
I’m over it – and I will click off to another site.
As if that wasn’t enough, 57% of people won’t recommend a business that has a poor mobile design.
Slow Website Speed
Let’s get to the next incredibly annoying thing when it comes to websites (especially on mobile) – speed. People are busy. And let’s face it, a bit spoiled. We want everything now, now, now. We don’t want to wait for things to buffer or load.
And that’s especially true when we are opening a company’s website. The website must load fast because we don’t have time to wait around. In fact, 61% of Google users surveyed said that having trouble accessing a website would not return to that site, and 40% of those people said they would instead visit a competitor’s website.
Well, if you have a slow website that’s definitely not something you want to hear. Speed is key.
Poor Design & Dated Look = Low Credibility
Again let’s be honest. If you click on a website and it looks like it’s from 10 years ago, then you probably aren’t going to give much credibility to that company. 94% of a user’s first impression of your company website will be design related!
Yes, this is my face when I see a badly designed website!
It’s not just a dated design that will turn off consumers. It could be just an overall bad website design. Maybe it’s some crazy colors or too many moving graphics around the screen. I’ve actually seen how some overly designed websites just have too much going on and lead to a bad user experience.
Sometimes simple, clean, and easy really is better!
In fact, a recent study showed that a whopping 75% of people viewing a website made judgements about the company’s credibility based on the design and aesthetics of the website.
A Stale Website That’s Not Updated
The thing to keep in mind with websites is that they should be treated as living, breathing creatures. It’s not a one-time project that you finish and then just forget it. You should ALWAYS be updating your website!
Not only is updating your website important for search engines to value them, but it’s critical for your customers. If someone visits your website and it looks like it hasn’t been updated in 2 years, then they will assume that you are out of business! That’s the last thing you want.
Plus, your website is such an important part of your marketing that why would you not want to keep it updated?!?! Your website is a valuable tool that you should be leveraging.
Not User-Friendly
The design of your website needs to not only be pleasing but also useful to website visitors. If your website is not user-friendly, you risk losing the customer. Similar to the speed issue, once a website loads people want to be able to easily find the information they are looking for, and they need to be able to click around and find it fast.
They don’t have time to be searching around like they are one some kind of scavenger hunt!
If your website is confusing, and doesn’t have a layout that helps visitors move through the site logically, then they will get fed up and go to another site that is easier.
It’s that simple.
Your Website is Down or Has Error Pages
There are many reasons that people could stumble across an error message on your site. That’s why it’s important to have someone regularly checking your site to ensure nothing is broken and there aren’t any errors happening on a regular basis. Whenever an error is discovered, it should be fixed ASAP and not ignored.
But another major issue is when your business website is just plain down!
Downtimes for your website are often related to your hosting provider, unless your business goes viral and suddenly has millions of visitors on your website at one time (which is usually not the case). You should not be paying a hosting company when your website is always down. Trust me, we actually had this happen with one of the first website we launched 10 years ago. We were always getting notifications that the site was down, and it was incredibly frustrating!
We understand the temptation to choose a cheap hosting company for your website (because that’s what we did when we first started out so long ago). However, it is true that you get what you pay for.
A lot of the cheaper hosting providers offer “shared” hosting at a low price, and this means that you are sharing space on the server with other website. So if those other websites suddenly have spikes in traffic, then your site could be out in the cold.
Surely, if your website is down for just a few minutes here and there it’s not an issue. But it’s important that you pay attention that it’s not an ongoing problem that could be costing you business.
Lacks a Clear Value Proposition
Another issue that can be frustrating for website visitors is not being able to easily identify what the website is for. The number one reason people go to the internet is to find information or solve a problem. If they can’t figure out what your company does and how your business can help them, they will move on.
Basically, the value proposition for your company needs to be in their face right away as soon as they visit your website.
Weak CTA buttons (or none at all)
When it comes to websites for businesses, I’m always shocked when I discover a website that doesn’t have any type of call to action buttons. Or they are just super weak and don’t stand out on the page to the user.
The whole point of having a website for your business is to help drive not just awareness, but capture leads and even customers. So if you have no call to actions, how on Earth will you achieve your goals? And if your messages are weak, then the users may not really know if they need to click on that link or what they need to do.
So as a business, you need to be direct – and make sure you have plenty of call to action buttons on your website!
No Personality or About You = Low Trust
With so many businesses and websites out there, it’s important to make your company stand out. That’s one of the great things about the internet (and even social media) is that you can really differentiate your business with a unique, memorable brand personality that will resonate with your audience.
Your website is a valuable vehicle to communicate how you are different; therefore, it’s a major missed opportunity if there is no brand personality on your website.
You don’t have to go crazy with personality. Even just having a strong “About Us” page and giving some insight into your business and who works there can be enough. This type of content can really build trust with your website visitors, and even help build an emotional connection.
At the end of the day, that’s really what you want. You want someone to connect with your company on your website and feel like they can trust you. Websites that lack these elements will have a difficult time building trust online with their customers.
Doesn’t Make it Easy to Contact You
Similar to the CTA mentioned above, I lose my mind when I visit a website that has no visible way to contact them! Seriously?!?! If you have a website, at a minimum you should have a contact submission form or an email address for people to contact you.
Lastly, this information needs to be visible to your website visitors! Don’t make them hunt around for it. If you do, then they will think that you don’t want them to contact you. Which is a huge red flag for many internet users when it comes to trust and credibility.
Losing Google Rank
The number one thing we hear from business owners is “I want to be at the top of Google!” Well, yeah that’s what we all want. We know getting to the top of Google is a lot easier said than done (and anyone who contacts you otherwise telling you they “guarantee to get you at the top of Google is 100% a scam”).
So if your goal is getting to the top of Google, why would you be running a website that actually hurts your Google rank?!?
For example, having a website that not mobile-friendly? Yup – Google will hold that against you. Is your website slow? Yup, Google doesn’t like that. Is your website not user-friendly, people don’t click around to different pages and they exit fast? Again, Google does not value that behavior and it will hurt your page rank.
Not only are you hurting your customer experience with these issues on your website, but you are actively hurting your place on Google.
Stop Throwing Money Away!
As a business, it’s critical that you get every bit of value out of what you do. Return on investment is key to your success! So at the end of the day, if you are paying for a website that is actually hurting your Google rank and turning off your potential customers, then that’s not a good investment!
Instead, invest in a proper website that will actually help your business.
Luckily, websites are cheap and easy compared to what they used to be. And your new site can be up and running in very little time at all. In fact, depending on how many pages your website has, we can get you up in running in a few days for as little as $500!
Ready to Upgrade Your Website?