Have a Business Website? Chances are you do, OR you’ll have one for your business soon. Take a few moments to think about the following no-no’s for any business website.
Website Killer Number 1: Your website is hard to understand
Visitors get bored easily so it’s essential you capture their attention quickly when they arrive at your website. Remember that you have just seconds to attract their interest and keep them on your website.
Make it clear that you have the answer to their click for help. Assume they are your ideal client and ensure your website clearly portrays that you are able to help them…
Attract and keep attention on your website by adding new media such as video, graphics and highlighted text. Use attention grabbing headlines to give your visitors a reason to stay on your page and read what you have to say.
We’ve covered the topic of creating great website content in this article.
Website Killer Number 2: How do I contact you?
Visitors to your website should not have to work hard to find a way to contact your business. Consider having your contact details included on every page of your website as part of the template (such as the sidebar, header or footer areas).
Or just include a single click through from any page with a Contact Us link on the main navigation bar.
Remember make it super easy for a visitor to find out how to contact your business, otherwise you’ve killed your chance of turning that visitor into a client.
Website Killer Number 3: Your content is out of date
Once launched, your website must remain current. That means, your home page needs to be up to date, your contact details must be correct and your website should be free from broken links. This is something many small businesses struggle with because they are either too busy to regularly update their website, or it becomes to expensive to hire a website designer to make changes. So their website quickly becomes stagnant and starts working AGAINST them, instead of FOR them. We’ve seen websites advertising special offers on the front page that expired months ago. You’d never hire someone to hand out ‘expired’ coupons to shoppers in a shopping mall! Having out of date information and expired offers on your website is just as bad!
So, make sure that someone in your team is responsible for keeping your website current.
And if you really want to turn this into a positive, launch a Business Blog and post regular new content for your visitors.
Website Killer Number 4: Not optimised for Search Engines
This is a whole topic on its own. If you’re new to the topic of SEO then take a few moments to read our SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) Overview article.
As a starting point, it’s essential that you have the correct keywords on your page content and in title tags.
Make sure the keywords that your prospects may search for on Google when looking for your type of business, are included in the content on your website.
Quick SEO Tip: Your page ‘title tags’ tell the web browser what wording to display in the page title section. When you visit a website take a look at what is written across the very top of the browser window – this is the ‘page title’. Ensure your page titles accurately reflect your business name and include keywords that are relevant to that page – but it should be a useful phrase that makes sense to the human reader.
Website Killer Number 5: No Call to Action
A ‘call to action’ is having a specific action that you want visitors to take when they visit your website. You might want them to sign up for a newsletter, contact you through your contact page, phone you or place an order. Everything on your web page must drive your visitors towards towards taking that action.
Some examples:
> “Call us today on 1300 123 456 and ask for your 10% web discount.”
> “Enter your details here and instantly receive your free report on saving money.”
> “Use our online calculator to find out how much you can save.”
Visitors to your website are valuable so try not to let too many of them get away. Remember, once they leave your website the chances that they will return are slim. Unless of course, you’ve really impressed them by giving them what they want OR you’ve successfully had them sign up for a newsletter or other updates from your business.
If you’d like to learn more about avoiding these website killers and learn how to pro actively master your own website (or blog) ~ then please click through to find out about our brand new program Website Mastery.
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