I was working with a client to improve his marketing results online when he showed me the website he paid $1,500 for. After reviewing it, I realized the website was actually bad for his business rather than a tool to get more customers.
When I first heard he had a website I was pretty happy for him since he normally doesn’t use technology in his business.
When I saw the website he had, I quickly recommended he to abandon it and start over again.
See, a good website will help you grow your business while the wrong type of website can be bad for business.
Is your website bad for your business?
So, with that said, I want to give you 5 common business website mistakes you must address in order to actually get more business from your website rather than having an ineffective glorified brochure!
- Not knowing the purpose for your business website – Is it there to showcase your work? Do you want to build brand awareness? Do you want to feature specials and coupons? Without having a purpose for your business website first, you’re going in blind investing time and money building a website with no clear outcome for it.
- Not understanding what your customers want from your website – Many businesses feel that their business website should be all about them; when they started the business, the types of certifications they have, how great they are. The truth is, people come to your website with one big question: “What’s in it for me?“. If you can’t answer that question clearly and concisely, your visitors are like Nicholas Cage, Gone in 60 Seconds (or less).
- Having an old, outdated or hard to navigate website design – If you wanted to attract a mate, would you have a chance wearing your torn college sweatpants and an over sized jersey? Not as good as being dressed to impress. You business website is no different. Your website is one of the first things people see whether they get your card at a networking event or find you on Google. It’s the first impression. What impression do people have when they land on your website?
- Making it difficult to contact you – This one still surprises me. I run across websites that don’t have their phone number or address in a visible location so it takes work for me to find out how to contact you. Other business websites don’t give me a reason to call, or a call to action. Does your website tell your website visitors what to do next and how to contact you?
- Forgetting that a business website is a tool to get more business, not just to look pretty – Let’s get serious. Does it matter how much traffic you have if no one is calling? At the end of the day, businesses survive and thrive from paying customers, not window shoppers. Your website should give people the opportunity to engage with you on a much deeper level. That’s why I always recommend having something of high value offered (what I call, the goods) in exchange for engagement. This could be a free report, a special coupon, a promotional email newsletter or a free burger for those that call you, stop in to your business or give you their contact information on your website.
As you can see, these are fairly common so if you find yourself making any of these business website mistakes there’s no better time to change them than now. It all comes down to a balance between understanding what you want from your website (more business/exposure) and providing your customers and visitors with valuable content that makes them want what you have.
Your Turn
What do you think? What’s your biggest question on creating a more effective website?
Comment below and let me know. If you include your website, I may choose you to do a free video website review for a future blog post.
