Your website is very often the first impression a customer will have with your business. It’s your 24 hours a day, 7 days a week sales person and your hardest working piece of real estate. That’s right, your website is a tool that carries significant power for your small business.
Mistakes you make with your website can end up costing you when it comes to lost opportunities as well as money spent trying to fix problems or improve deficiencies. This year,
1. You haven’t got a customised URL or email hosting
If your URL contains words that have nothing to do with your brand, it cheapens your image right away and could even send potential customers clicking in the other direction. Luckily, these days it’s more of the exception than the rule, with most website platforms and even basic web development services offering a custom domain with linked email addresses as standard.
If you’re not sure why you don’t have the URL and email addresses you need, or you want a complete website overhaul, get in touch with the experts who can set you straight.
2. Your design looked great in 2007…
If you’ve been paying attention to your competitors’ websites, you’ll know that trends can die quickly in the digital age. What was once the highest mark of a stylish website and the “in” thing can eventually start to look more than a little dated. Granted, a professionally designed website that puts the user first is always going to provide a high level of longevity, but nothing lasts forever.
When you work with a professional web design agency, you’ll be able to guide them towards the right designs for your business, while knowing that their work will be of a high quality to keep your business ahead for longer. There are a number of other benefits to working with a pro for your web design, not least of which are that edits and upgrades will be safe and easy to make as your website changes.
3. Google doesn’t know you exist
With SEO accounting for a major chunk of website traffic, it’s crucial that you tick off the basics when it comes to your search engine ranking. This is a field of digital marketing that’s rapidly evolving, with changes being introduced by the giants at Google, Bing, etc. on a regular basis and becoming increasingly complex through machine learning and powerful algorithms.
This is definitely one area of your small business marketing strategy where you don’t want to “wing it”.
It can be tricky for small businesses to discern good advice from bad when it comes to SEO, with a number of services being offered. It’s important to do your research and feel completely comfortable with the SEO agency you decide to engage for this crucial piece of your web puzzle.
4. Bugs, broken code, browser issues…
When it comes to basic errors like broken bits of code, missing links and page errors, it’s important to endeavour to fix these problems quickly. At best, errors can make you appear a bit unprofessional. At worst, they can make users worry about their security and your business’ legitimacy. So get it sorted, and reach out for help if you need to.
5. Too much of a good thing
We know you’re passionate about your business (why else would you be in it?) and we love your enthusiasm. But when it comes to the content and elements you include on your website, we suggest you keep it pared back, simple and consistent. This means you may need to cut back the copy to a few key paragraphs on some pages and you may need to cull a few of your brand images. Remember to favour quality over quantity and you’ll avoid disaster that look like this:
