Some of the major reasons your website might be the weakest link in your business.
- Not mobile ready or responsive
Since 2015, Google is giving priority to mobile responsive websites in their Google search. According to Google (https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2014/11/helping-users-find-mobile-friendly-pages.html)
“the text was too small, the links were tiny, and you had to scroll sideways to see all the content? This usually happens when the website has not been optimized to be viewed on a mobile phone.”
So Google has made it a priority to optimize website viewing for mobile and they
” make it easier for people to find the information that they’re looking for, we’re adding a “mobile-friendly” label to our mobile search results.”
So, if you don’t even know the term mobile responsive them then you might want to go do some research on whether you are mobile friendly at Google’s Tool , the Mobile Friendly Test at https://www.google.ca/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/.
- No opt-in box to capture your interested visitors into subscribers.
If you don’t have an email opt-in box on your website on your home page and even all pages, you are missing out on visitors to your business. With an “Opt-In” you can capture interested people’s emails to be on your email list using an email autoresponder.
- Too hard to navigate through your website.
If your product or service is buried three submenus down on your menu, it will be harder for visitors to even be aware that you sell a product. A Site Map page helps a lot of companies give people easy links to the various products or services on their website.
- Too many choices on your website.
According to Hubspot in survey research, only 55% of people spend 15 seconds on your website. Too many choices to make, they’ll be gone.
- Too many distractions.
Just as with choices, flashing buttons, Facebook Likes in sidebar or animation on your website will cause people to leave your website.
- No Expert / Authority recognition
You need to show that your business have the expertise and knowledge to be the authority that they will know like and trust in order to have a transaction with you. So, your Association logos or Chamber participation logo or awards that your business have been given should be prominent on your website. For my website, I need to get my Consulting Resource Group Associate recognition badge on my website for my personal development expertise. So, it is also on my “To-do” list.
7. Not an easy website for people to share posts to others.
Don’t forget to include your social media buttons on your website! You want your visitors to engage on your website so one way is for them to share an interesting post to Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIN.
8. Not easy to see what the website is about on the home page.
Do you have your Mission statement on the home page or why you created this website? No, bad! People want to understand why you are here on the internet so they can trust they have come to the right place!
9. No social proof on your website.
People love to see social proof that you are who you say you are so they love unsolicited testimonials and reviews.
10. Not easy to find or BUY your product or service!
It is that 15 seconds on your website again – where is your product or services menu item?
11. No Customer Service or Customer Contact.
BONUS!
Most important to your website besides the sales button is that there are easy ways for your customer to contact you to ask questions about your product or service. If you aren’t easy to contact then they wonder if you are a REAL business on the internet!
For more information on how to strategically optimize your website go here for Website Design CheatSheet