The digital age is here, and investment in your digital presence is no longer a luxury but a must if you want your business to succeed. Your website needs to be the cornerstone of all your business marketing efforts. From social media to SEO and email marketing - they all lead back to your website. If your website is not up to scratch, it prevents your business from growing and becoming more profitable.
This blog will advise on the top things we come across on business websites that could be holding your website back and preventing your business from growing.
Humans are very visual creatures, and website images play a crucial role in how your website is perceived and, in turn, how your business comes across to your potential customers. Simply adding old stock images to your website or, worse, images that are not relevant to the products and services conveys the wrong message about your business and can create a disconnect between your customers and your business.
The 90s called, and they want their neon popups and flash banners back! The internet is changing daily. Trends in how businesses operate and generational changes in how users interact with companies change so fast that what was a modern website 18-24 months ago is now outdated.
This is not to say that you need to buy a new one every two years, but you need to make changes and updates along the way continually. This helps you stay relevant and connected to your customers and also enables you to ensure that your website has everything it needs to perform.
One of the biggest reasons your website could be harming your business is if it is non-responsive. Responsive web design ensures that your website is usable and functions as it should on different styles and sizes of browser devices. Users now access the internet from mobile phones, desktops, laptops, tablets and phablets (a phone that expands into a tablet), and your website needs to be accessible on them all, or you risk losing that customer and harming your overall SEO efforts.
Yes, we all want users to sign up for our newsletters or see our most recent offers, but honestly, popups are the most common complaint from website users. They cause websites to be slow, distract users from the content they came to view, and cause people to leave a website and never return. If you can avoid using popups - you should do so. If you need to use them, such as for Cookie Banners, then make them less intrusive and only for critical purposes.
If anything on your website is buried so deep that no one can find it, guess what? No one will find it! Users will get bored of searching, so make it easy for your website to navigate and find the key areas you want to highlight. Important pages or sections should never be more than three clicks away from your homepage as a good rule of thumb. Utilising calls to action in key areas and having an easy-to-read and use menu system are excellent ways to aid navigation.
Content needs to be purposeful, relevant and easy to read. If it is not, you are missing a significant opportunity to connect with your audience. That is in addition to the SEO and marketing benefits that content has! Content is not just the written word - it is images, videos, podcasts and social media posts, so make sure that you utilise it well and match it with your branding .
Colour plays a significant part in how a business is perceived, and colours need to be chosen carefully when designing a website. Colour has the power to evoke emotion, build trust and create a connection between your business and its customers - so just using every colour on the rainbow and hoping for the best will lead to mixed messages.
It is advisable to stick to brand colours for all images, logos, icons, and content on your website to ensure continuity and that your brand message is shining through.
Websites do not have to be complicated. Some of the best performing websites are those that keep things simple. Websites with flashing banners and lots of distractions will always convert fewer customers than those that stick to the job they are designed to do.
The rise of website builders has given rise to the notion that any old website will do, which is fine if you are not looking to expand your business or reach more potential customers, but if you are, then you need to invest in a decent website for your business.
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