By Jim Clanin
Do you have a website, but think it could be working harder for you? It probably can! These web design and website problems are common, but once addressed can make a dramatic effect on website sales and visitor engagement.
No Calls to Action – Have you ever bought something online or called the business because you were prompted to when you were ready to make a purchase or when you had questions? Effectively prompting customers to call or place an order at the appropriate time in the buying cycle, and the appropriate place on the website is an effective call to action. On websites, a call-to-action is a clear direction often displayed in a graphical button form that encourages a site visitor to take action like ‘call now,’ ‘email,’ ‘sign up’, or ‘buy now.’
The call to action encourages the visitor to do something and is most effective when the action of ‘doing something’ is easy, simple and quick. A site should have several calls to action throughout the site so that visitors always have a quick and easy opportunity to call or purchase.
Poor Design – To put it bluntly, ugly websites lose visitors. Design and beauty are important when it comes to small business websites effectiveness with website visitors. Like a wardrobe or design of a home, websites need to have an attractive design, that is comfy for website visitors to use and navigate, and that offers ima
gery and design elements that are pleasing to the eye. Also, like runway styles can change seasonally, so can website designs.
Website designs should be reviewed and updated every 3-6 years; otherwise the business and website can increase the risk of losing credibility. Web design also has a direct effect on website sales. Consumers tend to spend more money on websites that are attractive and high quality, versus poorly designed websites.
No SEO – Like a brick and mortar store, customers don’t just come into the store when the open sign is on. They have to be looking for the products or service the store sells, and be searching for it, or find your store through advertising. Websites are no different. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, helps online searchers find your website. An SEO professional helps a website rank higher on the page when a searcher looks for services or products like yours on search engines like Google and Bing.
SEOs start by doing keyword research, which can be exhaustive depending on the service or products being offered on the website, and come up with a list of search terms that potential customers use to find your businesses services or products. The SEO professional would then optimize the backend code of your website incorporating the keywords into page tags, descriptions and headlines and content, and more. So if your website is designed and live, and you haven’t optimized it for search, or haven’t had it ‘SEO’d’, you likely missing out on new customers and sales leads.
Non responsive – It’s not easy to use on all mobile devices – The use of mobile devices for website users as a primary search tool is increasing. According to search experts, mobile search is expected to surpass desktop search in 2015. How does this affect a small business website? If your website visitors think your site is difficult to view and navigate on any one of many different mobile devices like iPads, smartphones, tablets or other handheld devices, you may be discouraging consumers from staying on your site, purchasing, or learning more about your business. It’s simple. Test your site on different devices to see if it looks appropriate and is easy to use. If not, call your web designer stat!
If your website needs effective calls-to-action, a wardrobe or design change, needs to be ‘SEO’d’, or is not mobile ready, call the team at DoubleDome. We can help your website increase leads, reach your intended customer, and look good doing it on all mobile devices! We specialize in website design!
