If you own or manage a business in this day and age, you’ve probably got a website where your potential and active customers can gather information about your business and determine whether they’re interested in seeking out your practice. However, one website is not necessarily equal to another, and if you find that one of your competitors seems to be having more success than you, the problem might be your website. Here are ten of the most common mistakes that specialists make on their websites.
1. Lack of Mobile Friendliness
Because so many people access the internet via smart phone, tablet, or other mobile device, it’s important to have a mobile-friendly website. Your customers are constantly on the move, and it’s more likely that they’re going to be searching your information from one of these devices rather than their home computer.
That said, if your website does not have mobile-friendly features, you’re not only sweeping more than half of your potential customers under the rug, you’re also not doing your SEO development any favors. A mobile-friendly website is absolutely necessary if you want customers to visit you online.
2. Slow Speed
Because people are both busier and accustomed to fast, wireless internet, your website is going to have to be up to speed if you want to keep the interest of potential customers. If they’re searching for a specialist and they find your website, it isn’t likely to be a benefit to you if your website loads too slowly. If you’ve got a professional website that showcases the benefits of your specialized practice or business, your website has got to load in no more than four seconds. That is the average time that a potential customer can expect to wait for a page to load before he or she navigates away from the website to find one that loads faster. One of the important things is to be careful while choosing your website hosting as it really makes the difference.
3. Content
Your website can have all sorts of bells and whistles that are intended to impress a potential customer and bring them to your business, but if your content is lackluster, they’re going to notice. A beautiful website does not excuse poor content.
Be sure that your website contains information about your business, what sort of specialty your staff has, and any information that would be useful if you yourself were looking for a professional in your line of work. If you have specific deals for the services you offer, note them on your website by explaining what they are in brief, and a price estimate.
It’s also a good idea to regularly add blogging content to your website, as well as reviews, information that sets your specialty apart from competitors and anything else that is going to show your customers that you’ve dedicated time to your website and its content.
It isn’t sufficient to simply slap photos, reviews, videos, and awards all over your website. Your content needs to be organized, engaging, and relevant to the work that you’re performing.
4. No Opt-Ins
Opt-ins are not always a concept that business owners consider when they’re setting up a website, but these simple features can be very helpful when it comes to keeping traffic coming to your website. If you set up an opt-in on your website, customers have the opportunity to willingly input their contact information so that they can stay connected with your business.
This means that your customers have given you permission to send them newsletters, information about promotions, and other pieces of information so that they are constantly aware of the comings and goings of your business.
5. No FB Pixel
First, let’s discuss what Facebook Pixel is, so that you can understand why it’s a benefit for your website to have. FB Pixel is a tool that measures the value of your ads by monitoring the way that people use your website. This tool can help you build an audience and ensure that your ads are being seen by the right group of people. It also records actions taken on your website, stores visitor data, and allows you to generate more visits to your business by determining which of your ads are successful and which aren’t.
Any business owner can benefit from having this tool’s code on their website, so it’s definitely a good idea to take the steps needed to have FB Pixel help you and your business. It’s a benefit to have the reports at your fingertips so that you’re able to make visitor data make sense and work in your favor.
6. No Analytics
A commonly looked-over part of customer relations is the analytics side of the equation. These reports provide valuable information to business owners about the behaviors of people who visit their websites. They can help determine how likely it is that a customer will revisit in the future, as well as monitoring purchases, observing the locations of visitors, determining popular products, and more.
Without the use of analytics, it’s going to be hard to determine how your customers view your website and how to cater the experience to them. If you don’t have analytics now, it’s a good time to invest in them for the future of your website and your business.
7. Failing to Put Phone and Address in Several Easy Locations
If you have a physical office or location, this is especially important. All of the best website strategies in the world are going to have a hard time helping your business if customers cannot easily find a way to contact you. Not only is having your contact information visible a crucial way to let customers know how to get in touch with your office, it also makes your practice appear legitimate. People have a hard time trusting a business that they have no way of contacting.
Make sure that somewhere along the top toolbar of your website, a “Contact Us” option is available, and be certain that it remains available on every page of the entire site. Include your practice’s name, address, phone number, email, fax number if applicable, and it doesn’t hurt to include a map and direction link so that customers can easily find your office.
For added visibility, place your contact information in the footer of your site as well.
8. Basic SEO
If your website has not made any of the mistakes that have been listed so far, but you’re still not receiving many visitors, the problem might lie with your SEO.
SEO (search engine optimization) enables your website to be found via search engines, so if you’re part of a small business, it’s important that this aspect of your business be in perfect working order. If your SEO is lacking, Google is going to have a hard time locating your website, even when potential customers are searching for local services directly in your line of work.
9. No Link to Social Media Sites
Even if your business is in a physical office, it’s important to understand the usefulness of social media. Most businesses have pages on social media, and the reason for this is, social media helps expand their reach to customers. Whether a business has a Facebook business page, a Twitter account, or an Instagram, the use of social media helps the office become more visible to customers than it would be without social media.
If your website has all of the information that it could possibly need without social media links, you still need social media links. Set up a Facebook page for your business and link the two together so that Facebook users will come across your business page while they’re looking for services, and they’ll find their way to your website.
If you correctly set up (and regularly use) your social media pages, you could very well generate a great deal of traffic to your website.
10. Bad Photos
It’s understandable that stock photos are often used on small business websites, but they’re a mistake if you want your practice taken seriously. Customers are smart enough to know what a staged stock photo is when they see it, and it gives the impression that your business is either phony in practice, or lazy when it comes to visual representation. Legitimate photos add credibility to your business and your website.
Instead of using stock photos, take a few quality photos of your office, or hire a professional photographer if you can afford the expense. Have a few staff photos on your website with each member’s qualifications listed so that the customer trusts your business. Have photos of your work on your website, using real customers if they’re willing to sign a photo release.
If you find that you’re making some of these mistakes, it’s okay. The beauty of websites is, they can always be updated, customized, and improved. Nothing is set in stone, and it’s acceptable to allow your website to be a learning experience for both you and your constantly developing business.
