In this day and age, when people are in need of a product or service, they head straight to Google. Whether they’re looking for a local landscaper, hair salon, or daycare, individuals go through a vetting process. This process usually looks something like this: reading reviews, visiting your website, and possibly taking a look at your social media pages. Once this process is complete, they’ll choose their top pick without ever visiting your actual storefront!
What this means, is that you need to be actively managing your digital presence. Your website is arguably the most important factor when it comes to your digital footprint – after all, it determines your SEO, educates potential customers on your services, and gives users the first impression of your business.
You may be wondering, what’s the cost of not having a strong website? Well, 89% of consumers shop with a competitor after a poor user experience.
Investing in a quality website helps attract new customers, increases chances of conversion, and most importantly, gives a great first impression!
Let’s dive into the six ways your small business website may be hurting your business.
Is It Secure?
Take a look at your domain – does it read HTTP or HTTPS? With HTTP domains, user information can easily be stolen due to the lack of encryption. HTTPS domains provide secure, encrypted connections that block attackers from accessing user data. Not only does HTTPS provide safe and secure connections, but it also helps boost your website’s SEO!
Learn more about the difference between HTTP and HTTPS in our video below.
Quality of Imagery
Investing in quality imagery will create an identity for your brand, and help your company stand out from competitors. Just think about it – how do you feel when you see generic stock imagery on a website, versus brand-specific imagery? It can make it difficult to get a feel for a brand. We recommend using stock photography as a last resort, and taking the time to choose a professional photographer who can achieve your desired results (not all photographers are the same – you’ll want to vet photographers and take a look at their portfolio). You can also use a combination of brand and stock photography.
Pro tip: Don’t forget to add alt-tags to all your images!
Simplify Your Navigation
Your navigation bar is often the first thing people see when they visit your website. Take the time to develop a quality navigation bar that helps direct users to the most important pages on your website. Think of it this way: what pages lead to conversions? We recommend being short and sweet. You don’t want to overwhelm new website visitors with an abundance of navigation pages. Navigation should feature three, at most four pages. Any additional pages can be shown in your bottom navigation.
Read more on website navigation here!
Consistent Call To Action
Do you have a call-to-action button (CTA)? CTA’s prompt new website visitors to take action, whether that’s scheduling an appointment, downloading an e-book, or visiting your storefront.
If you don’t define what action you want users to take, you’ll have a hard time converting users.
You want your CTA to be two things: visible and consistent. Use the same CTA across your website, and make sure it’s visible to users. Your CTA should be linked to the page that allows users to fulfill that action – whether it’s your contact page or appointment page.
Regular Updates
Not only does this help your SEO (Google likes updated content, imagery, links, etc.), your website will also be more accurate and concise. Just think about it – if you built your website in 2010, but never updated the content or imagery, would it still be as strong as it was in 2010?
Mandatory information, like your location, hours, phone number, and contact information should always be accurate. We also recommend keeping your website updated through monthly blogs. Not only does this help your SEO (you’re adding more pages to your website and keeping it updated), it’s also a great way to connect with your audience.
Pro tip: Share your blogs on social media to increase coverage!
Design
In this day and age, you need a website that is: Responsive, mobile-friendly, and navigable. The odds are, your competitors are already doing this, so remain relevant and ensure you’re implementing these factors into your website. These factors make your website easier to use and allows for usability on mobile devices and tablets.
When your website is not easy to use, you put yourself at risk for losing business. A clean, minimalist small business website translates better than a busy, content, and imagery rich website. Don’t overwhelm users – keep it simple!
What factors do you think are most important when it comes to a small business website? Head over to our Instagram page and let us know!
