If you clicked on this blog post, you are probably wondering why your website is not performing as well as you would like. You may have even reached the conclusion that your website is irrelevant or pointless. However, it isn’t time to throw in the cards and give up quite yet. Instead, it is time to take a good look at your current web page to figure out what is causing it to underperform so that you can fix these issues.
#1 – Lacking calls to action and other conversion methods
One of the most important purposes of your website is giving your potential customers the opportunity to convert. Conversion will mean something different for every company. Perhaps you want your customer to buy a product or fill out a form.
You are not going to have a high conversion rate if your page lacks (frequent) calls to action (CTAs), forms and other conversion tools. If you are like one of the 70% of small B2B companies that were lacking CTAs on their websites in 2013, it is time to change－NOW.
“Plain and simple. You are not going to have a high conversion rate if your page lacks calls to action!”
You may think a small form for customer information on the home page or a dedicated “Contact Us” page is enough, but it isn’t. Instead, sprinkle CTAs throughout your website, increasing the probability of converting a lead. We will discuss this further in a future post. So stay tuned.
#2 – You do not have a responsive web design
As we have discussed in another blog post, a responsive website is crucial in today’s tech-driven economy. For most people, their smartphone is the first thing they look at when they wake up, and the last thing they look at before bed. Many people rely on a tablet or other touch-screen device, and rarely, if ever, use a traditional computer.
This is why your website design MUST be adaptable to work on a variety of devices. By investing in a responsive website you will greatly widen your target audience, by ensuring all users can access your business, regardless of what platform they are using to browse. This will also benefit your SEO efforts by utilizing a single web address for your page.
#3 – Your website does not have a blog
Blogging is one of the easiest ways to draw potential customers to your website. Every post that you publish on your website is indexed by search engines, increasing the odds that a new customer will stumble across your page. Not only that, but it clearly defines your place in the industry you serve.
Once a potential client is on your page, your blog is a great way to connect with them, and show them what your business is all about. It also opens up new forms of communication through the comments section with individuals that might not want to fill out a contact form on your website.
#4 – You are not utilizing analytics
When you want your website to perform well, you are going to have to put a little work into it, just like in every other area of life. If you are not currently using any analytical tools to figure out what is going wrong and what you can do about it, you need to change this immediately.
There are a wide range of excellent analytical platforms out there like Hubspot, Google Analytics, Raven, Moz and Sprout Social. Let these tools chart the important metrics of your website like traffic volume, your top viewed pages, page view times and more. Once you analyze what you are doing wrong (and right), you can start to figure out what you need to change to make your website a relevant and useful marketing tool for your business.
#5 – Your website’s navigation is confusing
If your website’s navigation bar is cluttered and unclear, you are most likely turning off customers and keeping them from the key information that they need to know about your business. The navigation bar of your website should be clear and simple, with only the most important pages included at the top level
If you know your page’s navigation needs to be simplified, you may want to start by using an analytical tool (see above for some of our favorites) to figure out where the navigation is throwing your business off course. Using an analytics tool will help you figure out which pages are receiving less traffic, allowing you to consolidate and streamline your navigation.
There are many reasons that your website may not be achieving the desired results. The good news is, that there is a lot you can do about it! Take a good hard look at your conversion methods and design, and consider utilizing some analytical tools to take it a step further.
You invested a lot of time, energy and money into your website, and it is time to take it to its full potential. Try implementing some of the above strategies to help your website start doing what it should be doing－drawing in customers, converting them and making your business money!