Web Woes! Top 10 Small Business Website Mistakes
Posted on 24th January 2019
Any website should provide a return on investment – but for many small businesses across the UK, this simply isn’t the case!
At it’seeze Web Design Ryedale, we see a lot of small business websites in Scarborough, Northallerton, and Whitby that vary massively in terms of quality and performance!
In this post, we take a look at some of the most common mistakes small businesses make when it comes to their online presence.
1. Not having a website at all
In 2019, having an up to date, great looking website is essential. Despite this, nearly a third of small businesses in the UK still don’t have a website.
81% of people do online research on a company before buying from them. If your business isn’t listed, potential customers will go elsewhere.
2. Ignoring your local SEO
It doesn’t matter how good your website is if customers never see it – and this is where SEO comes in. Many small businesses miss out because they ignore their local SEO.
Optimising the content, incorporating industry and location related keywords in page titles and metadata, registering for Google My Business, asking for Google reviews and generating quality backlinks will all help you to rank higher for the words and phrases your customers are looking for.
Check out this post on free business directories for some more quick and easy ways to boost your local SEO.
3. Poor design
A poorly designed, hard to navigate, out of date website that isn’t optimised for mobile isn’t going to do your business any favours. Over time, web tech and design trends change, and if your site is lagging behind, it will put people off.
Updating your design to ensure it’s attractive, fully responsive, and easy to navigate will maximise your chances of driving business online.
4. No analytics/metrics
How do you know whether your site is working or not, if you’re not measuring it?
Constantly measuring website visitors, traffic sources and page performance will provide you with valuable insight into what your website is doing well, and what can be improved. Monitoring website analytics and metrics using Google Analytics is free and easy.
5. Wrong contact info
It might sound simple, but one of the most common mistakes we see is out of date information on sites. Websites that list old addresses and phone numbers, contact forms that email out of use addresses, and wrong opening times will all alienate potential customers.
If you haven’t done so recently, go back through your site and ensure it’s up to date.
6. Poor quality content
Your web content is your chance to sell your business – it needs to be right. Websites with poorly written, long-winded and boring content rarely perform well.
Quality copy is a must if your website is going to engage with visitors, communicate your core messages, and compel them to do business with you.
7. Slow to load
Web visitors are impatient! In fact, studies have shown that if any page on your website fails to load within the first three seconds, visitors start to leave and look elsewhere.
Taking time to ensure your website is properly configured and mobile friendly, and investing in quality hosting, will help to boost speeds.
8. Broken pages and links
Websites that don’t work as they should reflect badly on your business. 404 errors, links that lead nowhere, and pages that don’t load correctly will all put off visitors.
Use Google Search Console (or a link checker/browser plugin) to check for crawl errors and ensure your website is working exactly as it should.
9. No credibility
A small business website needs to generate trust in your organisation – and your website needs to communicate it.
Listing accreditations, awards, and industry association memberships is a good start. You’ll also want to generate some testimonials and reviews – ask your existing customers, and get them on your website.
10. No clear purpose
Every great website (and every web page) needs to have a purpose, and strong calls to action throughout. We often see websites that simply present information, without encouraging visitors to take the next step.
Whether it’s getting in touch making an order, arranging a meeting, signing up for a mailing list, or picking up the phone, your website needs to make it clear to visitors what you want them to do.
Small business websites that work from it’seeze Ryedale
Is your website generating business for you?
Want a beautiful, mobile responsive, and fully editable website that’s designed to perform in the modern world? Contact it’seeze Ryedale today – the specialists for small business websites in Scarborough, Malton, Pickering and across Ryedale.
Set up your free, no obligation meeting with Rob Davies from it’seeze Ryedale today by calling 01653 690 982, or by emailing rob.davies@itseeze.co.uk.
Tagged as: Company News, Online Marketing
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