Why is your Website NOT selling and what to do about it
July 24th, 2010
Since first generation websites, the Internet has evolved into a complex, strategic environment for businesses, where leveraging an effective online presence can help your company grow and prosper. Amazingly, still too many businesses, big and small, think of a website as just a “must-have” cost center. Only a few companies recognize their websites as valuable investments that can help them expand profitability, achieve organizational objectives and boost their marketing and sales efforts. What usually happens is that after a chain of unsuccessful experiences, wasting a lot of time and money, and realizing that the web design decision drivers that made it happen, were the wrong ones in the first place, companies finally get to the unsettling conclusion that “the company website is not selling”.
After several years working as a marketing and web consultant for companies across all major industries, I’ve come to identify a set of common reasons why websites don’t sell and deliver the results organizations expect. I invite you to use this list as a basic reference guide to assess your current online presence. Should you see your company’s website suffers of one (or more) of these symptoms, maybe it’s time to bring an expert on board.
- Poor ‘Look & Feel’. You may be the best at what you do, but if you don’t project a clean, professional image online, people won’t hire you, as simple as that. You’re in the realm of subjective perceptions and the way you present yourself online can make or break you. Remember, you never get a second chance to make a first impression and online that means you have less than 5 seconds to do it right.
- Outdated content. Content is the heart of a website. Having useful, informative, seo-friendly and valuable content updated regularly is key to boost your traffic, improve your visibility online and promote conversions. Outdated content not only increases bounce rates and negatively affects search rankings, among other things, but also gives visitors a wrong impression that positions you as a lazy company.
- Lack of web usability. Too many business websites don’t pay attention to web usability and make it real hard for users to navigate them and find the information they’re looking for. Exploring a website should be an easy, intuitive process. Like Steve Krug, a known web usability expert, would say “Don’t make me think”.
- No web standards. Building a website compliant with web standards means simplifying and lowering production and maintenance costs, while delivering a site that is accessible to more people and more types of Internet devices. Sites that follow these guidelines from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) will continue to function correctly as web browsers evolve and new Internet devices come to the market.
- You do what? If you don’t quickly convey the kind of business you are in and the products and services you offer to customers, you will repeatedly lose visitors. Sounds like another no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at how many business websites still leave you looking at them for minutes wondering, “What does this company do?”
- Visual noise. For some reason, many companies think that loading a website with as many ”creative” design elements as possible, such as a busy background wallpaper, an embossed company logo, wild patterns, animations and even in some cases favorite tunes as background music, will add interest to their business websites. The reality is that all those things interfere with the messages to be communicated and scare visitors off.
- Invisible contact information. Visitors need to be able to contact you with information requests, questions, complaints, and/or suggestions. A ‘Contact Us’ page is like an Internet business card that should be always available from any part of your website and have your key company’s contact information. Make it easy for people to contact you and give them options (ex. contact form, department emails, twitter, facebook, telephone numbers, fax, among others), instead of making yourself invisible.
- No image optimization. It’s true, a picture paints a thousand words, but if your web graphics are not optimized for the Web, it will mean higher hosting costs for your company and a poor visitor experience which can lead to less visits and no returns. The more storage space on the server you need because of larger files and the more bandwidth it’s needed are variables you need to address with optimization from start.
- Broken links and 404 error messages. Before launching your website and making it public, make sure every link works or get ready to lose a lot of visitors quickly. Avoid giving your visitors ”404 file not found” error messages, or broken/incorrectly labeled links that end their browsing experience abruptly. For large sites consider adding a form so visitors can submit a broken link, which lets them become part of the solution and know you are on top of any problems they discover.
- Ignoring statistics. If you don’t monitor your statistics (such as average time on pages, bounce rates, entry and exit pages, top content, keywords, referrals, etc.) you not only miss the opportunity to make your website more effective toward those who visit you most and those you’re not reaching, but you’ll lose a lot of time and money managing your online presence blind-folded.
In this social web era building a successful, effective website presents you with a great opportunity to grow your business and build a global audience that supports your brand. To help you get started, here is a quick checklist that will help you set the right foundation to create a website for optimal ROI:
1. Know what you want (objectives) and know your audience (market).
2. Create a web strategy and define your project goals
3. Develop an implementation plan with the right mix of tools for your company
4. Define your SEO-friendly content strategy, including all web communication channels
5. Integrate online and offline initiatives for better marketing effectiveness
6. Select only experienced, professional hosting and development providers
7. Protect your brand and proprietary information
8. Monitor, Test, Learn, Repeat
9. Create and measure the right web metrics for your business
To get the most out of your website investment and build a memorable, effective online presence that sells, you must start treating it like a business. Just remember that a business website can be a powerful strategic weapon that can have a huge impact on your bottom line, only if it’s designed and developed properly.
REFERENCES
- “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug
- “Usability for the Web: Designing Web Sites that Work” by Tom Brinck, Darren Gergle, Scott Wood
- “Designing Web Usability” by Jakob Nielsen
- Wikipedia
Ernesto Sosa is Principal at SOWEB Inc. and leads the marketing consulting practice. You can follow him @ernestososa and connect with him @LinkedIn.
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