Like most small businesses, you probably spend a lot of time and effort finding qualified leads and telling prospective customers about your business, and the value that you can bring to them by working with your company. You probably also give them a business card, which of course lists your website address where they can find more information and check out your business. But when potential customers actually visit your website, what will they find? Will they be ready to buy, or ready to run? Are you sending good prospects to a bad website?
The differences between a “good” website and a “bad” one can be a little subjective, but there are some standard elements that differentiate the good from the bad. And most people agree that sending good prospects to a bad website can lead to missed opportunities and lost sales, so fixing a bad website is always a good idea. If you are suffering from a bad website, here are some things to consider:
- Standards-based, custom-designed websites are built to meet the specific needs of your business and your customers. Template-based sites or freeware-built sites can box you in and tie you to a single tool, company, or platform, making it difficult (or impossible) to grow and expand with your business.
- Updated, user-friendly websites help boost customer conversions, bring in repeat visitors, and differentiate you from competitors.
- Good website architecture and error-free web code can ensure that the search engines can read and index your content, and can help visitors quickly and easily find the information they are looking for on your site.
- A solid call-to-action on every page helps visitors know what to do next, and leads them to take some sort of action – like contacting you, requesting a quote, or making a purchase.
- A good website is a great way to level the playing field with competitors, even the big ones, by showing visitors that you are every bit as credible and capable as the competition. It’s also a great way to expose your business to a much larger audience who may not otherwise even know about your business.
- Good websites can also capture customer data and new leads (opt-in, of course), and are always working for your business 24/7. Visitors get access to your high-value marketing materials and other useful information whenever it’s convenient for them.
- Results from a good website can be tracked and measured (number of visitors, search engine rankings, website traffic, top page visits, time spent on the site, etc.) and can be adjusted as necessary to improve results over time.
- A good website is an asset to your business that can be enhanced, expanded, and changed as your business grows.
