I have been involved in web marketing now for more than 20 years. Technology has come a long way from when dial-up connections were the mainstream and websites were created with nested tables to stabilize the layout. Today, you can quickly create and launch a website using services or content management systems.
But this do-it-yourself approach can be both a blessing and a curse. It can help speed up your ability to launch a website while still leaving plenty of room to make traditional mistakes when it comes to design, search engine optimization, marketing success and website security. This issue’s Marketing Matters column focuses on four of those common mistakes and what can be done to fix them.
Not Optimized for Mobile
As mentioned in previous Marketing Matters articles (link?), more than 50% of those searching for something on the Internet do it with mobile devices. This number is growing tremendously every year. If your website is not optimized for mobile, you are putting yourself at a distinct disadvantage.
Most websites without mobile optimization result from outdated code and layout. A mobile optimized or “responsive” website enhances the user experience by making site navigation, content reading and social media sharing easier.
The Fix
The easiest solution is to redesign the website to reflect current standards (HTML5 and CSS). This can be accomplished as a custom website redesign where all the design elements are put into a custom layout built entirely for your business. Sounds costly, and it usually is if done the wrong way. But it doesn’t have to be.
One of the most convenient and cost-effective ways to accomplish a redesign is to move the content of the website (the text, graphics, pictures) to a web design platform like WordPress or Wix. These make building websites relatively easy and come with tutorials that can walk you through setup.
Missing Call to Action (CTA)
A business website without a solid “call to action” is like running in a race without sneakers. Sure, you could do it, but you are missing a key element that would make you competitive, let alone allow you to finish the race.
The “Call to Action” (CTA) is one of the most critical elements of a website because clicks lead to new customers. The essential mistake in any website call to action is relying on just one way to reach your business. Put your phone number out there for someone to contact you? Ok, what else are you going to do to get that potential customer to contact you. Here are some ideas.
The Fix
Beyond just pasting your phone number in a website header, it is always good practice to have a contact box available so a potential customer can fill it out with their name, company name, email, phone number, and what they are looking for, at the very least. This will collapse the beginnings of a sales process into one step and allow for a more focused discussion when meeting the potential client.
Also consider CTA buttons, these are little colorful buttons you often see scattered around a website that say, “Learn More” or “Call Now!” and encourage a prospect to click on them. These typically lead to an online fillable form or other direct contact method.
Not Using Website Analytics
There is an old axiom in business, “That which can be measured can be managed.” While this may not be the exact saying, it rings true when applied to your business website.
All websites gather web statistics by virtue of being on a webhost and server. In the beginning, the numbers were generated as raw stats directly from a web server. These could be downloaded into an Excel spreadsheet and then sifted through for relevant data. This data is still gathered today but is most often presented in a much easier-to-understand format (more on that in a bit).
But these raw stats tell an incomplete story. Very often, you don’t know what a potential customer was looking for when they came upon your website. Perhaps it wasn’t a real person at all and just a bot (computer program) that visited the website to index it for a search engine. Or the format of the data makes it difficult to understand simple metrics like time on site, what pages were visited, how many times this searcher visited the site over time.
The Fix
There are several solutions available that are capable of robust analysis of your business website. These can be internal and accessible through tools like Google Analytics and the Google Search Console. A small piece of code is placed on your website and is then triggered when a visitor’s browser request is processed by the web server where your website sits.
The most useful aspect of a Google Analytics solution is the breadth and depth of information that becomes possible and how it is formatted into easy-to-read, easy-to-understand metrics that are relevant. Also, the level of customization available is an excellent way to dial in important metrics like finding out what pages on the website a user found most important.
Poor Security
Simply put, if your website is down because of security issues, then your ability to connect with prospective customers does not exist. Worse yet, I have seen firsthand how a hacked website can be used to drive away customers or hijack them to another website altogether with a simple redirect.
Very often, websites are hosted on a “shared” web server, meaning that many (sometimes hundreds) of websites coexist on the same machine. What can sometimes happen is that another website on the shared server gets infected with malicious code and then begins to affect other sites by slowing down website loading times overall, or worse — disabling the server completely. These are situations that you have zero control over and are unlikely to know are occurring until someone notifies you that they cannot get to your website (not always the web hosting company).
The Fix
Do you ever notice the little lock symbol in the search bar when you visit a website? You see them most often when you buy something and need to have a secure connection. Well, that is called an SSL connection, and it is now nearly a requirement by search engines like Google that every site have one regardless of whether selling something directly or not. These are easy to set up and can be done with most web hosting providers.
Back up your website regularly (daily if possible). It can be simple to do, but one of the most overlooked processes for website security. If something does happen, you have an up-to-date copy ready to go immediately. This minimizes downtime in those situations.
• Updates. If you are using a platform like WordPress or any other, are you updating whenever a new version is released? These software releases are the channel that developers use to address “bugs” in the raw code or fix identified security issues.
• Web hosting. Do you really know who is hosting your website? Have you ever done a search on the company and looked for complaints or feedback? You may be surprised. As mentioned earlier, websites on a shared server are like neighborhoods. Some are good, and some are not so good. Find a web hosting company that puts security into their core values and helps you understand how important it really is.
• Passwords. Please do not use birthdays, names, or other commonly used passwords, such as “password123.” The best way to create and make passwords accessible is with tools like Dashlane or LastPass. There are free versions available with these and other password managers.
Conclusion
Your business website is one of your most immediate means of connecting with potential customers. Avoid the common mistakes mentioned in this article and you are off to a great start. If you feel overwhelmed or need advice, please do not hesitate to contact me. I would be happy to help.
Editor’s Note: Glenn Meeks is an expert on marketing and sales for the pallet and recycling industries. He currently offers website design and online marketing services tailored to the pallet industry. He can be reached at glenn.meeks@woodviewmedia.com or by calling 856-866-6055.
