Six More Reasons Why Your Website is Failing…

I read an interesting article over the weekend that offered six reasons why small and midsized businesses still have limited, ineffective online presence.  It’s a solid piece, based on recent research, in which the author reminds us of the importance of covering the bases when planning a business website:

Optimize for mobile – Ensure your readers can access your site via tablet, smartphone, etc.

Provide social media links – Your social media presence is there for a purpose; link to it!

Include an email function – If you want readers to contact you, make it easy for them.

Feature an information request function – A proper form will help you understand what your readers seek from you.

Publish your phone number on the home page – This kind of goes without saying.

Put SEO to work for you – Optimize your site for search engine discovery.

This is all solid advice, yet I am surprised businesses still need to be reminded to follow these fundamental guidelines.   Having reviewed the websites of many small and midsize businesses, I have encountered quite a few additional reasons why they fail at creating meaningful online impact:

We don’t know what you do – Companies can be surprising vague about their products or services, all too often describing themselves as “solutions providers” or “forward thinking technology partners” without actually telling the reader what they offer.   Develop a concise, direct “elevator pitch,” test it out to make sure anyone can understand it, and put it on your home page.

You hesitate to make a bold statement – We advise our clients to develop “the bold statement” to showcase the need for their offerings or set them apart from the competition.  Tell me, as a prospective customer, what I am doing all wrong and why I need you.   If there is something your company does better than anyone else, say so with conviction and make that my reason to want more information.

We don’t know what others think of you – Some companies are reluctant to boast about their client lists when “value by association” is among any company’s strongest selling points.  If the reader sees that industry leaders make use of your products or services, the implied third-party endorsement strengthens your credibility.  If your site includes positive customer testimonials, you look even better.

You assume we care about your mission statement – Please don’t take this personally, but we don’t.  Development of a mission statement is a valuable exercise, but its value is largely internal and seldom effective for true business development.  There is nothing wrong with posting a mission statement somewhere on your site, if you must, but don’t expect it to make your phone ring.

Your site is dull and unchanging – If your website content never changes, your prospective clients have little reason to return.  On the other hand, if you have the discipline to maintain a lively, insightful blog, you have the opportunity to establish thought leadership and encourage dialogue. If you frequently update your site with new testimonials, media coverage and other timely content, you create frequent opportunities for customer contact and engagement.

Your site looks like a cable news program – The opposite of a dull website is one that presents so much information on the home page (and following pages) that the content – and opportunity for impact – are diluted.  The same holds true for websites that overly emphasize expansive libraries of 40-page “deep dive” white papers.  Your website will be more successful if you guide readers through content in an organized fashion, rather than splash as much information on the page as possible and hope the readers stumble upon what is most important.

There are likely many other fail points that small to midsize businesses encounter when planning their websites.  Perhaps you have a few examples of your own?

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