By JENNIFER CERNA
Having a website in this digital age is a must. Without a website, you lose credibility and business. So, you’ve put one together and launched it. But now it’s not working the way you thought it would. You’re either getting a good amount of traffic but not many leads, or not getting any traffic at all. Here is a list of five possible reasons why your website isn’t working.
- Having an unclear or cluttered “Above the Fold”
“Above the Fold,” or ATF, derives from the newspaper days when the top story was featured in the most prominent area, which was on the front page and above the fold. It’s similar with your website. ATF in websites means the area your site visitors see without scrolling after landing on your page. It’s the few seconds you have to grab your visitor’s attention and let them know they are in the right place. Because this area makes your first impression, you need to make sure that you put your best foot forward and as concisely and clearly as possible, let visitors know what you do, and who you do it for. The biggest mistake I’ve seen is displaying too much content, making it cluttered, and not being clear about what the business does, making it unclear to the visitor if they are where they need to be to solve their problems.
- Indistinctive or no Call to Actions
A “Call to Action,” or CTA, is a wording that is used to tell your visitors what action you want them to take. For example, “Call Now.” Having someone visit your website is great, but what then? Your site visitors need to know where to go and what to do. So, tell them with a “Learn More” button under an About Us section or a “Book Now” button under your services. Keep in mind that CTAs need to be distinctive and stand out from the rest of the content around them. A big reason why you might not be converting is that you either have no CTAs or clear CTAs that move leads towards your desired action such as booking an appointment.
- Not having a clear or easy flow
Have you ever gone onto a website that has no clear direction or where you don’t know how to get to what you want? In case you haven’t, they are extremely frustrating, and visitors don’t stay long. Many site visitors are in a hurry to get the information or solution they need, so when they can’t find it on your website, they move on to the next site. The solution is to carefully think through the structure of your website and have a clear, concise site map. A good rule of thumb to note is to make sure that your site visitors are able to find what they need in under three clicks orn less. For example, if someone wants to learn about the process you use for one of your services, they select the “Services” tab (click one). Scroll through your various services until they find the one they are looking for and select it (click two). Find it there and then click to either contact you to learn more or book an appointment (click three). Putting some thought into your target audiences’ website journey will help them navigate your site more efficiently and increase your analytics.
- Not being optimized for mobile screens
Our phones become more and more like our computers. That means surfing the web and searching Google on our mobile devices is heavily used. And as technology improves, we are only going to rely on it more. This means that making sure your website is configured to fit comfortably on mobile screens is incredibly important. If someone has to zoom into or has trouble using your website on their phone or tablet, it hurts you in more ways than one. It hurts you when it comes to SEO, to the visitor experience, and visitors don’t stay long, so it hurts your analytics and therefore your bottom line. Depending on what platform and template you use for your website, you can make your current design responsive to mobile devices.
- Slow Loading or Broken Links
Nobody likes to stare at an empty screen waiting for the page to load. And it’s not fun to get a 404 error when clicking on a link. These are common mistakes that cause visitors to jump ship and leave your site. You get one chance to make a first impression. Make it count by making sure you keep your load speeds below 5.3 seconds and making sure that there are no broken links. You can keep your load speed down by reducing the size of images and files with compression tools. Another way to be perceived as professional and high quality is by making sure that no one gets a broken link error. This can be done by simply clicking through your website consistently on a private browser to make sure all your links still work correctly. One can be very technical and the other can be done using a few minutes a month. Both impact SEO and visitor experience and ultimately sales.
These are the five main reasons why your website might not be working, but there could be many more. But most of these mistakes can be avoided by doing some research or hiring a website designer who knows the best practices for designing a website or landing page that works and converts your target audience.
Jennifer Cerna is the founder and Creative Director at Jreamit Marketing, a marketing agency that specializes in branding and website design. We have worked with doctors and other medical professionals to get better marketing results with storytelling and branded experiences. Our clients have more time to focus on growing their business as we take care of their marketing functions and processes. To learn more about website design click here. Or contact Jennifer at jenn@jreamitmarketing.com with any questions.
