You are a small online business. You have a website. You have your products ready for shipping and your services on standby awaiting a client. But you find you are still waiting. The client never comes. Why?
There are many reasons why that client you are sitting there waiting for never initiates contact. One of the main issues could be on your website. This is the face of your company. Is it the best that it can be though? Is it easy for potential customers to find? Take a look at your site after reading through this and decide if one of these things, or multiples, is the issue.
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1. Content
First and foremost: your content. Is it engaging? Does it describe your business well? Does it relay the value of your offerings? Customers want to see the benefits of using your services or buying products from your company. They want to see that up front. They do not want to have to do searches through long paragraphs or numerous pages to find out why they should use your company over others.
The content may also be misaligned. Whereas the goal of attaining sales might be met in your current content, it may not be complementary to your audience. The visitors to your site should dictate what information you provide and the format it is presented in. Doing otherwise could alienate potential clients and cause them to seek out a competitor for their needs.
To improve your content, consider hiring a professional writer with experience in your industry.
2. SEO
Search engine optimization is crucial to any online business. If you are not maximizing your presence through SEO techniques or SEO companies such as Stellar SEO, you will not survive for long. You need various search engines to find your business when a person intentionally searches for your type of business. The larger your online presence, the better your standing with the engines.
You need to optimize your business to the point where you show up on the first page of results from that person’s search. By blogging on your website, you can connect newer ones to existing ones with links, adding to your online presence. The more links you can build, and the more your company’s name is attached to articles from highly-ranked websites, the more likely search engines like Google and Yahoo will recognize it and list it in the results.
For search engine optimization, with its eccentricities and technicalities, it is probably best to contract out to an SEO firm experienced in the practice.
3. Design
The look of your website could be throwing off the visitors to your site. If you are using a layout that appears haphazard and unprofessional, you are telling your clients that your services are not very professional either; you are telling them the products you sell are cheap knock offs and will not perform or endure as expected. You are missing out on sales because no one wants to do business with you.
Font sizes and styles are important. Make sure they match the type of industry your company is involved in. Do not use calligraphy when you are selling used car parts; the two do not fit well together. Watch out how small your font is on your site. It needs to be big enough for the average person to read, larger if you are a business catering to the elderly. Too big and the size could make it harder for readers to focus on, making them more likely to turn away from your site.
Colors are important in your web design as well. Not only can the use of certain colors give your website an ugly appearance, but too much or bold colors could also hurt a viewer’s eyes. If you have international clients, you must be especially concerned about the colors you use on your website. Certain colors represent different aspects of thousands of cultures in the world. Make sure the ones you use do not represent something that can be deterring customers from your business.
4. Mobile-Friendly
If your website is not easy to use on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, you are missing out on possibly millions of customers. Approximately 30% of all online business transactions are conducted through a mobile device. People are using them to make spur of the moment purchases or calling for a tow or a Lyft ride. If your website is not designed to be used on these devices, you will probably want to change that quick.
To fix the issues with your overall design, and to make it more mobile-friendly, consult a professional web designer. They will be able to look at your site and know immediately what elements to change and the best way to change them.