One of the essential tools of business today is having a website. Your website should be more than just a collection of web pages about your business. Your business website is your marketing machine. It should be designed to attract customers to you and your business just as an outdoor sign would attract people to your storefront. The website’s job is to promote your business 24 hours a day. If you’re in business today, you must have a website. Twenty years ago, it was critical to have a fax machine. Times have changed and websites are a necessity for marketing your business. However, many businesses make common mistakes on their websites that turn away prospects and possible sales. Below, I have listed a few of the common website blunders to avoid.
1. Pop up messages. Pop up messages are a form of on-line advertising intended to attract web traffic or get email addresses. Pop ups usually contain some type of offer that is being advertised for a particular product, event or service. However, many people consider pop up messages to be pesky images that disturb the browsing experience on a website. There is nothing more distracting or annoying than a pop-up window, especially if it is an advertisement. Unless your pop up message contains an offer that is too good to refuse or too irresistible to ignore, omit this feature and try using something less intrusive to get your message across. Of course the caveat here is that, if by some miracle, you actually have better than a 50% click rate on your pop up, by all means keep it. If your response rate is more than half, you have managed to achieve results that most only hope for. On the contrary, if your pop up message, has a low response rate and the click-through rate is virtually non-existent, that is a good indicator that it’s time to eliminate the pop ups.
2. Don’t forget the OPT-IN box for your email list. If you want to build your marketing list, you absolutely need an opt-in box or form on your website. The companies that do not have an opt- in box; typically have no way of knowing who is actually visiting their site. However, keep in mind having an opt-in box is not sufficient by itself. Having a generic box that simply asks visitors to enter their email address to sign up for your mailing list is just like saying; enter your email address so we can fill your inbox with spam. Many people are hesitant to give their email address unless they are getting something of value in return. With that said, use a catchy, compelling and irresistible free offer to attract people to want to enter their email address. Giving something of value to prospects before you know who they are, is a great way to keep them coming back to see what else you have to offer.
3. Automatic Music or Videos on Page Load. The ability to embed audio or video on your website is definitely a great tool versus using traditional marketing collateral. However, unless you’re in the entertainment business, there is really no need to use music or videos on automatic pilot when your website loads. I would certainly suggest that you use multi-media images such as videos to convey your marketing messages. But by all means, don’t have it automatically play as soon as I arrive on your website. Kindly give me the option to listen at my choosing. Your website visitors may be in a quiet place where they do not want automatic noise to sound off while they are browsing your website.
4. No Call to Action. Make sure you tell your visitors what you want them to do when they land on your website. If you want them to download a report, make sure that you tell them what the report is and how they can easily get it. If you want them to call you, make sure that your phone number is prominently listed on multiple pages. Whatever the primary action is that you want your visitors to take, tell them. If you sell products on your site, make certain that your E-commerce process is professional and hassle free. Your shopping cart and check out process should use a safe system to ensure protection of your customer’s credit card information. People don’t want to enter their credit card number if your payment options look shady. Make your instructions, clear, concise and easy to understand. Remember a confused visitor will not act or buy, they will simply find a website that is less confusing.
5. Too much clutter. Research shows that you have 3 seconds to grab the attention of your website visitors before they click away. Don’t sacrifice quality for quantity. Your website is not a bulletin board to promote the latest flavor of the month unless you’re Baskin Robbins. It should be very easy to figure out the goal of your website once someone lands on your homepage. Make certain that you use your home page as prime real estate that contains consistent messaging about your company and your brand. Don’t mix in advertising with your core message. Don’t overload your website visitors with too many images and too much text. You certainly don’t want to give your visitors information overload before you have the opportunity to convert them into paying customers.
6. Ignoring Key Words. Use the words on your website that your target audience would use when searching for your product or service. Remember that Google, Bing, Yahoo and all of the major search engines need key words to index information on your site. Utilizing key words on your website will also help you with higher SEO rankings.
7. Poor Website Design and Navigation. Your website should be well designed and appealing to the eye. If you’re just starting out, hire a web designer. If you’re not technical or electronically astute, don’t try the easy or cheap route by throwing a free website up just for the sake of having one. Chances are it will look like a novice website and potentially turn off new customers. Choose a color scheme that represents your company colors. Don’t have multiple colors on every page. Don’t use a black background and white text. Don’t use elaborate art that is irrelevant to the type of business you have. Most importantly, make your navigation bar easy to read and easy to find. The most common navigation bars are at the top of the page or on the left side of the screen.
Your website is your single biggest on-line resource for publicizing your business and attracting new clients. Make certain that you utilize the space in the most optimal way to attract all the customers you need.
Did this article help you? Do you have other mistakes that you’ve made or seen on websites that you would like to share? Please leave a comment below. I’d love to hear your stories.
© 2012 Quality Media Consultant Group, LLC – All Rights Reserved
This article is written by Lori A. Manns. Want to use this article for your website, blog or newsletter? No problem. Here’s what you must include: Lori A. Manns, CEO of Quality Media Consultant Group your marketing and sales success mentor, and founder of Marketing for Trailblazers System;TM that shows you how to get more clients, more visibility and increase your income, guaranteed. To purchase consulting services on marketing, advertising or sales and, learn how to increase your revenue and grow your business; please visit www.qualitymediaconsultants.com.
Thanks for sharing your insight on “pop ups”. I’ve been struggling with the idea of adding it to my website, as I am not getting as many “opt ins” as possible. You paint them in a different light. I appreciate your thoughts. Very timely for me.
HI Lori! I really like your last comment and also believe in hiring a professional VS throwing up a free or do-it-yourself website. I know from personal experience. I can’t tell you how many hours I spent revamping my DIY website only to have it not look good enough and not convey the image that I was going for. Thanks – this is a great article 🙂
Janet
Wonderfully valuable content Lori. I personally don’t enjoy those pop ups either. I’m glad someone else mentioned it. To me their an intrusion to my time…
Your insights are great. I, too, do not like pop-ups (are we seeing more of them??) and music…honestly, I turn it off as I usually have music in the background of my office!!!
Lori,
thanks for reminding me of the keywords, so often i put up a page or a post and don’t spend enough time putting all the keywords and/or keyword phrases up.
Great tips! I totally agree with you about using the expertise of a designer to make your site appealing is important. My web designer/developer husband strives to make sites inviting as well as easy to use. That takes talent that I certainly don’t have.
Loved your point about music and videos. Originally, I wanted my video to start automatically so that it would “instantly” greet people when they arrived. Once my designer that set up, it was great until I clicked on another page!!! My video was at the top of all my pages and every time I clicked on a new page, that video would start up again – VERY annoying. I quickly had that changed.