Over the summer we completely overhauled our Manage Comics website, while doing that we put a lot of thought into what the site says about who we are.
As an internet marketing company, our website is incredibly important. We need to clearly state what we do, how we do it, and why we are unique. As we started thinking about how to make Manage Comics better, we also thought about how we could make the NorthIQ site better, and overall some things we think are important to every website on the internet.
If you think of your website as a virtual window into your business, you need to really consider what it is that you’re showing. Take the picture for this post as an example. A quick look in that window shows us an interesting space that has customers, a well stocked bar, and intimate, yet inviting lighting. If you’re the type of person who likes those things, it will encourage you to walk through the doors.
Your website is the online version of that exact same window.
Website? Who needs a website, I have <insert social media platform>
A website is the cheapest and most effective form of marketing you can have. It is the one place that you can post things about what makes you unique, your site can have clear calls to action which can generate new leads, and you’re not at he mercy of an algorithm.
Not owning your own website is dangerous, relying exclusively on Facebook or another platform to carry your messaging puts your fate in the hands of algorithms which can simply decide not to show your messages to your users.
Businesses that don’t have websites will not show up in search rankings for the exact term for the business name. Many people don’t trust a business without a website.
It is poorly designed
The design of your website reflects your business. If someone searches for your website and sees timestamps from 3 years ago, or a very bad design, they will not recommend you.
Internet trends change all the time, what was interesting technology a couple of years ago is considered annoying or frustrating today. If your website wasn’t built in the last 5 years, it is likely completely out of date.
A poorly designed website shows your customers that you don’t care about how you look. It’s similar to showing up to a job site in a broken down jalopy, or having a store front with broken windows.
A good website that considers the customer journey shows your customers that you care about the things they are interested in.
57% of all mobile users will not recommend a business if their mobile website is poorly designed or unresponsive. (Sweor, 2017)
Your site is not optimized for mobile
First off, Google now ranks mobile optimized websites higher than non optimized sites, we wrote about this earlier in a post called “If Your Site Isn’t Mobile-friendly You Might be in Trouble“. What’s as important is that over half of all searches now come from mobile devices. This means that your website needs to look good on a mobile device.
If your website isn’t optimized, you’re telling your customers that you don’t care about being where they are.
Over 51% of smartphone users have discovered a new company or product while conducting a search on their smartphone. (Google, 2018)
Your website is not secure (does not have SSL)
Google prioritizes secure websites in its search, and lowers the rank for non secure sites.
If you are selling products on your website, SSL becomes even more important. Credit Card companies will revoke your processing rights if you’re not using SSL, and customers overwhelmingly will not purchase from an unsecure website.
An unsecure website says you don’t care about keeping your customer’s information private.
84% of people will not make a purchase if they are dealing with an unsecured website. (Blue Corona, 2018)
Your business doesn’t have reviews
You need to include testimonials on your website if you want to make sales. It’s equally important to have a Google My Business presence with reviews online which will improve your search engine ranking.
A website without reviews is a business that nobody will vouch for.
81% of buyers research their purchases online. (Adweek 2018)
You don’t have landing pages for specific products or services
A landing page is a simple and effective way to direct customers to a specific product or service that you offer. A landing page will have an offer, and a form that can turn a visitor into a lead. It’s incredibly important that you have lead opportunities all over your website.
A website without landing pages is missing opportunities for finding new customers.
Strategic landing pages are used by 68% of B2B businesses to acquire leads. (Marketo, 2018)
It has no contact information
If someone is on your website, they need to be able to quickly and effectively contact you. I am shocked by the number of websites that hide their contact forms.
We wrote about this a few months back, “Do You Want People To Contact You”, but we keep on seeing this trend where it is harder and harder to contact someone. This just happened to me with Amazon where they sent me an email saying my package had been lost. The link led me to my order, with a contact link, that put me into an endless loop. I eventually went through 12 different pages to finally land on a chat.
It’s pretty obvious to me that Amazon doesn’t want to hear from their customers. Hiding your contact information will mean the same thing to your customers.
Your competition is doing better than you are
If you do a Google search and your key competitor comes up first for your business, you need to make significant changes quickly. If your competition has a better site and better positioning than you do, then they will get your business.
If your competition has a better website than you do, now is the time to change that.
