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Is Your Website Working For You Or Against You?

Digital marketing requires a combination of tactics in order to be successful—starting with an engaging website. You can’t just stand up a DIY website, run a few Facebook ads, and expect to see meaningful results.

But that’s exactly what many businesses do, then wonder why their marketing isn’t paying off. We like to call that wish/hope marketing because you can put forth a good bit of effort without the assurance that what you’re doing is actually going to work. 

Is Your Website Working For You or Against You?

Successful digital marketing strategies begin with engaging websites. But many websites simply aren’t getting the job done because they are missing key components that limit the site’s success. Here are five ways to know if your website is working for or against you:

1. Is your website user-friendly?

You may think your website is well-made but if it’s not producing leads, it may not be designed with the end-user (your customer) in mind. If the website takes longer than five seconds to load or information is difficult to find, your visitors will not stick around. User experience, or UX for short, guides every aspect of how your customers engage with your website. This includes things like wireframes, sitemaps, and information architecture that work together to ensure a seamless experience for visitors to your website.

A user-friendly site is also a responsive site, meaning that the website looks and performs correctly across all platforms (e.g. desktop, tablet, or mobile device). If the technical aspects of this makes your eyes glaze over, we’d be more than happy to take a look and give you feedback on your website’s UX. Also, be sure to check out our blog posts dedicated to defining website marketing terms and demystifying complicated tech speak for more information on the technical side of website design.

2. Does your website look stale?

Poor branding is a major reason why many websites are failing. Most people will search for a business online before visiting in real life. so your website is your chance to make a great first impression on potential customers. If it looks old or feels outdated, your visitors may bounce off your website to a competitor’s site that looks more current. It’s important to give your website a refresh every 1.5-2.5 years to keep the design current and avoid losing customer’s interest. 

Maybe your website looks stale because your entire brand needs a facelift. If this is something you need help with, let us know. We specialize in branding and ensuring that your overall design look and feel is relevant and consistent across all digital platforms.

h3>3. Does your website clearly communicate the value you offer?

Confusing websites will cost you business. Don’t make it difficult for customers to understand who you are and what you do. Clearly state the steps customers need to take in order to do business with you and include a clear call to action so your visitors know how to take the next step. We’ve written several posts about why it’s important to make the customer the hero of the story and we will talk more about effective content marketing in a future blog post.

4. Is your website content updated regularly?

It’s helpful to think of your website as a hub for continually useful and up-to-date information. You would be surprised how many websites have broken links and outdated information—sometimes even incorrect contact information! Make it a habit to regularly scan your website for any updates that need to be made. If visitors are clicking around your site and keep hitting 404 messages, they will not stick around. Publishing fresh content on your website will also give you a search engine optimization (SEO) advantage.

5. Is your website optimized?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the primary way customers will find your website. There are a myriad of factors that contribute to a well-optimized website that we will upack in a future blog post in this series. But keep in mind that if you are not doing anything to optimize your website for search, you will lose business to your competitors.

There is a better way to build websites. 

Establishing an engaging website for your business that communicates clearly, converts leads, and looks great is the first step toward digital marketing success. You don’t have to wait and wonder if your hard-earned investment in your website will pay off.

Creating websites is where our strategies begin and an effective digital marketing strategy cannot exist without a strong website. But having a website isn’t enough. In order for digital marketing to work, your plan must include intentional effort in each of the following areas:

1. An Engaging Website 
2. Search Engine Optimization 
3. Content Marketing
4. Email Marketing 
5. Social Media Marketing 
6. Pay-Per-Click

If your marketing isn’t working and you aren’t sure how to fix it, you’ve come to the right place.

We want to help you fix your marketing and make a positive impact on your target market. Over the next several weeks we will take a close look at each of these elements, give you practical ways to assess how you’re doing, and where you may need to make improvements. Get in touch with us if you would like us to take a look at your website and provide some actionable feedback. We would be glad to help in any way we can!