Many factors can influence the success (or failure) of a business. Some are hard to control, some are unavoidable, however one key factor can make a big impact: the company website.
Investing in a good website can affect everything from brand image to sales. For many, a company website is the main point of interaction between brand and customer, a place where first (and ongoing) impressions matter. If a website is slow, hard to navigate, untrustworthy or outdated it could drastically impact business performance.
Slow Websites
Slow websites are probably the biggest cause of bounce rates. Users expect to be able to use a site immediately, having to wait around for the page to load will likely cause them to exit the page without having viewed any content. They might go to your competitors’ site, or they might note not to try your site again. If that’s not enough, slow site speeds can impact ad quality score if your business points ads to your site.
Difficult Navigation
Users need to be able to easily and efficiently find their way through websites. This allows them to complete the actions they expected to take when they clicked on your site. Additionally, to result in the desired outcome your site should have suitable calls-to-action on the site. This might be a ‘add to cart’ button for e-commerce or ‘enter your name and email’ for further correspondence. Whatever the goal of the site is (sell items, attract new customers, give help etc.) it needs to be clear.
Untrustworthy
Business can easily be lost if users do not trust your site. If the site looks dodgy, part of a scam or there are unverified claims users are likely to abandon it. Ways to improve the trustworthiness of the site include things such as links to reviews, badges/qualifications and links to social pages. Simple, easy to include features such as these can easily boost a sites’ trustworthiness.
Old Fashioned
As with many things on the internet, time takes a toll on websites. Sites can easily look aged after a few years and it is worth keeping the site up-to-date. New features, aesthetics and mark-up can quickly render a site outdated.
Visit your site from a users’ perspective and see what you might change.