7 reasons why your website isn’t working and how to improve it

How often are you looking at your Google Analytics, trying to find out which pages are being viewed the most or what content is engaging people and getting them to spend more time on your site?

It’s easy for me to say ‘get more traffic,’ but that doesn’t address the underlying issues to how your website is performing.

Here are 7 reasons why your website isn’t working and what you can do about it.

1. Your website looks unprofessional

This is the number one reason people won’t trust you or do business with you.

People will judge your level of professionalism and how trustworthy you are in a fraction of a second. If your website looks messy it’s a big turnoff for prospects. Attention to typography, space, imagery and most importantly consistency will pay dividends.

For some of our clients were seeing mobile making up over 75% of visits so make sure your designer gets off their 27″ Imac and looks at some smaller screens. If your site doesn’t resize itself to fit the screen, people are simply going to assume you don’t care enough about them to let them read your site when they’re on the go.

Investing in good web design services means you’re investing in the success of your business.

2. Your website is too complicated or difficult to navigate

No one is going to stick around very long on your website if they can’t find what they came for.

Put yourself in the shoes of someone who’s never seen your site before and answer some simple questions:

• Where do you enter the site? (a landing page with a good call to action)
• Which page should I start on? (a clear home page with plenty of links directing the user to their next step)
• How do I get back to where I came from? (link to your main navigation at the top or bottom of every page)

There are all kinds of bells & whistles that site owners like to add to their websites, but it’s all too easy for these things to get in the way of your users completing whatever task they wish to complete.

Keep it simple and you’ll come across as more professional. If you want people to do something on your site (sign up for a newsletter, make an enquiry, etc), you need to make it as easy and clear as possible.

3. You don’t have a call-to-action (or maybe you have too many)

Having a primary call to action is important for any website because it tells the user what they should do next. It gives them a sense of direction, and it tells them what you want them to do (i.e buy something, sign up to an email list, etc).

It’s not good enough to just have a call-to-action on one page of your site. It needs to be on every page and it needs to be as clear as possible.

If you have a newsletter sign-up form, it should have a call-to-action and let visitors know exactly what they’re going to get when they subscribe.

Having a call-to-action on every page of your site will ensure that every visitor knows exactly how they can take advantage of whatever it is you have to offer.

4. Your content fails to connect (it’s not relevant, helpful or interesting)

Writing for websites (blogs, news articles etc.) should be no different than writing for any other medium.

You need to find the right words that help your audience understand what you’re trying to say, and then make sure that content is formatted in a way that makes it easy to digest.

It’s not good enough to just throw up anything on your website because you think having something there will meet the minimum requirements to be considered a website.

If you want people to visit your site, read it and keep coming back, the content needs to be good enough for them to take notice (and action).

People everywhere are looking for information that will help solve their problems. If they can’t find what they’re looking for on your site, they’ll go somewhere else.

Blogs should be one of the main forms of content on your site because they’re easy to update and can rank well in search engines for specific keywords.

When you write a blog you need to consider the following:

• Who is my target audience?
• What are their problems?
• What are they struggling with within my industry?
• How can I help them solve it?

Finding a unique way to answer these questions will give you ideas on how to create relevant, interesting content that is going to engage your target audience and get them to come back for more.

5. You have no social media presence

If you have a website but no social media presence you might as well not have a website because it’s not going to do you any good.

Social media is one of the best ways to reach out and connect with new people because there are so many different platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.) where you can create a following and let them know about the things you’re selling on your website.

You don’t have to be an expert on social media, but having a presence on as many of the most popular platforms as possible will give you additional opportunities to engage with your target audience and help them find out about your website.

Having active social media pages will improve your SEO…

6. You don’t have good SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

It doesn’t matter how great your site looks or what fantastic content you have if nobody can find it.

SEO is really important for any website because it helps you to be found by people who are searching online for whatever services or products you have to offer.

SEO covers a wide spread of skills so you’ll want a team that can provide some if not all of the following:

• Good business strategy
• Data analysis
• Creative copywriters
• Marketers
• Link building specialists

People search the web using keywords, so if your site has good SEO and those keywords match what people are typing in, they will find your website.

7. Your website is overwhelming

When people visit your website they should be left with a positive impression, not with the idea that it’s too much for them to absorb.

You want to make it as easy as possible for visitors to understand what you do and how you can help them. If they feel overwhelmed by your site or products they won’t stay to find out about you.

People like to browse websites, but if there’s too much choice they will leave and go somewhere else where it’s easier for them to make a decision.

Find out what your competitors are doing and make it a point of difference for your business. You can even offer online/offline discounts or good deals. This will help you stand out from the crowd and improve sales, subscriptions and engagement on your website.

Website Improvements: Additional Reading

We hope you found this article outlining the top reasons why your website isn’t working to be useful. You may also find the following list of posts of interest:

1. How to get backlinks for my website
2. What is Local SEO and why is it important for your company?
3. The Importance of Great Branding for a New Website

Feel free to get in touch if you’re concerned about why your website isn’t working. We’re always happy to discuss new projects and will be open and honest with our advice.