Avoid Critical Website Mistakes That Kill Your Conversions
So you've got a local business, and you want the world to know about it? You want people to drive miles out of their way to be your best customer. Maybe you even make them feel like they're family. It's all because you “treat them right,” and that's what keeps them coming back for more.
You have a local business that does good business in your community, and you want the world to know about it. But how do you get them to take notice? How do you keep them coming back for more when they're so blown away by your commitment to treating your customers right? You make sure you make an impression, and that's what keeps them coming back for more.
So how do you build the perfect website? What are some of the steps to make your business look like a million bucks on the Internet? To keep it simple, let's break it down into seven deadly sins that can easily sink any local business' online image.
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Having The Bandwidth To Support It
If you can't load the site, or it takes five minutes to download a simple JPEG, people will assume that your business is just as shoddy. Don't let this be you! Make sure your website is designed with the support of wide bandwidth in mind. If it's not, you'll have to rely on your reputation for people to take the chance your site won't go south at any given moment.
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Being Search Engine Inaccessible
If you build a website that no search engine can ever find, then why are you building it? Your local business' online presence needs to be accessible by the major search engines. If you do nothing else but this, it's already a step in the right direction.
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Creating A Site That Will Be Outdated In Five Years
Their site is still stuck on that annoying song from last year? Yeah…that doesn't make any sense. Try updating somewhat regularly to keep your website looking hip and relevant.
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A Terrible Theme
Seriously, I've seen some of the most God-awful themes in my time working in web design. And when it comes to website themes, please do yourself a favor and avoid anything with animation or video embedding. There are dozens of free themes out there, so try sticking with one of them.
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Not Using A Strategic Keyword Strategy
Sure, your business name is great PR. But if you want to really get more customers coming through the door, make sure your website contains some keywords that are more likely to be searched on by would-be clients.
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Having A Cluttered Layout
A cluttered layout is difficult to read, annoying, and most people will leave your site without ever looking at it. Make sure you have plenty of negative white space, or “breathing room.”
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Not Constructing The Site For Your Customers Rather Than Just Yourself
If the first thing that comes to mind when you look at your website is that it reminds you of yourself, then chances are good that people will feel like they're reading an autobiography. You need to visualize what your customers would see when they check out the site, and construct it for them rather than just for yourself.
And there you have it! If you can keep these seven deadly sins in mind when designing your local business' website, chances are good that you'll walk away with a great looking online presence. Remember to build it for your customers and not just yourself, keep it up to date, think of keywords that people might search on when they're in the market for something related to your business, and create a layout with plenty of breathing room.
