Creating a website can be one of the easiest ways to acquire customers and drive sales without spending a lot of money. However, if you are going to make the most of your web properties, it is important that they have a lot of quality information about the business. Ideally, it will be possible for customers to learn about what your business does and how your products or services can make their lives easier in a matter of seconds.
Spelling and Grammar Errors
Misspelling a word or having awkward sentence structure can make it look like your brand doesn't bother paying attention to details. The errors can be particularly embarrassing if you misspell your company name, slogan or the names of your most popular products. In some cases, forgetting a letter or adding one where it doesn't belong can drastically alter the meaning of a word. That could result in a public relations uproar that has the potential to damage the brand and scare customers away for good. It could also negatively impact your company’s credibility.
Inaccurate Information
Not listing the correct hours of operation for your business can result in frustration for the customer and a loss of revenue for the business. The same is true if you list the wrong address or the wrong phone number on your site. Customers are likely to look elsewhere for goods or services if they can't get in touch with your company or can't find it on a map. It may be a good idea to check your site every few weeks or months to ensure that all information is up to date. In the event that your address or phone number changes, be sure to update that data on your social media accounts as well as on your website.
There’s No Live Chat Option
Your customers may prefer to ask questions via a live chat as opposed to making a phone call or stopping by your store. This is because a live chat typically takes less time to complete, and a customer may prefer to have a record of any conversation that he or she had with an employee. Finally, individuals may like live chat options because they can do other things while they wait for a representative to become available.
Lack of Content
It is important to keep customers on your site for as long as possible. This can be done by writing interesting blog posts or creating informative videos that answer questions or help to generally educate whoever watches them. In addition to showing off your expertise, quality content can help your site rank higher in search engine results. Adding new content shows search engines that your site is more relevant than others that may have outdated information.
Failing to Update Your Content
Even if you don't want to add new blog posts, videos or other types of content to your page on a regular basis, it is still a good idea to update the content already posted. This can be especially helpful when search engines announce changes to how they grade the usefulness of blog posts, articles or other text on a website. While it can be a pain to have to edit what you think is quality information, it's worth doing to ensure that your site doesn't fall from the top of the search results.
Sites Don’t Load Quickly or Load on Mobile Devices
It is imperative that your sites can load quickly and legibly on both desktop and mobile devices. This is because most consumers will begin their search for the things that they want or need on their phones or tablets. In some cases, they may do their research and make a purchase from an online retailer directly from a phone or tablet. If a website is giving customer problems, there are dozens or hundreds of other online retailers that they can choose from. Therefore, be sure that you don't give a potential patron a reason to go elsewhere.
Broken Links
Like a spelling or grammar error, a broken link tells a potential customer that you don't pay attention to details. While an individual may forgive a broken link or two on a larger site, you don't want to make it any harder than necessary to navigate your site. If a site visitor points out a broken link, make sure to fix the problem quickly and thank the person who pointed it out to you.
Your company's website might be how a potential customer is first introduced to your company. Therefore, it needs to be easy to navigate, provide quality information and be free of errors. Ideally, you will also offer tools that allow site visitors to contact a customer service representative quickly and on their terms. Avoiding these common errors on your company's website will allow your business to grow organically.
If you need help with your website, let us know! Contact us today for a consultation.
