Setting up a website isn’t that hard. There are many platforms out there that can help you set up a website in seconds. However, making sure that your website is successful is a much more complicated endeavor. You need to make sure that your website is helping your business and not hurting it. Done right, your website will lighten your load of work. Done wrong, your website could ensure that your business never goes anywhere.

Bounce Rate

What is the bounce rate you ask? When a visitor clicks on your site and then leaves immediately, this is a bounce. Every site is going to have bouncers, but on a good site, that will make up a relatively small percentage of visitors. If your rate is high, you need to ask yourself why that might be. Is your website attractive? Does it look modern? Or does it look old and outdated?

If your website looks good, it might be caused by the lack of relevant information on your site. You need to have a hook that grabs the attention of visitors and convinces them to stay. Your website should immediately show them that it can solve their problems. You may even want to consider having a pop up with a special offer in case it looks like someone is about to leave. This can entice the visitor to stay longer and increase your customer conversion.

New Customer Conversions

Your website should be converting new customers. That is the whole purpose of the website. A website that isn’t converting new customers is a waste of marketing strategy. Take a look at the data your website tracks. How many new visitors are you getting a day? Filter out the bouncers and look at what percentage of new visitors become customers.

While you would love to have a 100% conversion rate, that isn’t realistic. Do some research to find out what is typical for your industry. If you are at the average or above, you are on the right track. If you have a below average conversion rate, you need to look at what’s causing them to leave. What page is the last one looked at before someone leaves your site? What pages do converted customers visit? These questions could give you a clue as to what is going on.

Mobile Compatibility

Is your website mobile compatible? No? Not Sure? That’s a major problem. More and more people are beginning to browse through their phones. In fact, depending on your industry, mobile users may make up the large majority of your users. Even if this isn’t the case, if you are running social media ads, almost all your ad-related traffic will be through mobile devices. You can’t just set up your site for a normal computer and hope that it translates well to a mobile device. You need to try it out. You may find that you need to redesign your site to allow for easier navigation on a touch screen. You may find that images and formatting that look great on a computer don’t transition well to mobile devices.

SEO Factors

SEO, search engine optimization, can be a tricky business for the novice marketer. However, it doesn’t take too long to grasp some of the basics. An easy way to test your SEO strategy is to get on a search engine and look up your business. Try typing in your business name. Then try typing in the name with a few variations. Branch out and start searching for things related to your business, its products or services, and your location. Take note of where your website lands on the results page. If it isn’t high on at least some of these searches, you need to switch up your strategy. If you’re out of ideas, you may want to consider getting in touch with an SEO agency. These marketing firms specialize in SEO strategies like content, keywords, backlinking, and much, much more.

Conversion Time

How long does it take a new customer to complete a purchase or sign up for your service? If you don’t know, you can find this information through data analytics tools. However, regardless of the actual time it takes, the true answer is “too long”. It can never be too easy for a customer to complete their purchase. Making things difficult for the customer will not only be frustrating, but it will also give them time to rethink their purchase. Take a look at your sales process. Are there any unnecessary steps? Is there anything you can do to make it simpler? You’ll be surprised by how many more customers you can gain by having a painless check-out process.

Lead Generation

Not everyone who visits your site is going to be ready to sign up for your service or buy your product. But that doesn’t mean that you should give up on that customer. You can spend thousands of dollars trying to find people interested in your business. It would be so much better if there was a way to get in touch with those that are already interested and visiting your site. Luckily, there is. One of the first things you should do when a customer visits your site is to try to get their information. You can offer to sign them up for a free account with a discount incentive. Whatever your method, that information is extremely important. It will allow you to follow up with that person and give you further opportunities to convert them into a loyal customer.

Navigation

How easy is it to find things on your website? Does it take minutes or seconds? Testing this out will be a little difficult on your own. You need to have someone that isn’t intimately familiar with your site or your business. Ask friends to visit your site and try to find a specific piece of information. Watch them and record how long it takes or if any mistakes are made. This can give you a valuable insight into the type of customer experience you are providing your site visitors.

Brand Image

Every company has a brand image. This image is what communicates to your customers your values and purpose. It goes beyond words and can best be described as the feeling that you invoke in your customers. Your brand image should be thoughtfully planned and expressed through your website. After you have friends, or even strangers, test out your web navigation, ask them what impressions they got on your brand. If their impression doesn’t match your intention, this is good evidence that you are misrepresenting yourself through your website.

Crafting a good website is going to take time, effort, and patience. It is not something that you can do without consistent work. However, don’t let that discourage you. If you keep at it, before long you’ll find that your website will start doing the heavy lifting for you.

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