Does your business website work? This may seem like a simple question if you focus solely on whether or not people can access it. But is it really doing a good job for your company? Most small and medium-size business owners aren’t likely to know how to answer. If you fall into that group, discover five indicators anyone can look for to tell if their website could use help performing its duty.
1. High Bounce Rate
The bounce rate for a website is the rate at which people arrive at the landing page and then navigate away from the site. Today’s website users are a savvy bunch, so they assess websites faster than ever before. You have a very limited window in which to get their attention.
An unengaging main page, missing links, or unclear directions will turn them off, and they won’t look back. They may encounter too much text, non-intuitive navigation, or poor quality pages. The problem may even stem from the outside — directing the wrong pool of visitors to your page.
2. Few Accessed Pages
How much are users accessing once they arrive at your site? While bouncing, or leaving after looking at the landing page, is one measure, don’t overlook the behavior of those who do stay. If a customer follows an ad for a special promotion, do they stay to peruse other offers or products? And if a person navigates to an order page, do they make one order and leave, or do they shop around?
While some visitors — hopefully, regular customers — only need to do limited activities on your page, your goal is to interest most enough that they click on more links and become more interested. And page counts help you see what they’re browsing or not browsing at.
3. Low Conversion Numbers
The goal of most business websites is to turn visitors into customers and leads. Has that happened? Do customers fill out requests for information or contact forms? Do they follow sales product links? Do they click on your social media links and subscribe or follow? How many customers order through your website compared with in-person sales? Has that grown?
How much your conversion and leads matter to the website’s success depends on your goals for the site. If you mainly want to use it to inform people, such as by providing your restaurant menu, leads will be limited. However, most companies do want more from their site than just simple information.
4. No Mobile Optimization
How does your site look and feel when people access it through mobile devices? If you haven’t given specific attention to making the mobile experience fast, pleasant, and effective, you will be left behind. More and more customers shop and search online with phones and tablets — while fewer use their computers every day. Rather than give mobile users a stripped-down experience, make it a better one.
5. Poor Search Rankings
When people search related topics, are they directed to your company’s site through standard results? This is a complicated area of digital marketing centering on search engine optimization (SEO), or creating a website specifically geared to rise through the chaff of internet searches. If your website consistently falls below competitors, customers won’t find you. Good SEO is particularly valuable because it’s not paid advertising.
Could you use help analyzing any of these factors of your website’s performance? And if you suspect it’s failing in any of them, do you need help solving the problem? If so, start by learning more with the help of Grow Team. We help our clients get to the root of their digital marketing challenges and find solutions that work for their tailored needs. Call or visit today with one of our digital marketing pros.