Web Design
My Website Isn’t Bringing Traffic
People often express discouragement, disillusionment with their website, because the reality is different from their expectation. No one visits. They don’t get a single lead. Customers sometimes ask if they even have a website, since they’re buried beneath so many search engine results pages no one ever sees them.
Just having a good looking website isn’t enough. Certainly, having a bad looking website is a problem. There are a lot of factors that go into creating a successful website, but when it’s done correctly, you get results.
Good News/Bad News
When you search for words related to what you do or sell in your area, you should see your website in search engine results pages. You should also see regular traffic, and when people visit your page, a percentage of them should take the action that the page prompts them to. If that isn’t happening, you have a problem. You’re losing out on traffic, money and customers, and they’re going to someone else. That’s the bad news.
The good news is, it’s possible to identify the problem and fix it.
We’re about to get to the website design problems that might be holding you back, but if you want to get straight to the solutions, go ahead and download our free guide 6 Key Focus Points for Website Success.
1. Your Design Doesn’t Work on Mobile
More than half of all web traffic happens on mobile. If your website only looks right and works on desktop, you’re reducing your chances of website success by 50 percent.
Think about the last time you tried to look up a company on your cell phone, and you had trouble using the page that loaded.
The words were tiny. When you tried to zoom in to read them, you accidentally hit hyperlinks that took you places you didn’t want to go. Navigation was next to impossible.
If you’re like most people, you left as quickly as you could.
Sometimes websites don’t work on mobile because they use outdated technology. Other websites only work on screens of a specific size, and mobile devices come in an ever-changing array of dimensions. If your website isn’t getting results and you know it displays the desktop version to all visitors regardless of the device they’re using, that might be the problem.
Note: In our guide 6 Key Focus Points for Website Success, we mention other must-have elements of website design.
2. Your Website is Hard to Navigate
The Missouri University of Science and Technology found online visitors draw conclusions about your brand in the first 2/10 of a second after they first see your website. Then after that, they take an average of 2.6 seconds to look for evidence that confirms that first impression before they act. In that time, they want to know the following:
- Is the information I want here?
- How difficult will it be to find it?
- What is this website’s main message?
- Does their message align with what I believe?
- Will I be able to get in touch if I want to take further steps?
If they can’t figure out what to do and how to do it, you have a problem.
3. You Don’t Come Up When People Google
Let’s say you own a plumbing business. You have a website, but it’s not sending the right signals to search engines.
Every day, people in your area experience plumbing issues. They grab their cell phone and type in phrases like “plumber near me,” and “how to unstop a clogged drain.”
On the first page of search results, they see four of your competitors. Your business website doesn’t show up until page five. No one ever goes to page five. Your website doesn’t get traffic, you don’t get customers. But your competitors do.
Find out how to solve this problem on page 5 of our guide on website success.
4. Visitors Look Then Leave
Sometimes websites get visitors, but nothing happens after they stop by. They don’t call to make an appointment, place items in their basket, or visit your physical location.
Each page of your website should have a purpose, a goal. That goal should be easy to see from the second the page loads. It should walk users through the steps to accomplishing that goal in a way that seems easy and in their best interests. If your website gets traffic but visitors don’t do anything after they visit, you need conversion optimization.
5. Your Website is Slow
People don’t have any patience. They don’t want to wait even a fraction of a second for page content to load, they want instantaneous, seamless content delivery. Your website has three seconds to load or more than 53 percent of visitors will decide it’s not worth waiting around.
A slow website leaves a lasting bad impression. Visitors take their business elsewhere, and they don’t often give second chances.
Even worse, speed impacts search engine ranking. Google uses speed as a ranking factor, so if your website is slow, it will be more difficult to get your pages in front of people looking for what you do.
In our guide, we list four critical factors for a fast website and offer a free resource for checking your website load speed.
6. You Have Security Issues
Your website won’t be successful if it’s hacked. Your business could lose credibility if cyber-criminals are able to steal information your customers send. Security issues will keep you from experiencing website success.
For tips on preventing security issues and keeping your website safe, download 6 Key Focus Points for Website Success.
