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Your website is a vital tool to bolster your marketing efforts so if you have a website that underperforms you simply won’t attract the right clients and over time this will hurt your business.
A fast-loading superior site with compelling messaging which aligns with the evaluation criteria of your prospects will serve your digital strategy better. By improving the customer experience you will generate qualified leads more easily and inspire prospects to take action moving them along your sales funnel faster.
The key question to explore is whether your current website supports the achievement of your sales and marketing goals.
So let’s break down the tell-tale signs that your site is not performing to its highest level and is essentially slacking off on its digital duties…
1. Your website looks dated and in need of a redesign
In business, websites matter because first impressions last and a great design will keep visitors on your site browsing for longer.
Over time, websites can look dated and need a redesign with modern websites going for more minimalist trends allowing for greater use of white space which helps visitors to your site move easily to scan read content and move from one element to another.
Websites with a clean UX, simple colour scheme and clear high-level messaging to engage the user will have a far bigger impact than a site that looks old-fashioned and overloaded with content. Critical elements in modern website design include:
Clear headlines – tell a user exactly what your company has to offer
Intuitive navigation – makes it easy for a user to find the information they are searching for
CTAs (calls to action) – appropriately positioned on key proposition pages
Animation – makes your website instantly feel more engaging
A background video – an effective way to grab attention and draw users in
2. Your propositions aren't matching what you say further down the funnel
A website is the perfect digital space to articulate your propositions to potential clients so if your messaging is out of sync with how your sales funnel works this can cause problems further into the sales process.
A strong B2B website will outline your value propositions clearly and concisely demonstrating the value of your products or services. So, from the moment a prospect arrives on your site they should have a full understanding of the best-practice methods you use to do business effectively mitigating any risk of confusion, or conflict arising.
3. Your propositions are not aligned with your customer needs
Remember, prospects visit your site for one reason only: they have a problem and they want you to solve it.
If you’re in the business of construction consultancy, for example, a prospect will arrive on your site wanting your consultancy services to deliver a project to the highest standards. It’s important then that the website conveys precisely how that consultancy practice operates, the range of services it offers and its most successful projects to showcase the level of skill and experience it has in that sector.
4. Your SEO strategy is not generating the results you want
What’s the point in investing time and money in a website if potential customers can’t find it? SEO makes your website visible on search engines and a great SEO strategy will ensure your business ranks higher on search engines.
An SEO audit can help you ascertain the performance of your current website. It may be possible to make improvements based on the results but if there are fundamental issues, it can make more economic sense to rebuild your website from scratch with a strong SEO plan that includes appropriate consideration of keywords, internal links, backlinks and high-quality content creation.
5. Your website is not mobile-friendly
It’s important to consider how the modern web user consumes content and today newer sites can adapt to any device providing a faster, better user experience.
Most businesses are seeing a yearly increase in the proportion of traffic coming from mobile devices. It is therefore essential to review your website on mobile devices to assess how easy it is for ideal prospects to understand your propositions clearly.
It’s also important to look at technical performance such as page load speed.
6. Your bounce rate is high
High bounce rates can signal a problem however always take into account the type of action a user will be taking on your site before being alarmed. A tradesman will often have a high bounce rate as visitors will visit that site for contact details and leave satisfied.
But if you’re a software development agency you would expect prospects to remain on your site to properly evaluate your propositions, products or services before making that introductory call or email.
A high percentage of visitors leaving your site signals problems with navigation, user experience or content and Google Analytics will give you a proper analysis of your bounce rate so you can figure out ways in which to lower it. Options include:
Improve site speed
Make web pages easy to read
Add a clear Call To Action
7. You don’t have clear Calls to Action (CTAs)
These are powerful ways to grab attention and entice a potential customer to take action. A compelling CTA should be strategically positioned on the homepage or landing page of a website to inspire users to engage.
With a clear CTA, the user knows exactly what action to take whether that is to buy, subscribe, donate or sign up. It encourages a user to continue browsing and, depending on the action taken, stay connected with that business over the long term.
8. Security breaches are a cause for concern
Every website is prone to attack but for older websites, the risks for hacking increase as older technology becomes less resistant. A website hack can expose your business to reputational damage.
We use a headless CMS solution called Storyblok which provides a stronger security profile and mitigates the risk of hacking. See the Storyblok website for more info on how going headless could future-proof your business.
9. Your website has no video strategy to showcase your propositions in the most effective way
Video has an increasing role to play in making your propositions easier to understand. Using audio and visual stimuli is a powerful way to engage your audience and speak directly to them about the benefits of your product or service.
It’s also a useful tool to tell your overall company story and a well-crafted video script will explain everything you want your audience to know about your business in a very short window of time.
It’s not rocket science!
Aesthetically pleasing websites with increased functionality and impactful messaging to clearly define your propositions will supercharge your digital strategy and deliver greater marketing agility.
Let’s say you’re a B2B company that is hugely successful in the domestic market where you’ve spent years building a rock-solid reputation and are nailing it at the bottom of the funnel and then deciding to make the ambitious move to trade overseas. Without a high-quality site to back you up abroad, concerns could be raised for foreign-based prospects who have never heard of your company.
Your website must get across the level that you operate at, and as we outlined in point No. 1 first impressions last so a company with a slow-loading old-fashioned website that is problematic to navigate will risk losing business opportunities.
Your website should provide a content-rich experience to prospects setting out who you are, who you sell to and what your products and services are.
The better the user experience, the better your website will be at supporting your conversion goals and attracting the best-fit clients to ensure your company’s success.
