Extensive research has shown that a significant percentage of sales start with first visiting a company’s website. In fact, it’s accurate to say that getting someone’s eyes on your website is the new “foot in the door” that all businesses are looking for in order to attract new customers.
Because of the importance of a well-constructed website, business owners frequently invest heavily in their online presence (as they should). However, if the site isn’t getting a steady volume of traffic, these could be wasted dollars.
If you feel like your number of monthly visitors isn’t what it should be, here are some factors that might be hurting your results, and what you can do about it:
1. Problem: Your Content Quality Isn’t Optimal
Search engines, believe it or not, have algorithms in place that can recognize the quality of the content on your website. Not only will having good information on your site help you rank higher, but it will also keep your audience viewing your site longer.
You might be aware of the notable factors that factor into what is considered “good content,” but be careful in how you execute your strategy. Overloading your blog posts or other pages of your site with keywords or links can actually hurt you, as search engines recognize your attempts to manipulate the system.
It’s hard to nail down the perfect formula for high-ranking content, but here are a few tips that should help:
Solution: Tips for High-Quality Website Content
-
- Keep paragraphs short – Readability is important to how receptive users will be of your site, and long, drawn-out paragraphs can make things harder to digest (especially on mobile).
- Include relevant images wherever possible – Give your audience something to look at that helps to explain the topic at hand.
- Link internally when possible – If you’re writing a blog post and mention a topic that is explained in greater detail on another page of your site, be sure to link back to it!
2. Problem: Your Website Isn’t Good on Mobile Devices
Whether it’s a format issue or a speed issue, a website that doesn’t work well on a mobile device is going to be looked at unfavorably by most search engines (especially Google).
If you’ve noticed that your site’s mobile performance isn’t creating a smooth user experience, it’s crucial to take the steps necessary to improve the way it looks and feels on phones and tablets.
Solution: Find What’s Holding Your Site Up, then Fix It
-
- Downsize wherever possible – It’s no secret that big files take longer to load. If your site is filled with huge images or video files, it’s a good idea to find a way to compress them to decrease loading time.
- Find an “insights” platform to identify issues – A number of great resources exist that can help you find out what’s slowing things down. PageSpeed Insights from Google, or Lighthouse, are two of the most reliable.
- Think AMP – AMP (accelerated mobile pages) is a publishing technology developed by Google that can help create a more user-friendly mobile experience. It differs from site-to-site, but researching AMP guidelines and recommendations is a great way to improve your mobile speed.
3. Problem: Your Content is Getting Old
It isn’t just enough to have good content on your site. To give yourself the best chance of getting more traffic, you need your content to be good and new.
It’s hard to nail down a definite timeframe for updating your site, but it should fall under the umbrella of “regular.” If you’re going weeks at a time without putting anything new up, you could be hurting your chances of getting the maximum amount of visitors.
Solution: Create a Content Plan, and Stick to It
-
- Answer potential questions – If you’re a business owner, there’s a good chance that you’ve received the same handful of questions from customers or potential customers. If this is the case, these make for great topics to write about on your website.
- Get technical – Depending on your industry, there may be some information about your business that only those who are also in the industry would know. You might be afraid to alienate those who aren’t as informed, but these “technical” blogs or pages can put you ahead of the competition who is too concerned about broad appeal.
- Give real-world examples – Have a success story? Don’t be afraid to brag! Any time you’re able to include testimonials or explain how your business has benefited individuals or other businesses, you should make sure the world knows.
4. Problem: You aren’t Promoting Your Site
Just as businesses post flyers around town to get customers to come in the store, you should be posting wherever you can to drive traffic to your site!
Many business owners make the mistake of being too passive when it comes to getting a solid web audience. Regardless of how many monthly viewers you’re getting, if you execute and maintain and promotional strategy you can grow your numbers significantly.
The issue, in many cases, isn’t that people don’t want to look at your site, but rather they don’t know about your business.
Solution: Find Your Audience and Spread the Word
-
- Know where to share – Whether it’s on a Facebook community page, an online forum, or somewhere else, your audience is most likely communicating somewhere. If your site has information relevant to the discussion, feel free to drop in a link!
- Get social – Your business should have an active, regularly monitored social media page. When you post content on your profile, make sure a good percentage of it links back to your website.
- Consider paid advertising – Companies like Google and Facebook offer relatively simple ad platforms that can really boost your visibility and drive traffic. If you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself, hiring an agency to help out with paid advertising can be extremely beneficial.
The Wrap Up
A business’s website is a major driver of sales in today’s world. Taking the time to learn how to most effectively monitor and optimize your site will pay off significantly in the long run and will help you get a leg up on the competition if they’re not keeping up digitally.
If you feel like you don’t have the time to dedicate to the process, contact us today to develop a strategy that works for you.
