Reasons why most websites fail in 2018?

So you got a website that isn’t performing well or you may be thinking about getting your business online but not sure if it would be successful, that’s fine just keep reading till the end of this article and you would have enough Gone are the days where businesses can rely solely on “pretty” websites. In today’s digital marketing landscape, a website must be an optimized, revenue-generating platform.

I’ll just get right to it: The reason so many websites fail is because businesses take a design-driven approach from the beginning as opposed to developing a website from the ground up with SEO in mind. Without SEO your coding and design efforts will all be for nothing.

1. Not Mobile-Friendly
For the first time in October 2016, more people used a mobile device to view a website than a desktop computer. If your website is not mobile-friendly (responsive) then it’s time you updated it if you want to attract more visitors.

Websites not optimised for mobile devices will appear small and possibly look broken. Users are now used to mobile optimised websites and don’t want to spend time resizing pages and accidentally tapping on links, further frustrating them.

2. Poor Design
A poor website design will not win your business any points when visitors are comparing your products with a competitor’s. The design of your site should match your business message and be pleasing to look at without obstructing the information.

If you’re website looks out of date, visitors will think that your products are out of date and will favour a different supplier.

3. Unqualified Professionals
If your website isn’t built by professionals then you could be getting a bad deal. Cheap websites usually don’t result in the best solution for your business and after a couple of months since going live you’ll realise your mistake.

Your website should be built with technical SEO from the beginning, which will give your website the best possible start. It can also reduce the amount of work in the future if you want to increase your organic ranking.

4. Not Optimised For Search
Even the most beautifully designed website can fail if it’s not been optimised for search. The buying process begins with a search on Google and if your website can’t be found it’s never going to receive any visitors.

If your website is mobile-friendly and has a good design with clear call-to-actions, there should be nothing holding you back from converting your visitors to customers, especially if your website appears before your competitor’s in Google.

5. No Promotion
One of the main reasons why websites fail is due to the lack of promotion. Once your website is live you need to drive visitors (traffic) to it. This can be achieved through the following marketing channels;

• Organic traffic (unpaid Google Search)
• Referral links (Links from other websites)
• Social media
• Email campaigns
• Paid advertising

If you’re not actively promoting your website, your business is not going to reach its full potential. A website can work wonders if it’s promoted and it will increase your customer base and sales.

6. Slow to Load
A slow loading website is a definite website fail. If your website is too slow to load, it will frustrate visitors, causing them to go elsewhere. You only have 3-4 seconds to grab your visitor’s attention, which makes your page load speed essential.

The following can be the reasons for a slow website;

• Not mobile-friendly
• Browser cache not configured
• Images are not optimised
• Files are not compressed
• Slow server

7. No Call-to-Action
If you have a website you’ll want it to do something. You’ll either want visitors to contact you, fill out a form or buy a product. A call-to-action can be a button linking to a form, bold text, or a large promotional image. Making it clear and obvious will help your visitors complete their goal.

If there isn’t a clear call-to-action your visitors won’t know what you want them to do. Having a clear call-to-action will increase your enquiries and sales.

8. Broken Links & Pages
A broken website is an instant fail. If your visitors can’t access the information they are looking for or your contact form, links and images aren’t working, you’re not going to get any customers.

9. Poor Navigation
Check that you can navigate around your website with ease. The navigation should be uncluttered, simple to use, and clearly identify the key pages. If your website is full of sub-menus and side menus, and dead ends, your visitors can quickly become lost and leave your website.

Mobile navigation should be a top priority. With more people accessing website via mobile devices it’s essential to have good mobile navigation for large fingers.

What Next?

Now that you know the reasons why websites fail, it’s time to turn it around. If your website is failing your business and you want to make a change, we can help you turn it around and increase your visitors and revenue.

Get in touch with one of our web strategists to scale your business online.

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