Are you one of those business owners who have a website that absolutely does nothing for you?
You put something up online, because everyone told you that you “have to have a website.” You had high hopes. But, it doesn’t seem to be working… Where are all the new clients?
And you wonder, why is my website not working?
I can tell you first-hand, that this problem is common. I talk to business owners just like you every day. For the most part, local websites that fail have one of four problems to blame. These include:
1. The website was not created with search engines in mind
In many cases, the website was created without any intention of optimizing it for search (also called SEO.)
Without SEO in place, Google and other search engines have no idea what services or products a business offers, and they can’t display the site to searchers when appropriate.
In a nutshell, it basically renders a website non-existent. Without search engines on the site’s side, users can’t find it, and without users to visit it, the site can’t bring in leads, customers or sales. It’s a vicious cycle that equals no sales or leads for you!
A real life example:
An electrical contractor’s website has 3 images on its home page. The images are named home-mission-darts.jpg, home-services-worker-tools.jpg and index_010.jpg . The words “electrical contractor” do not appear even once on the home page. How would Google even know that this is a website of an electrical contractor?
The answer? It wouldn’t.
2. The website was not created with local search in mind
There are some simple rules that should be followed when building a website for a local business – especially if you’re looking to bring in customers from your specific geographic area. An example for one of these rule would be: You must have the business address and phone number on each and every page of the website.
Although it’s these rules are very easy to implement, they rule are often ignored, and sadly, the result is that Google doesn’t know what geographic area you serve. That means it’s unable to show your site to those in your area who are searching for you – who could viably come to your store, through your doors and buy a product.
3. A weak overall web presence
While a business website is the core of a company’s web presence, there are also other places your business should show up on the web. For one, your business must be listed on several local directories. These listings should include the company name, address and phone number and be located on sites other than the business site itself.
Some good sites to start with are local chamber of commerce, your social media profiles or local organizations in the area.
4. Lots of competition
Even if your website is optimized to perfection, if you’re in a competitive market with dozens and dozens of businesses all competing for a place on the first page, you could end up in the doldrums of Google pretty easily.
The sad truth is that if your competitors are investing more into their online marketing than you are, you might be losing clients and leads every day, simply because they found your competitors first – at a higher position in the search rankings.
What Can You Do?
If your website isn’t delivering the results you’re looking for, the first step is to understand the root cause of the problem. We can help you determine what’s causing your site’s failure, as well as come up with a plan that will transform your website into the money-generating machine it should be.
We’ll take your budget and goals into account, and we’ll help you calculate your return on investment you’ll get by updating your site. (Typically, it’s significant!) This will help you understand how much you can – and should – invest in your online efforts.
Want to learn more? Ready to get started? Contact Spot On Digital Marketing today.
