Your website is more often than not the first impression your business makes on potential customers and your target audience. It can either win customers or quietly lose them. But the scariest thing is that you might not even realise it’s happening!
If you’ve been investing in digital marketing, boosting traffic and increasing sales opportunities but aren’t seeing the sales, leads or enquiries to match, it might be time to take a closer look at the functionality and design your website. As a digital agency, we’re about to dive headfirst into the most common warning signs that your site might be turning people away. But don’t worry, we’re also going to tell you exactly what to do about it. Without further ado, let’s five in!
Your bounce rate is through the roof
If you’re getting tons of tracking and visitors are landing on your website, but are instantly abandoning their session and clicking back to Google, this is a huge red flag! More often than not, a high bounce rate is usually a sign that your website isn’t meeting the expectations of site visitors, in one way or another. Whether it’s slow loading times, unclear messaging or a design that instantly repels by looking outdated or untrustworthy, there’s usually something that deterring visitors from engaging with your site and browsing for longer.
So how do you fix it? We’d always recommend conducting a thorough UX audit if your bounce rate is high as this will help you to identify exactly where and why site visitors are dropping off. By utilising heat maps and analysing visitor behavior, it’s likely that you’ll find some tell-tale cues that signal confusing navigation or a poor mobile experience.
Always ensure that your messaging and content is clear within the first few seconds, your website loads fast, is visually engaging and offers a superb mobile experience. Modern, responsive design and intuitive navigation go a long way to boosting trust and customer retention.
Your mobile experience is slow and clunky
Try heading to your website right now on your mobile, and pretend you’re a prospective customer who has never landed on your site or heard of your brand before. What is the experience like? If it’s slow, clunky and cumbersome to navigate, with buttons too small to tap or forms too difficult to fill in, this will be killing so many conversions. Today, over 60% of web traffic comes from mobile devices so it’s absolutely paramount that your site is mobile optimised with responsive design, thumb-friendly navigation and mobile-friendly UX features.
If you encounter a poor mobile experience on your website, it’s time to invest in a fully responsive, mobile-friendly website that converts. It truly is no longer an optional extra as the majority of users have come to expect a certain level of functionality, speed and ease of use.
You’re Not Showing Up on Google
One worrying reason that your site might not be working for you is that you’re not showing up in Google. Your website might look great, but if nobody can find it, it’s not working hard enough. Weak SEO could mean you’re buried beneath competitors in search results which can be a sure-fire way to website failure. Ensure that your site is built with SEO in mind from day one with lighting-fast loading speeds, thorough keyword research, optimised content, and a solid technical foundation and sitemap are integral to driving growth for your site.
Your site looks like it’s from 2003
If you launched your brand 10 years ago and haven’t done much in the way of improving its style, UX features, functionality and speed, it’s probably doing much more harm than good. An outdated and old fashioned web design gives the impression that your business is behind the times, even when it’s offering the most innovative products on the market! This can lead to consumers doubting your credibility and reducing their trust in your brand. Ultimately, losing you conversions and leads. And that’s absolutely no way to run a business!
Be sure to upgrade your website to a modern, well-designed online experience that features an abundance of trust signals and professionalism. Not only does this show that you care about your brand and your customer experience, it also positions your brand as a leader within your industry and helps you to stand out from the competition. If you want to go a step further to wow your audience, why not get creative and think about the interactive UX features you could add to your site to keep them engaged for longer? Anything from a simple product quiz to a spin-the-wheel game or anything in between is sure to impress users and keep them on your site for longer, increasing the chances of conversion!
Users Don’t Know What to Do Next
If site visitors don’t know what action they should take on each page of your site, you’re likely losing leads. A lack of strong calls-to-action (CTAs), confusing navigation or an overwhelming amount of content can paralyse potential customers and lead to lost opportunities. Make sure that the user journey is crystal clear from every landing page to ensure that customers are guided to checkouts or to fill in forms. An easy way to do this is by using clear CTAs, whether it’s “Get a Quote,” “Book a Call,” or “Buy Now” and by utilising negative space to make your buttons stand out. Keep content concise, uncluttered and structured in a hierarchical way that makes for easy reading.
You’re Not Getting Enquiries or Sales
Ultimately, this is the clearest sign that something is amiss with your website. If you’re simply not generating leads or driving conversions, something is inevitably broken and it’s costing you real business. At this point, we’d strongly suggest letting the experts take a look under the bonnet as there may be a few small tweaks that could be costing you greatly. However sometimes, a full redesign is the right call!
If you’re nodding along to any of the points above, don’t panic, you’re not alone. At Sutton Commerce, we’ve helped countless businesses identify hidden issues and transform underperforming websites into lead-generating machines. So what are you waiting for? Don’t hesitate to get in touch and we’ll take your site from sluggish to successful!