Search Engine Optimization

You’ve worked really hard building your website. You’ve hired a superstar designer and made sure that every little detail, from the menu margins to the titles, was perfect. You’ve written copy that celebrates your company’s accomplishments and positions you as the ultimate authority in your industry. But unfortunately, your website is no good because your prospects aren’t listening. If you want to avoid wasting thousands of dollars on a website that won’t ever help you increase your bottom line, then explore these 5 reasons why your website may be no good and make sure that you’re not committing any of these no-no’s.

1. It can’t be found

Unless you are Coca Cola or some other humongous corporation, you need to make sure that your website is optimized for the search engines. Otherwise, nobody will be able to find your site and it will sit in oblivion, collecting dust. To ensure that your target audience is able to find your website, make sure that it is being indexed by major search engines and that the page titles and URLs are optimized, letting the search engines know exactly what your website is all about.

2. It isn’t optimized for target keywords in your market

If you want your website to succeed, it’s essential that you research your target market and determine what words your prospects are using to find information about your industry. All too often, companies use keywords on their websites that they assume are popular, but haven’t even verified through research! To find the keywords that people in your target market are searching for, use a keyword tool. Avoid broad, competitive keywords and focus on optimizing for keywords that still get a lot of traffic but have less competition.

3. It is rarely updated

When launching a website, many people are very excited about it and implement a variety of SEO and online marketing strategies. But once they realize that the results of their efforts won’t be immediate, they stop updating their site. If you want your website to attract a steady flow of traffic and continue growing, it’s essential to be consistent in your efforts by updating your website on a regular basis. Generally, if you stop updating, people will stop visiting because they’ll consider your website unreliable. Plus, it’s crucial to update your content at least once per week if you want to maintain a top position in the search engine results.

4. It only displays information about your company’s accomplishments

If your website only displays information about who you are and what you do, it’s no good. Your website needs to explain to your prospects how your products/services will solve their problems. The focus should be them, not you. If your website doesn’t resonate with prospects and convince them to do business with you, why have a website at all?

5. It is so slickly designed that people don’t know where to click

No matter how cutting-edge and attractive your website is, it won’t serve its purpose if it is so cool and slick that your prospects have no idea how to navigate the site. Make sure that your website’s navigation is obvious and meets your prospects’ needs. It’s a well-known fact that people who surf the web have short attention spans, so from the get-go, make it clear to your prospects exactly where they should click, depending on where they are in the research or buying process.