5 Chores to Complete Before Web Site Visitors Come Over

When visitors are coming to my home or business there are chores that I complete beforehand, so that I can show my place off at its best. The same should hold true when it comes to preparing for web site visitors, but all too often, it does not, with the result that local businesses are losing sales and driving site visitors away.

To prove the point, I searched for salons and restaurants in my local area, and took only results that came up on the first two pages of search results (the same listings which would receive 94% of all clicks). What I found was appalling when you consider the opportunities these businesses are missing each and every time someone searches for these same types of local businesses:

• Expired offers – galore!
• Article, page and copyright dates 2 years old (and even older; indicating that the site hasn’t been touched since then)
• Empty "Special Offers” pages
• Contact pages that invite submission only by job applicants (not customers)
• Blogs with 5-6 articles all written within the same month – and never touched again
• Sites with distracting designs
• Sites whose designs hearken back to 1990’s garage-ware
• Colors that overwhelm the more important parts of the design
• Sites whose design is not at all aligned with the actual brick and mortar business they purport to represent
• Sites with no address or phone number visible above the fold – or even easy to find

All for websites featured on the first 2 pages of search results!

5 Chores to Complete Before Web Site Visitors Arrive

1. Clean Stuff Up and Throw Stuff Out

Set aside time to review and update your website every week. Out-dated information, past events listed as “coming events” and offers that have expired make your site look abandoned (and thus, make your business look abandoned online!)

2. De-clutter

Clutter can make site visitors feel confused about what to do next, overwhelmed by having too many choices, distracted, and uncomfortable enough to leave. Your site’s landing pages should be focused in order to attract the right audience and to motivate visitors to take the next action you want them to take.

3. Decorate (or Redecorate)

Your site’s design should be a direct reflection of the way you want visitors to perceive your brand and be in alignment with other aspects of your brand’s identity (visual, verbiage, auditory, etc.)

4. Display

Your website’s pages should tell the story of the heritage of your brand and your organization’s mission and vision.

5. Set Out Some Goodies

Add value to your site by ensuring that you’re offering something to site visitors, such as a special offer, whitepaper, articles, etc.

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Elizabeth Kraus is the marketing manager of business cash advance and receivables factoring company DB Squared.