What’s wrong with my website?
We’ve put together a list of questions that bring to light some of the most common problems with business websites. We invite you to open your website and then go through the list of questions below. Take your time and write down your answers. You will be surprised how a few simple changes can increase your traffic and keep visitors on your site longer, which will translate to more business for you.
1. Ok, I’m on my homepage, what do I do now?
Every homepage needs to pass the 5 second test. When you arrive on your homepage, you should know exactly what you are going to do next within 5 seconds. Whether that be reading an intro paragraph or clicking an enticing link to another page. If you don’t know what to do next, then how will your visitors?
2. Do your buttons look like buttons?
A link to another page on your site is pointless unless people know that they can click on it from the second they see it. Picture links need to pass the same test. Icons are a great way to add color and style to a website, but if it’s not completely obvious that it’s clickable, you are missing out on potentially interested visitors.
3. Can I get to any point on my website with only 3 clicks?
There are usually countless ways to organize a website in terms of how people navigate it. But one rule that must always be followed is the rule of three clicks. If you can’t find the page you want to see by clicking three times or less, your users are getting frustrated, and as a result you are too.
4. Do all my links work?
It sounds obvious, we know, but you would certainly be surprised how many links there are out there that lead to the middle of nowhere. Do yourself a favor and check all the links on your website to make sure they lead somewhere, preferably to the right place.
5. Are my webpage layouts consistent?
When you move from page to page, do things move around? Are the navigation menus all in the same place, are the buttons all in the same order. Hopefully they are… because when things move around, people tend to get frustrated and leave.
6. Is your website KISS compliant?
Keep it simple stupid… No we’re not calling you stupid, it’s just an expression, but seriously, if your website isn’t simple enough for an idiot to find their way around, then unfortunately, most people won’t be able to find their way around (sorry for being crude).
7. Are you sending people away from your website on purpose?
Yes it’s true. Many people put links on there site, often right on the home page, that take visitors away, lost forever. Unless you are getting paid to send people to another site, this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. We understand there is value in linking certain websites to others from an SEO perspective, but to give up valuable page real estate for someone else’s benefit is simply a bad idea.
8. Do the words on my website clearly communicate what I’m trying to sell?
The purposes of business websites can certainly vary. Some sites simply inform visitors about your company, others go a step further by promoting their products and services, and some even offer their products online. Whatever you think your message should be, make sure that it matches what’s written on your website.
9. Would I even fill out my own contact form?
How intimidating is your contact form? How much information are you asking for? Now, how much of that information do you actually need, or even want for that matter? 99% of the time you won’t need your visitors’ address, city, state, sex, title, company, or even phone number. Obviously what you need is based on how you work and what you are most comfortable with, but the point is, don’t ask for information that you don’t absolutely need. Name, email, question, done.
10. Would I even fill out my own contact form? (Part II)
Internet business is all about generating quality leads, and so we felt it was necessary to dwell on contact forms… Yes they are that important. If you feel you might know why your visitors have arrived at your contact form, and usually it’s because they are interested in your product, you may need to give them a little nudge to fill it out. Just a few checkboxes with specific products or services of interest can remind people why they are there and help them to elaborate on what they would have written otherwise. See the example on our contact page.
11. Do I have one of those nifty little logos next to my URL in the address bar?
They’re called favicons (short for favorite icons) and they are an often overlooked feature of a website. First, take a look to see if you have one, now take a look in your browser history and you’ll see a variety of different colors and shapes. Favicons also usually show up on browser tabs if you use those as well as in your browser’s bookmarks menu. Unique and colorful favicons can help your visitors find you again once they’ve been distracted.
12. Would I even fill out my own contact form? (Part III)
Ok, ok no more contact forms… as soon as you make sure that you always, always, always promise to keep your visitors information safe. If they can’t trust you to do that, then it’s probably a foregone conclusion that they will not be buying your product.
13. Does my site look the same in all the major web browsers?
Most web designers will tell you that the least fun part of their job is testing a website in multiple browsers. It’s not so important that a website looks exactly the same in multiple browsers but they should all at least look good. Be sure to test your site in Internet Explorer, Safari and Mozilla Firefox.
And for the record, we support:
14. Do I have to scroll right to see the entire page?
This is not necessarily a common occurrence, but is certainly a serious problem if you do need to scroll right. The standard size for websites is 1024px wide, I realize that number doesn’t mean anything to most people, but in case it does and your website is wider than that, you need to get it fixed today!
15. Do the pictures that say ‘click to enlarge’ actually enlarge when you click ‘em?
If you don’t have pictures that say ‘click to enlarge’, consider whether any pictures on your site need to be viewed in detail. This is especially important on sites where you have physical products to be sold. If you do happen to have ‘click to enlarge’ pictures on your site, please, please make sure that they actually get bigger when you click on them. If a visitor is interested enough to click on it, they will surely be sorely disappointed when it doesn’t work.
16. When I type my company’s name into a search engine do I come up first?
One of the most tell-tale signs that you need to consider search engine optimization (SEO), is when you type in your company name and you are NOT result #1. Below are the 3 major search engines used by 90% of your target audience, go try ‘em out, we know you’ll be right back.
Google
Yahoo!
MSN Live
17. Do all my pictures and links have ‘Alt’ and ‘Title’ tags?
This one is little more difficult to figure out, so we’ve included two examples below. The link on the left has a ‘title’ tag, when you point to it with your mouse it should read “This is a title tag.” The missing picture on the right uses and ‘alt’ tag and should say “This is an alt tag.” These two practices are looked upon very favorably by the major search engines, especially if you utilize a lot of graphics in your website.
Point to me.
18. Do the search engines have a site map for my whole website?
If you don’t know the answer to this question, then the answer is most likely no, you don’t have a site map. This is not the same as a site map page on your site with links to all the pages, it is a different animal entirely used only by search engines. Basically, if you take your website seriously, you need one.
19. Do you know who’s coming to your site and what pages they’re looking at?
For those of you who said, “Yes”, good for you. Hopefully you are using that information to improve your business. For those of you who said “You can do that?” Yes you can, and it is a fantastic way to find out what is and what isn’t working on your site. For those of you who said “I’ve heard of people doing that before”, it’s time to take some action. If you are interested, we’ll even set it up for you for free. Click here.
20. Would you call your website ‘finished’?
Sorry, but that was a trick question. The answer should always be no. A website in any form, is never perfect, because technology and people’s minds are always changing. Granted, you can’t stay on top of that change always, but you are doing yourself and your company a disservice if you don’t even try.
Let us look over your website, we’ll give you an honest opinion about what you can do to improve your online presence.