When it comes to building your brand online, your website is perhaps the most important tool at your disposal. While your social media accounts can help elevate your profile - your website holds the most power as it will generate sales and increase your revenue. As a result, you must address any issues that may arise with your site sooner rather than later - and work to resolve them quickly.
With that in mind, here are three signs that your website just isn’t working (and how you can go about improving it).
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1: Your sales are low. This is perhaps the clearest indicator that your website isn’t working the way you want it to. Therefore, if you notice a dramatic drop or shift in your sales patterns, it’s time to rethink your website. Focus on stripping it back wherever impossible so that your website is clean and easy to navigate. Then, take a look at your product descriptions - do they give a clear indication of what the product does? Do they make you want to purchase the product? Do they include a CTA (call to action) that encourages a customer to make a purchase? If the answer to any of these questions is no, then changing the content could help boost your sales once again.
2: You’re receiving complaints. Sometimes, if a customer cannot access a specific part of your website or experiences difficulties, they will simply look elsewhere. However, on occasion, they may get in touch with you. It’s essential that you take each complaint seriously, as sometimes minor errors - such as broken links or buttons - can cost you hundreds.
3: Your engagement is low. When running a website, you should keep an eye out for your engagement. This could cover:
How many views you are getting.
How often people visit your site and how long they spend on there.
How often they make a purchase after viewing.
Whether or not they share, like or otherwise engage with the content.
Whether the sign up to your mailing list.
For example, a clear lack of engagement is often referred to as pogo sticking, which refers to a time when a customer may jump back and two across numerous sites, but ultimately does not spend much time on either one. If your average view time is low, this could mean that potential customers are pogo sticking on your website - meaning they cannot find what they are looking for and begin to look elsewhere. When this happens frequently, search engines are less likely to recommend your site to viewers, meaning your engagement will only continue to plummet.
Thankfully, poor engagement can be resolved in a variety of ways. For example, you may simply need to debug your website and pay attention to any errors that may cause the website to malfunction. Alternatively, you may need to take a different approach with your content, ensuring that it is tailored specifically towards your target audience, utilizing SEO practices where appropriate. Finally, you can improve your engagement by making your website more accessible.
