Why Your Website Sucks

Famous last words:  “My website looks fine to me”.   This statement has a tendency to blow through me like an icy breeze.  Brrrr!  The effect it creates is almost always the same.   It’s almost always the same, because what business / practice owners fail to realize, is that it isn’t what they think of their website, it’s what their customers / clients / patients think of it.  More importantly, it’s what those visitors do when they arrive at your home page.

The look of a website is not nearly as important as how efficiently it converts visitors to customers.

You must remember that functionality is always, always, always senior to design.  I can’t stress this enough.   It may be a “pretty” site, but does it perform?  That’s what matters.  Your clients also won’t honestly tell you how they really feel about your website.  People generally don’t want to offend, so they’re likely to give you a social response, when asked their opinion.  And who wants anything other than the truth?  Certainly not me.

Having surveyed over 300 potential clients, we discovered that over 63% of those surveyed felt unsure about what to do when they arrived on various home pages.  63%!!  That tells us that these visitors needed to be directed (told what to do) when they arrived, but weren’t.  What happened instead, is that they left quickly.  This is tragic, because when they leave without looking around, it wastes the marketing dollars used to drive visitors to your site.  It will also (over time) tank your rankings.

Google says you have less than 3 seconds to grab the attention of your visitors.  If you don’t accomplish this, the “bounce rate” can be fatal.  Bounce rate negatively affects rankings locally, and organically.   FACT!   And sadly, if you think that your average amateur is capable of creating a website that functions as an effective marketing tool, 24/7, you will be disappointed 99.9% of the time.   That 500.00 site you were quoted may seem like a deal, but at the same time I’ll wager that it looks just like everyone else’s on the block and probably has the functionality of a square wheel.  You really do get what you pay for!

You must ask yourself if your visitors are immediately compelled to take action!   Ask yourself if your website answers the all-important question: “What’s so good about it?” (in the first 3-5 seconds)  The question needs to be asked, because you’ll lose more business than you can imagine by ignoring it.  When visitors arrive and leave quickly (without easily gaining access to the information they seek), Google assumes that your business did not adequately provide information sought in the search, and so essentially penalizes you for your website not doing its job.  I can’t tell you how many websites I come across that are STILL unresponsive to mobile devices.  I scratch my head too often.
Back in April of 2015, Google made it clear that responsive websites would have preference in terms of ranking, over unresponsive ones.  Once again that announcement is here:   https://goo.gl/sxTdQG

In closing, the reason your website sucks, is because it lacks functionality and probably isn’t formatted for mobile devices.   Your website sucks because it isn’t effective as a marketing tool for your business, firm, or practice.   Most importantly, your website sucks because it doesn’t convert visitors to customers / clients / new patients.   The good news?  We can help.

Aeon web developers are a crack shot tech team of professionals with over 50 years of combined web development experience. Our attention to detail is meticulous.  In fact, we have yet to miss our mark.  One for one, our clients are happy they made the choice to work with us.   See for yourself via our Google+ page, Facebook, and a host of other business listings hosting Aeon reviews.

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time, I hope you flourish and prosper beyond your expectations!

Take Care!

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