The 7 Deadly Sins of Business Websites
By Elisabeth Andrews
elisabeth.andrews [at] gmail.com
A website is a must for your business, but a poor online marketing strategy could do you more harm than good. Review these pointers to see if you’re committing one (or more) of these seven deadly sins of website content.
1. SPELLING AND GRAMMAR ERRORS
Do you know your “it’s” from your “its,” “your” from “you’re,” and “there” from “their” and “they’re”? Can you tell whether all the punctuation is properly placed in the previous sentence? Are you certain that everything on your site is grammatically correct?
Errors in spelling, grammar, and word usage are unprofessional and cast a negative light on your business. Don’t let a misplaced preposition lose you customers.
2. JARGON
Your site needs to make sense to your potential customers, contractors, and other business partners, who may start out knowing very little about what you do. Be sure you’re not using insider terms that would be unfamiliar to the average person on the street.
3. UNCLEAR AUDIENCE
Who are your services for? Are you addressing parents? Small-business owners? Automobile manufacturers? Adult children of aging seniors? Be clear and upfront about who you want to reach, and write your website as if you’re speaking directly to that audience.
4. KEYWORD STUFFING
Once upon a time, web rankings were not very sophisticated, and the websites that had the highest “keyword density” won. This gave rise to businesses repeating the same terms over and over – sometimes in long lists at the bottom of a page or hidden by matching text to the background.
Search engines have since advanced to the point that this type of strategy will actually count against you. Original, high-quality content that reads well and serves your audience will do much more for your rankings and your business.
5. OUT-OF-DATE INFORMATION
Announcements from years past, blogs that haven’t been updated in months, and – worst of all – empty pages announcing that the content is “coming soon!” indicate an out-of-touch business. Either update your site at least weekly or don’t use anything with a date on it, and hold off on going live with any page that isn’t finished.
6. IT’S HARD TO READ
Good design is a wonderful thing for a website, but too many bells and whistles can make a website difficult to read. Make sure there’s sufficient contrast between the text and background, the text is broken up with headings and sections, and the font size isn’t too small.
I also advise against any audio or video elements that start automatically when the page is opened. People don’t like a sneak attack, and they’ll almost certainly shut the sound or video off – that is, if they don’t leave your page immediately.
7. NO CALL TO ACTION
Make sure you have a goal in mind for visitors to your site. Do you want them to sign up for your newsletter? Contact you to set up an appointment? Comment on your blog?
Design your site to facilitate that goal, and direct people toward the tools to meet it, whether that means providing a phone number on every page or linking to an online scheduling system.
Keep your website simple, clear, and professional to project the best possible image of your business.
Need help with your website? Contact me at elisabeth.andrews [at] gmail.com.
