If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard a client say, “I’ve just spent a fortune on a new website, but I’m not getting any customers…” You guessed it, I’d be very rich.

The sad reality is that today’s small business owners are spending money hand over fist on websites that just aren’t working. Whether they’re not getting the traffic, or they are but they’re not converting into sales, the design (and build) of the website is likely to be at fault.

A website is not just an online advertisement for your business. It’s a living, breathing tool, a focal point for customer service. Visitors rely on your website for giving them the answers they seek. If they don’t get them (and get them quickly), they’re not coming back.

Your website needs to be able to grow and evolve as your business does. It needs to be able to bring new customers in and also get them to return. And as with anything in business, your website design should be approached in a strategic way to ensure it gets results.

In this blog post, we’re going to look at the top 5 reasons why most websites don’t actually work – so you can make sure yours does.

Why 80% of website designs don’t work

1. No Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Layout, functionality and user experience are all hugely important to modern website design. But without basic SEO, your website runs the risk of being invisible.

Google updates its algorithm hundreds of times per year. It can feel overwhelming to keep up with all of these changes – and to know what to put the majority of your focus on.

Google requires certain data from your website in order to be able to “read” and understand it, so it can rank your content in search results. For example, if your customers are searching for “low energy light bulbs”, you need to optimize the pages of your website that relate to that search term. This will help it to rank well in Google’s results.

2. No traffic generating source

If you don’t have a traffic generating source on your website, customers have no reason to visit it – unless they already know who you are and are at the purchasing stage.

What is a traffic generating source? This is something that adds value to your target audience. It brings them into the website, demonstrates your thought-leadership and encourages them to rely on you for information.

In content terms, it’s something like a blog or podcast, a free download, tips, or other valuable offer. Simply put, it’s something that allows the website visitor to get a lot of return on their small investment. But it also keeps them wanting more. So it leads them further into the sales funnel and eventually to purchase.

 3. No social media integration

Customers nowadays expect businesses to be social. Your social media presence is an extension of your brand and another important customer touch point. Visitors to your website should be able to get to your social channels easily, and vice versa from your social pages to your website.

There should be a seamless connection between your website presence and your business’ social world. Yet the majority of website designs have mediocre social at best, if they have any at all.

Demonstrate your social credentials by incorporating this into your website design in a way that adds value. For example, integrating Facebook reviews with your website homepage clearly sends a valuable message to your website visitors.

4. No client testimonials

Similarly to the inclusion of social reviews, client testimonials are an essential element of website design. Why? Because your good opinion of your business is worth nothing, but somebody else’s recommendation of it is the jackpot.

Contact your satisfied customers and ask them to write a review or testimonial for your business. The chances are they’d be more than happy to oblige. And before you know it, your website is 10x more impactful.

5. Not based on real audience data

This is perhaps the most terrible of all website design and build mistakes.

What is the point of spending lots of money on a new website that is completely disconnected from the people visiting it? There is no point! It’s madness!

Data should be the basis for all your decision making. You must set up Google Analytics and Google Search console, as these are the main resources you have to track and understand your website traffic in order to spot issues and make website improvements. Without these tools, you’re just shooting in the dark.

A website can certainly help you to achieve your business goals more easily and more quickly. However, like any good tool, it should be well planned, built and maintained if it is to accomplish its ultimate purpose – to grow your business.

How Website Design With Digital Marketing Gets You More Leads

In today’s complex and noisy marketing landscape, you can’t just rely on good website design to get your business leads. Nor is digital marketing on its own the silver bullet solution to your sales goals. But great website design with digital marketing, now that’s a sure route to business success.

In this blog post, we’ll explain how good website design and digital marketing work together to boost your sales. We’ll also provide you with a process for figuring out a digital marketing strategy that’s tailored to your small business.

How website design with digital marketing works

Website design is an art. It’s not just about making your website look good, it’s about functionality, usability and search engine optimization too. When customers visit your website, they need to be taken on a clear journey through the sales funnel to purchase. Otherwise, you could lose them.

Digital marketing is an effective way to bring potential customers to your website, whether they’re at the top of the funnel or closer to the point of sale.

Simply put, great website design followed by relevant and targeted digital marketing is a complete structure to generate enquiries online.

Digital marketing can generate website traffic pretty quickly. Nurturing those visitors into leads and buyers is a process that can take a little longer. However, if you have a properly planned and functional website with great design, coupled with digital marketing that’s tailored to your business, you stand the best chance of being able to lead your visitors to purchase as quickly as possible.

Planning your digital marketing strategy

As a general rule, the best combination of digital marketing tactics to generate organic and paid leads is through Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Facebook advertising.

But as with any form of marketing, digital marketing success lies in your planning and detailed market research. Don’t forget, it’s all about your audience. Who are they? What are they looking for? Where are they coming from?

Answers to all of these questions can be found through an examination of your website analytics.

If you’re not already using Google Analytics to monitor traffic to your website, we highly recommend that you start.

Google Analytics is the foundation of your digital marketing

We live and operate in an age of “big data”. Modern businesses require an arsenal of tools to convert their customer data into meaningful information, allowing them to make better decisions. But if you only use one tool, let Google Analytics be it.

Google Analytics is probably the most sophisticated and widely used tool for monitoring and analyzing your website traffic. You can learn a huge amount about who is visiting your site, what they are looking for, and how they are getting to your site.

It’s essential for any business looking to grow their business online through a deep understanding of their digital customer base.

But because Google Analytics is so sophisticated, the sheer amount of data it provides can be overwhelming. Particularly if you don’t have a Data Analyst on your team.

So, to make life easier for you, here are the key metrics you should be focusing on:

Where your website traffic is coming from: organic, paid ads, social media.

• Analyzing the data from Google Analytics to know what traffic your website is getting and where it’s coming from can help you to plan your digital marketing accordingly.
• For example, if you’re getting organic traffic from Facebook, consider boosting that reach with Facebook advertising. Conversions through Google Analytics Goals: you can track anyone that becomes a lead via your website.
  • If you’re spending any money on Facebook advertising, Google AdWords, or other digital marketing, through GA Goals, you can track how many of those visitors became leads and how many of those leads became customers. This is pretty handy for determining accurate ROI.
  • For example, you can set a Goal to track your contact us page and get insight on the leads you get there. What your audience is looking for: Google Analytics monitors and reports on the search terms visitors to your website are using in order to get there.
    • Understanding what your customers want can help you to provide them with valuable information or services. It can also help you to refine your audience.

If you really want to take your digital marketing to the next level, explore Google Analytics Funnel Visualization. This allows you to identify any problems in your customer sales journey through the funnel.

Once you’ve established a Goal, set up the typical Funnel Visualization journey people would take to get to that Goal. For example:

1. Visit the Homepage
2. Navigate to the download Landing Page
3. Complete the form and arrive at the Thank You page

With Funnel Visualizations, you can see how many visitors achieved each point in the journey. If lots of people are navigating to the Landing Page, but hardly any make it to the Thank You page, you know to examine the Landing Page for issues.

Digital marketing and Google Analytics can seem overwhelming, but it’s easy to get results if you know where to look.

Conveyz, based in Brisbane, is specialist in website design with SEO and digital marketing. All of our websites adhere to best practice design principles, avoiding all the common mistakes listed above. So if you’d like our help with your website, contact us today