As a small business owner, maintaining your company’s website is essential. This is especially true if your business is completely online. With about 1.8 billion websites operating at the same time every day, you have a lot of competition. Even the smallest mistakes can make a huge impact on your customer base. Here are some of the most common mistakes small business owners make with their sites and what you can do to avoid them.
1. Slow Loading Speed
One of the most common issues small businesses face is a slow-loading website. If your site takes more than three seconds to load, you’re losing potential customers. Many customers will abandon a website that takes more than three seconds to load. There are a number of ways to improve your site’s loading speed, including:
- Reduce the size of your images
- Enable caching
- Remove unnecessary plugins
- Minimize HTTP requests
If you’re not sure how to improve your site’s loading speed, you can use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to get started.
2. Outdated Design
Another common mistake small businesses make is having an outdated website design. Your website should reflect the current state of your business. If it looks like it was made in the early 2000s, customers will get the impression that your business is also out-of-date. A modern website shows that you’re keeping up with the times and that you’re invested in your business. It also makes it easier for customers to use your site and find the information they’re looking for.
To update your website’s design, you can:
- Hire a professional web designer
- Use a modern website builder
- Choose a contemporary theme
- Update your color scheme
- Add fresh content regularly
3. Poor Navigation
Your website’s navigation should be intuitive and easy to use. If it’s not, customers will have a hard time finding what they’re looking for and they’ll eventually give up and leave your site. To avoid this, you should reformat your search and toolbars to help make it easier for customers to find what they’re looking for. You should also add clear, concise labels to your website’s pages.
If you have a lot of products or services, you may want to consider adding a search function to your site. Having organized product sections will allow customers to quickly and easily find what they’re looking for without having to click through every page on your site.
4. Ignoring Mobile Users
With more and more people using their mobile devices to surf the web, it’s important to make sure your website is optimized for mobile. If it’s not, you’re missing out on a lot of potential customers.
To make your website mobile-friendly, you can use a responsive design that automatically adjusts to different screen sizes. You should also make sure your website’s content is easy to read on a mobile device. This means using short paragraphs, large font sizes, and clear headings.
You can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to see how well your website performs on your internet hosting and mobile devices.
5. Poor Image Quality
The images on your website should be high quality and relevant to your business. Blurry, pixelated images give customers the impression that you don’t care about your site or your business. This will make them less likely to trust you and do business with you.
To ensure your images are high quality, you should use professional photography on your internet hosting site. You should also avoid using images that are too small or too large.
6. Not Optimizing for Search Engines
If you’re not optimizing your website for search engines, you’re missing out on a lot of potential customers. When customers search for businesses like yours online, you want your site to come up as high in the search results as possible. Many internet hosting sites have options and tools that can help you optimize your site for search engines.
Avoid these common mistakes, you’ll be well on your way to having a successful website that attracts customers and helps grow your business. Whether it’s optimizing your internet hosting site or having great images, these tips can help customers continue to shop on your online store.