Why Your Website is Failing You & How To Fix It!

Does your website get much visitor traffic? Does it generate leads in high volume or nothing at all? Does your e-commerce website generate sales or is your store more like a dusty storeroom than a bustling market?

For the majority of people, websites are seen as something you must have if you are running a business. For some, it is seen as a grudge purchase, for others, it is viewed with hopeful optimism until boredom, disinterest, anger and finally, despair set in.

You see, the majority of website owners do not see a lot of value coming from their website and so eventually their website gets forgotten and starts to gather digital dust.

But why do websites fail?

Is it the website that fails? Is it the website designer’s or the owner’s fault?

Websites fail because they are not properly understood by both website owners and even website designers and developers.

So isn’t it time we found out what a website really is?

What is the Purpose of Your Website?

Websites are very very simple to understand! They may be a little complicated to design, build and manage, but once you understand their purpose the rest starts to get easier.

Websites are communication tools!

It is almost too simple. And yet, when you start to look at it you will see that whether you are blogging, running an e-commerce store or you have a simple brochure style website for your small business, you are still attempting to communicate with someone.

Knowing what a website’s purpose is, gives us a point of reference to uncover the reasons it is failing.

You see, anything that does not align to a website’s purpose is potentially an issue that needs to be corrected.

Here are a few common issues:

Your website is slow, this slows communication which often means no communication = website fail!
Your content is not written with a particular target market or public in mind, which leads to lack of communication = website fail!
Your design is outdated or lacks interest which can reduce trust break with visitor expectations of professionalism, make navigation difficult etc. = website fail!
Your website’s content is thin and/or is not added to regularly which means you are failing to communicate regularly = website fail!
Your website’s content is not written with both your audience and search engines in mind, which means your web pages don’t rank well, which means you cannot communicate = website fail!

Now I don’t want to create a comprehensive list of website fails here. The point is, anything about your website that reduces its primary purpose to communicate is a website issue that needs to be handled otherwise failure results!

There are a great many websites out there that are used well and are highly valued by their owners. In fact, your website is one of your most powerful and yet most under-utilised marketing and communications tools.

So now it is time to find out how to fix your website…

Designing & Developing the Right Website

There is no universally right website for everyone. Your website is right based on your communication needs, your target audience/s, your industry, your budget and many other factors.

There is also no such thing as a perfect website. Websites are things that must continually be used and worked on. Thye can always be improved and they should be on a continues basis both in terms of their content and their design and technology.

So when we talk about the right website versus the wrong website, it is really a gradient scale moving from no communication to greater and greater amounts of communication.

If you are a small business with a limited budget then a large website that needs regular maintenance may not be the right website for you.

Conversely, a large corporate company may not be well served by a cheap simply website that is left mostly unattended.

Designing and developing the right website for you means understanding your business, your target market, your ability and willingness to use your website to communicate and both the time and scope allowances dictated by your budget.

Using Your Website Effectively

The most important ‘fix’ for an underperforming website is the actual use of a website and a desire to communicate value.

A website that is neglected is a website that is failing!

Your smartphone is a communications device. If you don’t use it to communicate or allow others to communicate with you do you think it has much value?

While there are many reasons your website fails, the biggest is failing to ensure it’s content both written and visual has communication value.

Poorly written articles do not have much value. A blog with no blog posts does not have value. A website with poor quality images and graphics does not communicate value.

Poor quality is a communication! But it says something negative about you.

You see, everything is a communication!

What do you want your website to communicate about you and to your audience?

Reevaluating Your Current Website

Now it is time to take a good hard look at your website.

When last did you update your content? How old is its layout and design? Does it make you look professional? Is it as user-friendly as it could be?

In short, what does your website communicate right now and is it what you want it to communicate to your audience? Or has your audience moved on to greener pastures?