The 5 Most Common Problems of Business Websites

“Do you have a website?” she asked.

“Of course,” you said, proudly.

So, you have a website. Big deal! When is the last time you made any significant changes to that internet placeholder? To keep the people interested, it's crucial that business owners keep their websites up-to-date in terms of both information and aesthetics. While your site can be a helpful marketing and sales tool, it can also turn customers off if it doesn't look professional and isn't up-to-date.

Over the years, we (Atlantic Webworks) have built websites for hundreds of companies (sometimes multiple websites for the same company over decades). During this time, we have seen some interesting things happen to those wonderful little websites.

Here are 5 common—but relatively easy-to-fix—problems found among business websites.

1. Lack of mobile optimization.

Everybody is on the phone, but they’re not talking; they’re surfing the web! The explosion of smartphones and tablets in the past couple of years has created an entirely new sector of the web-browsing public—one that surfs the net from the beach, the car, the sofa, and the bed! One mobile usage study reports that a full 30% of traffic and 15% of all sales online are generated via mobile devices. If your web design doesn't cater to mobile people, you're cutting out a large chunk of potential clients or customers.

Enter responsive and mobile design. Responsive design allows for the design and features of your website to change and adjust to the screen size of the visitor. This allows for ease of use across platforms and browser windows. For some businesses, totally separate mobile websites offering a unique experience for the mobile user are being designed. Whatever your solution, you have to be mobile.

2. Stale design.

The web changes constantly as does the technology that makes it ever more dynamic and responsive. We've come a long way from the text-based websites of the '90s. Today's websites have clean lines, large images, minimal clutter, readable text, and useful (rather than dramatic) graphics.

A good rule-of-thumb is that your website needs a thorough design overhaul or redesign every 2-3 years. Companies should budget for design changes routinely and make certain they are keeping up with the newer technologies.

3. No way to convert.

Why do business websites exist? Part of their purpose is to lend credibility to your business, to represent you well online—an online brochure of sorts. However, for most businesses, they want more out of their websites: leads, sales, and contacts. Does your website have clear and user-friendly call-outs directing users to take action?

Spend some time to identify what you want your visitors to do when they visit. Do you want them to buy something then and there? To call you for a quote? To download your whitepaper? Business websites should have these goals clearly in mind—as though you're funneling your visitors right from your website to your front door. The call to action should be clear, engagingly designed, and repeated throughout the site so that your visitors know what they're supposed to do.

4. Old or inaccurate content.

Your business and its message are important. You no doubt have spent time and other resources defining your products and/or services to position yourself in the market place. Yet, many business owners don’t keep the content about their business current online. I visited one website that, according to the banner on the website, had been celebrating its 25^th anniversary for the last 5 years! Stagnant or old content discourages and confuses visitors to your website. Fortunately, most of the websites built today use content management systems (CMS). These systems make managing websites simple for everyone—offering an easy-to-use interface that allows business owners to keep their content up-to-date and add new content when they desire.

5. Long load times.

Four seconds—that’s about all the time you have before a visitor to your website decides to stay or leave. The nature of internet engagement is becoming more and more the world of NOW! Instant search results, quickly served browsing suggestions, and well-organized information are expected. We can thank Google and Social Media for this buzzing, rapid-fire environment. Love it or hate it, your website and thus your business is being judged by its ability to provide instant gratification. If you don't, you know somebody else will. Website load time can be adversely affected by the hosting provider, large images or files, settings, and coding. Is your website up-to-speed?

If  business websites are made to be mobile, pretty, fresh and fast, and given a goal, they'll better serve you as your 24-hour-a-day representative online!