In 2016, Wells Fargo made headlines for failing to oversee its account-opening practices. This costly oversight damaged its reputation and customer trust. Similar issues with oversight can have a similar impact on small businesses. This is true even in seemingly small areas like website performance. The consequences can be dire if customers struggle to trust or use your website.
Let’s explore six key website details you might overlook. Don’t. They are essential to your business’ success.
Make Your Brand Stand Out
Many small businesses skip detailed branding efforts. They assume branding is for larger companies. But branding builds trust.
Branding helps small businesses distinguish themselves in a crowded market. Simple tweaks can make a big difference in building trust. Such as:
· A clear tagline
· Unified colors
· Imagery
Customers who know what makes your business unique are more likely to choose you. Are you a family-friendly dental practice? Or do you specialize in state-of-the-art tech solutions? Does your pizza use non-GMO ingredients? Or are they delivered by horse-drawn carriages? You get the idea. Tell them what makes you stand out.
Optimize Your Website For Mobile
Search engines penalize websites that are not mobile-friendly. I know of a company that was a pioneer in its field. But it didn’t keep up by ensuring its website was mobile-friendly. So, instead of being at the top of the search rankings, it was buried behind more than a thousand other websites. What would that do to your business?
The answer is to optimize your website for mobile.
Optimize Your Website to be Accessible to All
This one is easy to overlook.
I get it—I do. I used to remind people that making their website accessible expands their potential customer base. But…
The world is changing. Now, nearly 75% of American households have smart speakers. This is changing how searches work. It used to be that people would look at your website and see the pictures. Pictures of competent and trustworthy lawyers told them it was a lawyers’ website.
Now, AI is looking at your website. AI can’t see your pictures. It relies on the coding tags. These are the same details that make it accessible to people with disabilities. Without them AI will fail to see your value.
Soon, this won’t be an option. Optimizing your website for accessibility will be critical.
Optimizing Your Website For User Experience
It’s easy to think, “I’ve got a website. People can find the information they need.” Research has shown that they will not.
Instead, we’ve found they leave to find another site that will make it easier for them to see what they want. Your competitor.
A good user experience (UX) is relatively easy. But it does require the ability to look at the data and use what works.
And sometimes, your graphic designer won’t be happy. But are you in business to keep your graphic designer happy or to do the business that you do?
Use traditional navigation. Write all your content with the visitor in mind, thinking about what they want to know at each step. A UX expert or a certified web content auditor can advise you on how to do this.
Optimize Your Website For SEO
Did you expect this to be first on the list? It’s essential, but it gets most of the attention. But what most don’t realize is that SEO is an ongoing process. It’s not something that is done when the website is built and forgotten about. After all, adding an article, a picture, or a new page would change your SEO.
SEO is about your content quality. It’s about choosing proper keywords. It’s about your URL structure and internal linking. It’s about your site speed and many more elements.
I recommend reading the next category unless you want to become an expert. If it’s been more than a couple of years, you probably need it to get your SEO back on track.
Regular Website Audits For Small Businesses
A website audit might seem unnecessary for a site that looks “good enough.” But a regular website audit doesn’t just check technical details. It assesses essential factors like SEO, user experience (UX), mobile friendliness, and accessibility. These are the areas where you can outperform the competition with simple improvements.
Besides, the market is constantly changing. This leaves you with a choice. Become an Internet marketing expert. Or hire a website content auditor for regular checkups. How often is debatable, but I suggest once every five years. More if the market is changing or you see a change in your website’s ability to compete.
As business owners, it’s easy to assume that if a website looks good, it’s performing well. But, a website can develop hidden issues over time that may threaten your reputation, reach, and revenue. As Wells Fargo learned the hard way, ignoring details can have catastrophic results. These five keys can make a huge impact on your business, either positively or negatively.
A website audit is the most effective way to identify and resolve these hidden issues. It will ensure that your online presence aligns with customer expectations and today’s AI-driven search standards. Best of all, one audit will provide a clear roadmap to resolving the first four issues. The last is wise to ensure you don’t fall behind in a changing marketplace. Invest in a website audit now (the link goes to my homepage; click “Schedule My Free Initial Consult Now” and follow the prompts). Prevent costly oversights later. And keep your business ready to meet tomorrow’s challenges.