Top 5 Signs That Your Website Sucks

Small business owners may not have the resources to invest heavily in their web presence and finding solutions to problems can be like finding a needle in a haystack. You know something's wrong but don't have the faintest idea how to fix it. Is it a technical issue? Are your ads not performing well? Don't know what kind of traffic you're getting? Website problems can fall into a myriad of categories. So if you think your website sucks, a) it probably does, and b) you should read on.

• You Aren't Getting Traffic
• You Have Worthless Content
• You Have No Call-to-Action
• You're Getting Traffic But No Sales
• You're Getting Relevant Traffic But No Sales

Understanding all of those things will make you aware there are some signs that make your website sucks

You Are No Getting Traffic

You're excited about the big, expensive job the design team just finished on your site. It looks like a million bucks! Well it's a shame it isn't making you a darn cent. Just because it exists doesn't mean people know about it. Announce it to the world by submittíng it to reputable directories and sharing your useful content with others on social bookmarking sites (you do have useful content, don't you? If not, I'll cover this later).

You can even do some link exchanges -- provided the sites you exchange with are reputable -- just to get your site crawled early on. Further optimize it for search engines by following good SEO practices, building quality content and generating inbound links from other sites. Once you do that, you'll need to monitor progress with web analytics software. Google Analytics is free and it has a slick interface. And we know you like pretty things seeing as how you broke the bank on your web site design.

If you're looking for high ROI, invest your time in learning search engine marketing. Better yet hire a qualified SEO firm if you have the budget for it. Don't settle for quick-fix promotional ideas. Build long-term exposure and a solid reputation by attaining high rankings, keeping email/newsletter lists, targeted ad placement and social media participation.

Getting Traffic But No Sales

Are you sure the traffic is relevant? If you're running a pay-per-click campaign, ensure your ads are geo-targeted properly and your ad text or landing pages appeal to your customers. For organic search engine placement, have you done keyword research and analysis before optimizing your content?

Look at your web stats and see where your visitors are coming from. What keywords were they searching for when they landed on your site? Are the referring sites relevant to your industry or topic? How much time does the visitor spend on each page? Sales won't come if your visitors aren't interested in what you're selling. This is why preliminary keyword analysis is so important to search engine marketing.

If you're running ads, it's always good practice to experiment with different ad campaigns. If you put all your eggs in one basket you run the risk of losing out on potential revenue. Elements of your ads that you can change are:

• ad text
• landing page
• specific network your ads are shown across
• topics on which you focus the campaign
• geo-locations targeted

Remember, it doesn't pay to skimp on initial product/market research and analysis.

Getting Relevant Traffic But No Sales

This problem could signal a technical error or navigation problem with your site. Make sure you thoroughly test all functionalities on various web browsers and systems. Submit test forms. Do a link check to spot possible broken links. Is your web hosting service reliable?

If you've ruled out technical issues as the cause then turn your attention to the content and customer base. Has your market taken a downturn? Can the lack of sales be attributed to the poor economy? Have you fallen behind your competition in product quality, selection or pricing? Does your web site's navigation system confuse users? Your web site is the first line of contact between the business and potential customer, but it's not the only step you need to worry about. Telephone operators or online payment systems can present their own issues.

This is moving away from web site problems but if any part of the sales process takes place away from the site, investigate those areas of your business as well.

If you're pulling out your hair over a problem with your site and these tips still haven't helped, feel free to post a comment and I'll personally have a peek at your site.

About The Author:

With eight years in the search engine marketing industry, John Metzler of FreshPromo knows what works and what doesn't regarding website success. His strong grasp on visitor usability and analysis, along with a highly-skilled SEO perspective, can be seen through his professional SEO services.

Page Rank The Truth

A few weeks ago I found myself in the subway of New York City. Posters and billboards from a prominent bank promoted credit card decaled the underground landscape.

These well-crafted advertisements promised ten dollars back for every $100 spent on subway fares. It gave the current economic crisis and recession as the explanation for their incredible generosity and compassion.

Everybody around me seemed thoroughly impressed by this overwhelming gesture of selfless charity; many discussed in earnest how they were planning to sign up for this card to enjoy these charitable savings. It seemed I was the only one, the Christmas Grinch of the crowd, who perceived this advertisement strategy as more cunning and brilliant than selfless and generous. What an ideal time to hook people on yet another credit card, especially with the holiday season already upon us. Obviously the long-term interest this credit card company was anticipating far overshadowed their likely short-term promotional costs.

Indeed it was a cunning and brilliant strategy, much the same, I thought to myself, as Google's page rank system.

At first glance it seems a very wise, fair and indeed brilliant system for determining positioning within the search ranks. On closer inspection, however, it is even more brilliant and cunning than most are giving it credit.

In the past, creating good, unique and newsworthy content, coupled with intelligent onsite optimization strategies, was at least enough to get your website found. These days are now gone, regardless of what some na�ve or misleading SEO experts might still tell you.

Page Rank has now become the single most important factor in having your site found in the organic search results of the leading search engines. Page Rank is determined by the quantity and quality of websites that are linking to yours. Each website link acts as a kind of vote for the site it links to, and passes some of its own page rank to this site. The higher the page rank, and the more relevant the content of the site, the more significant the affect will be.