You've picked a platform and host, chosen a theme, built a site (or maybe hired someone), and slapped your website address on every piece of marketing collateral you have. However, simply having a website isn't enough. Your website needs to have specific components to be effective in achieving your goals.
In today's digital age, having a website for your business or personal brand is essential, but more is needed. At a minimum, your website should include the following:
Clear navigation
Straightforward copy describing services, how you can help, and the areas you serve
Easy-to-find Contact information, both in the footer and on a separate page
Compelling content
Best practices for search engine optimization
Mobile responsiveness
So is that enough? We hate to break it to you, but it's not. Losing rank on Google, seeing decreased traffic, and lacking mobile responsiveness are signs that your website is in danger and needs help.
When doing website audits for clients, these are 6 things that seem to be consistently missing from websites:
Good overall performance
An email lead capture
Security Features
To meet legal requirements
Updated content
Social media integration
In today's digital age, having a website for your business or personal brand is essential.
Good Overall Performance
To ensure that your website performs at its best, you must consider factors such as page load times, mobile responsiveness, and user experience. Optimizing your website's performance can improve user engagement, increase conversions, and ultimately grow your business.
A slow or poorly performing website can lead to decreased traffic, higher bounce rates, and lost revenue. In fact, research shows that a one-second delay in page load time can result in a 7% reduction in website conversions.
Want to test your website's performance? Click here for Google's PageSpeed Insights.
It's vital to prioritize website performance to stay ahead of the competition and provide your customers with the best online experience. Invest in optimizing your website, and you'll see a positive impact on your bottom line.
Email Lead Capture
One of the best ways to build your email list is by adding an email lead capture to your website. An email lead capture is a form that allows visitors to enter their email addresses in exchange for something of value, such as a free eBook, webinar, or exclusive content.
By adding an email lead capture to your website, you can:
Build your email list: An email lead capture is a great way to capture the contact information of potential customers interested in your products or services.
Nurture leads: Once you have their contact information, you can nurture those leads by sending them targeted emails that provide value and help move them closer to a sale.
Increase conversions: By building relationships with your email subscribers, you can increase their likelihood of paying customers.
Increase the value of your email lead capture by placing it on its own landing page, where you can tap into the psychology of a sales page and boost the conversion rate of your email opt-ins.
Security Features
With cyber threats becoming more prevalent, website security is more important than ever. Websites can be vulnerable to hacking, malware, and phishing attacks. Not only can these attacks compromise sensitive information, but they can also damage your brand's reputation and even get you banned from showing up in Google searches.
To protect your website, you should use a secure hosting provider, keep your software up to date, use secure passwords, and implement SSL encryption. Regular backups can also help you recover quickly if your site is compromised.
If you're on a platform like Wix, Squarespace, or Weebly, you'll want to look into built-in security features; if they lack security features that you need, you'll likely want to gravitate towards a custom build.
Legal Requirements
If you're running a website, it's essential to be aware of the legal requirements that come with it. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in legal action, fines, and damage to your brand's reputation.
Some of the legal requirements that websites need to follow include:
Privacy Policy: A privacy policy is a document that outlines how your website collects, uses, and protects user data. If you collect personal information from your users, you must have a privacy policy.
Terms and Conditions: Terms and conditions are a set of rules that users must agree to in order to use your website. This document should outline your and your users' rights and responsibilities.
Accessibility: Websites need to be accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. This means following certain design and coding standards to ensure everyone can use your site.
Copyright: It's important to ensure your website's content doesn't infringe on anyone else's copyright. This includes images, text, and other media.
Cookies: If your website uses cookies to track user behavior, you need to inform users and obtain their consent. You'll find more information about The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) here and The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) here. Having a basic understanding of both and how to protect yourself as a business owner is crucial to avoid any legal action from consumers.
Following these legal requirements can protect your website and your users. Make sure that your website is compliant with all applicable laws and regulations to avoid any legal issues down the line.
Need more information? Check out this post from Elementor: 10 Website Legal Requirements: A Starting Guide to Legal Compliance.
Updated Content
In addition to having the minimum amount of compelling content on your website, you'll want to ensure your website is updated...frequently. This can be a challenge for many business owners because they tend to see their website as low-priority...as we're sure you know ;).
Keeping your website content up to date is crucial to its success. Fresh, relevant content keeps your visitors engaged and helps boost your website's search engine rankings.
Regularly updating your website's content shows that your site is active and relevant, which can help improve your search engine optimization (SEO). It can also help you attract new visitors and keep existing ones returning.
In addition, updating your content can help you showcase new products, services, or promotions. It's an excellent opportunity to highlight your business's latest developments while driving traffic from social media and your email list to your latest website updates.
Social Media Integration
Integrating social media works in two ways. Adding your social media accounts to your website can help you:
Drive more traffic to your social media accounts, increasing reach, engagement, and follower count
Improve your search engine rankings
Establish trust and credibility by showcasing relevant posts and new posts
Adding your website to your social media accounts and sharing information from your website can help you:
Drive more traffic to your website
Strengthen your client journey and help leads turn into conversions
Provide better customer support by giving them more information, resources, and ways to contact you
Building a successful website requires more than just incorporating the bare minimum and the 6 elements mentioned earlier. It can take countless hours to meet all these requirements and best practices when going it alone, but it's the key to your success in the digital landscape. If you're struggling with your website and need:
Website maintenance
Platform migration & rebuild
An audit & implementation of best practices
To rework copy, images, and navigation to support your client journey
A strategy to help you boost your SEO and get more website traffic
...We'd make a good team, so reach out today and let us know how we can help solve your website woes.