Do you ever feel like your small business website is not working for you the way it should? Even if you made a substantial initial investment into your site, there may be issues that still need to be resolved before it can become an effective sales tool for you. In this workshop, we will go over the most common reasons websites do not perform the way small business owners expect them to and what to do to fix it. Each issue that is presented will have an actionable item you can take with you to solve the problem. If you have not built your website yet, you will be given sound direction to make sure your website is built to perform. Major Takeaways • Websites are more than just design • Site content & usability matter • No focus, no ranking • If you don’t call them to action, they won’t act! • Don’t forget, Google is judgmental

1. 6 Reasons Your Website Isn’t
Working for You
Presenter: Mike Baker
Location: OCMA April Meeting
Date: April 13, 2016
This presentation: © 2016 Real Time Web Marketing (all rights reserved)

2. Introduction:
Resume is on Linked-in & Website
Key to success = Do what you love
Website design & development
Working with people
I enjoy making web technology work for people
Websites = Marketing & People
Mike Baker - Real Time Web Marketing
Websites = Web Tech & Design

3. Holistic Web Design
“Holistic” = All parts interconnected
Understand that when you put up a website, you are marketing!

4. Holistic Design Teaches Us That:
No focus = No ranking = No traffic
Websites are more than just design
Site content & usability matter
No calls-to-action = Inaction
Never forget, Mr. Google is judgmental

5. “Not Working” can mean ….
Not enough visitors (traffic)
People don’t take action (buy, call, subscribe)
People don’t stay & interact w/ site (bounce)
But really, “not working” means …
Site invisible in Google searches (SERP)

6. Your website isn’t making you money!
Let’s get to work on fixing that!Imagecredit:Unknown

7. “Lack of Quality Content”
CONTEXT:
Why Quality Content Matters:
• Let’s others know what sets you apart
• Tells Mr. Google what you do
• Effectively “makes the sale”
• Content = any written copy (text)
Reason #1 Your Website Isn’t Working

8. The Effects of Poor Content
First impression: 2/10th second
Reinforced within: 2.6 seconds
2. Fails to compel readers to take action
3. Poorly organized content is as
bad as poorly written content!
1. Quickly disinterests / Confuses visitors
How long before a judgement is made?

9. Cluttered, unorganized content feels like this
Image Credit: Unknown Source

10. How to Make Your Content Better
Written w/ core customer in mind
State benefits / Not features
Segmented & Organized (white space / headings)
Focused, relevant, & useful
Look (layout)
Tone / Feel (how it’s written)

11. Show me the benefit (psychographics)
What is Corona associating with it’s product here?
Image Credit: © 2013 Property of Crown Imports LLC, Chicago, IL 60803

12. “Lack of Clear Direction”
Drives visitors to most profitable items
CONTEXT:
Good Direction Matters:
Grocery store aisles, end caps & layout
Encourages visitors to stay on site
Provokes / Encourages to take action
Reason #2 Your Website Isn’t Working

13. Effects of Lack of Direction
2. 70% of small biz sites; no CTA! (SmallBizTrends.com)
3. Visitors left to guess what’s important
1. No call-to-action = Inaction
4. You end up wasting traffic
Result = You won’t make money!

14. How to Fix a Lack of Direction
Make goals as OBVIOUS as possible
Have CLEAR goals defined
Make them aware of problem / solution
Drive action using CTA elements

15. Common Call-to-Action Elements:
Exit Intent Pop-Ups
CTA Buttons / Offers
Countdown Offer Timers

16. “Lack of Focus”
• Keywords Integrated into page content
CONTEXT & DEFINITION:
• E.g. “Plumber” (plumbing, unclog drains)
• Focus = Keyword(s) / Phrases that describe
Reason #3 Your Website Isn’t Working

17. Effects of a “Lack of Focus”
2. No KW strategy = Google forced to guess
3. Pages lose potency in search results
1. Message & goals will not be clear
4. Key demographic won’t find you
Wrong focus is bad too …

18. What’s wrong with this guy’s focus?

19. FIX #3 – Sharpen Your Focus
Implement results into strategy / plan
Research competitors & target market
Use free tools (SEM Rush, Yoast.com)
List Web pages > Decide focus > Write
Focus needs an bullseye (a target)

20. “Lack of Usability”
Is it intuitive? Easy to navigate?
2 PARTS: User Experience / User Interface
Can I find what I’m looking for?
Do things work like I expect?
(UX) = Ease of use (feeling)
(UI) = What people interact with (website)
Reason #4 Your Website is Not Working

21. Some Reasons for a Poor UX
1. A bad or misguided user interface (UI)
3. E.g. Text too small / not readable (colors, font)
2. E.g. Navigation hard to identify / Use
5. Layout & design ignores convention
4. Site looks amateurish / unprofessional

22. If you were driving in China & saw this sign, what
do you need to do?
We all appreciate visual cues when we are in an
unfamiliar place … like this one!
Conventions are “sets of agreed, stipulated, or
generally accepted standards, norms” (Wikipedia)

23. How to Improve Your User Interface
Use conventions / Familiar elements
Don’t make people think! (Steve Krug)
Keep design user-centered & predictable
Test: Have friends use site / Get feedback

24. Usability Case Study “Before”
Client built their website using “unconventional design”

25. Usability Case Study “After”
Whole New Site | Still unique, yet uses convention

26. “Lack of Responsiveness”
CONTEXT:
Google: “Mobile” = smart phones
Generally “Mobile” = Tablet or smart phone
“Responsive” = Reformats on mobile devices
Responsive sites built that way
Q: What % of all webpage views
are done on mobile devices?
Reason #5 Your Website is Not Working

27. Over *51% of ALL webpage views now made
on mobile devices!
*As pointed out by Ruben in the OCMA workshop, ecommerce sites have even more mobile views

28. Non-Responsive Sites will ...
3. Have elements that run off screen
4. Drive potential customers away
2. Have NAV that is difficult to read / use
1. Appear as smaller version of self
5. Be penalized by Google

29. Fixing Responsive Issues
ID Issues / Google’s mobile-friendly tool
If your site is not responsive:
Use mobile web-builder service
Upgrade if possible
Build a new site

30. “Lack of Performance”
CONTEXT:
Google uses speed as rank factor
65% leave because of slow speed
How fast the website loads & how well it works
Broken links or Nav; missing images
Reason #6 Your Website Isn’t Working

31. How to Fix Performance Issues
Learn acceptable standards
E.g. < 2 sec = Good AND > 5 sec = Bad
Take your website in for maintenance
Use free tools (Pingdom, Google Console)
Upgrade your hosting

32. Review of Holistic Design Concepts:
No focus = No ranking = No Traffic
Websites are more than just design
Site content & usability DO matter
No calls-to-action = Inaction
3 Critical Takeaways Today

33. Three Critical Takeaways
#1 - Google is judging you: Make sure you comply

34. Three Critical Takeaways
#2 – Website visitors have expectations:
Make sure you meet them!
Image Credit: CanStockPhoto

35. Three Critical Takeaways
#3 – None of this means ANYTHING
If you FAIL to take action
Take your worksheet home
Pick 1 or 2 items to get working on right away
Don’t make excuses, just do it!
Thank you for coming today

36. In-depth Blog series on today’s topic available:
Follow me on Twitter & FaceBook
http://realtimewebmarketing.com
@RealTimeWebMktg RealTimeWebMarketing
Mike Baker (714) 662-2203
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