Small business owners often overlook the importance of having a well-maintained website. A website is a business’s calling card, and having an outdated and neglected website drives away potential customers, resulting in fewer sales. Conversely, investing in an up-to-date website can help your business stand out from competitors and increase sales. In this blog, we’ll examine why neglecting small business websites can significantly impact sales and why investing time and money in maintaining a website is essential.

With over 1.94 billion active websites, it’s more important than ever for businesses to have an online presence (WordPress, 2020). For small businesses, a website is essential for driving sales and growth. In addition, having designed a website gives customers a positive first impression of your business and can help you stand out from the competition.

Customers today are doing more research online before making a purchase, so it’s essential that your website is up-to-date and provides accurate information about your products or services. If your website is neglected and outdated, potential customers will visit your competitor’s websites instead.

Investing in a professionally designed website is one of the best marketing investments you can make for your small business. A website is a 24/7 marketing tool that can help you attract new customers and grow your business.

If you’re unsure where to start, many web design and development companies specialize in creating websites for small businesses. Investing in a website is an essential step in growing your small business.

Client Experience & Journey

The average website conversion rate is just 2.6%. So what gets in the way of businesses converting more visitors into customers? The answer is their website and customer journey. Our mission is to help companies to close the gap between what people want and what they buy. We do this by creating sites that process more leads at a lower cost per lead, providing businesses with all the tools they need to convert their site visitors into customers—and then some.

Poor SEO and Next to Nothing Organic Search Results

26% of small businesses can’t be found online by a simple Google search. Have you tried to google your business name? Or a specific keyword? You will notice that the same people are rising to the top, especially in a small city like Anchorage. It’s not difficult to keep up with SEO and is a lot less convoluted than before. Having keyword data, meta descriptions, and page titles, Google will find you much easier, and your small business website can work for you!

Poor search engine optimization (SEO) can make it hard for a small business to attract new customers. You need to optimize your content so that it is easily found by people searching for your goods and services on Google, Bing, and other search engines. The easiest way to do this is to use keywords in your titles and descriptions relevant to your products and services. For example, if you’re a plumber who offers residential plumbing services, then keywords like “plumber” or “plumbing” would be relevant terms for you to include in your social media posts.

No Social Media Links

Cross-posting on social media and leveraging the growth of social media with your small business website is vital for brand exposure. If you have social media links, ensure they are linked to your website. If you don’t have social media accounts, GET THEM! Every 5th site visited by DAILY is a social media site. I recommend starting and, at minimum, Facebook, Google +, and Twitter (YouTube) if you have videos. Allow your customers and social media followers (ie….brand advocates) to share and engage with your brand.

No Website Maintenace

If you aren’t a “web person,” outsource your website’s updating, backing up, maintenance, and security—several inexpensive companies offer the service. Updates, if not tested, can wreak havoc on a website and crash and break links. These are things a professional agency can provide to you without hassle. Not worrying about maintaining your website costs $125 a month. Believe it or not, even small business websites are hacked, and prevention is the name of the game. When personally maintaining your site, you risk wasting time that could be used to manage your business.

With a Bianca Frank Design website, you don’t need to worry about updating your store to keep it fresh and engaging. Instead, we do the personalized work according to your needs and preferences.

No Call to Action

Ensure prospects know where and what to do when landing on your website. Customers may not know what they should do on your site or what your company offers without a prominent call to action. Don’t shortchange the website visit by not clearly stating what you want your visitor to do.

Not sure where to start? Bianca Frank Design can help to create a small business website that works for you! Content and all. Contact us for a FREE Consultation.