Your website is lame. Yes, yours. Well, most likely yours.
Really it’s impossible to know because we don’t know exactly who you are at the
moment. In any case: most websites suffer from the same issues, and those
issues mean that websites get skimmed, scanned, and closed by readers pretty
quickly. Here are the top five reasons that websites are lame. Take these and
take a look at your website, and let us know if yours fits the description,
will you?
1. No Clear Value
Proposition
Do you clearly show on your website what you offer a
customer? You might be amazed at the number of business websites that in no way
show or demonstrate what the business does. Why should a potential customer
come to you instead of a competitor? People don't want to read through industry
jargon and advanced hieroglyphics to understand what a business does. A website
should make it clear what kind of value you bring to the table.
2. Poor Design
Direction
Websites get cluttered way too easily. You obviously want
your website to look appealing and match your personality, but design has to be
intentional. If your web design doesn’t draw visitors to do what you want them
to—whether that’s shoot you an email or just look at pictures—the design is
flawed. Design should make a statement about the company. Remember: whitespace
is your friend.
3. Information
Overload
There’s a lot of content out there on the Internet. Frankly,
most websites have way too much of it. It’s hard enough to keep a reader’s
attention, but when you throw paragraph after paragraph of information at your
visitors, you’re going to lose them. Most readers will skim something unless it
really catches their attention. Be concise and just say what you want them to
know.
4. Content Is About
You, Not Your Audience
Sure, it’s your business, so why shouldn’t the content be
about you and your interests? Because the content should be about your
audience. Readers are far more likely to read about content that serves them in
some way. Maybe it solves a problem, or just provides really interesting
information they can throw out at parties. Knowing what your audience wants to
read or watch is the first step in creating good content.
5. No Call to Action
You obviously want your readers to do something: download an
e-book, send you an email, follow you on Twitter. The thing is, unless you ask
your visitors to do just that, then they probably won’t. It’s best to be direct
with what you’d like your reader to do, but often, websites just frame (too
much) content around a button and expect it to happen organically. And more
often than not, it doesn’t. A call to action can make a big difference in your
website engagement.
Bonus! Here are four reasons why you won’t do anything about
your broken website.
- You think
it’s not broken. It’s staring you right in the face, but you don’t see
anything wrong with it. But trust us: it’s broken. - You feel
design is too expensive. While it’s true that good design may be costly,
the return on investment you’ll see from good design will more than make up for
it. - You like
the way it looks. It’s hard to argue taste. Then again, the website should
be about engaging with your audience, not making it look the way you want it
to. - Your
customers like it. (Or so you think.)
Your customers may come to you based on services. If they like what you
offer, they may not be up front about your website being lame.
What do you think? Does your website need a facelift? Download our free Website Evaluation to find out where your website excels and where it could improve.
