Easy Tips To Transform Your Website to Get More Traffic

Don’t miss out on traffic. Transform your website today.

Having a website is a vital step in being seen as a credible business, and even more essential if you sell online. But are you using your website to it’s fullest potential?

Have you optimized your website to attract and retain traffic?

If you haven’t updated the look, feel and messaging in ages, it might be time to transform your website.

Let’s explore why your website might be underperforming based on your marketing goals and some easy ways to fix it.

Key problems with “outdated” websites

1. Your website doesn’t look great and is even worse to navigate

This right here is a no brainer. In fact, terrible-looking websites will send readers clicking out of it in no time. While looks are a very important factor when creating your website, if the mechanics are all wrong and it’s hard to navigate, then you’ll lose your viewers. Hiring a professional web designer will go a long way to improve and make your website look and “feel” good. These factors will help to increase views not to mention possible customers too.

2. Fail to target the audience

A great-looking website is one thing, but when it has no focus, you may as well throw in the towel to a losing battle because your audience is “non-existent”.

The aim of your website should focus on speaking to your target audience and showing them how you can help them, whilst keeping true to your brand. In other words, instead of only focusing on what’s good for your brand and business, take the time to consider your viewer’s needs.

3. There’s no emotional involvement

There’s a saying that there’re no emotions in business, however, we beg to differ. Business is about emotionally connecting with your audience. Your website might suck because you’re not making that emotional connection that your audience is looking for.

4. You paid way too low for the design and content

Having a good website is one thing, but there’s a fine line when it comes to quality over cheap. Hiring a cheapie content writer and developer spells a huge “MISTAKE”. The saying “you get what you pay for” is clear in everything, including your website. Think of your website as a staff member and ensure that it reflects your mission from top to bottom.

There’s no need to go hire the most expensive web designer out there, but take an honest look at your site compared to your competition.

Also, most of the time simple is best. So if you can’t completely transform your website, maybe you can remove clutter and distractions to give it a more streamlined look and feel for an immediate upgrade.

5. The website isn’t optimised well

If you haven’t spent much time thinking about SEO (search engine optimisation), we want to encourage you to start. With all the billions of sites and blogs on the internet, search engine algorithms take control over who sees what.

It is worth the time and money to invest in improving your website’s SEO, and this should form part of your overall brand mission.

6. Generic templates are slowly draining the life out of your website

If you’ve opted to make a DIY website on your own using templates or “themes”, that’s great! However, many of the templates are available for everyone in both paid and free versions.

Consider that many of the templates also share the same images. If your website uses the entire template features, from content layout to stock images, it will look really unrefined and people will recognise it.

At the very least, make as many changes that the template or theme allows so that you put your personal brand mark on your website. And definitely insert different images!

7. You’re missing your CTAs

Call to actions are very important, and just like keywords, they help improve engagement, traffic, reach and inevitably, with time, sales too. Your website could be sucking right now because it lacks CTA’s.

Your audience has no direction when they visit your website; they don’t know what or where to go to get in touch or for more information.

Remember, one of the most important functions of your website is to convert visitors into a lead and get them onto your email list, most often by using a lead magnet.

8. Too much maintenance or “under construction”

Every website needs maintenance but that shouldn’t drag on and on. If your website is under construction or enduring lengthy maintenance, there’s only one thing that will happen. You’ve guessed it… your viewers are simply going to leave. The same applies if you add new pages with no content on it. Rather keep these hidden or private until they are ready to be published.

By all means, do your upgrades but try to schedule them on the days where you have the least traffic and get your site back up and running as quickly as possible.

9. Too many errors

Your website could suck because your content is filled with errors. People don’t appreciate reading poorly written content and would leave if they saw too many bad mistakes. This comes with low-cost content writers or if you haven’t proofread and fixed the mistakes in your content.

For tips on copywriting, check out these articles here and here.

It’s time to transform your website!

1. New look and feel

If you have spare time on your hands, take an inexpensive crash course on web designing. Or check out YouTube for some free tips on how to modernise your website’s look and feel.

This will give you a better chance to improve your website design on your own. However, it’s hard to deny the expertise of a web designer that’s been doing this type of thing for years.

Many of them are in constant practice designing various websites for their clients. They won’t just focus on aesthetics, but also improve the mechanics and user-friendliness of a website. Dock out some cash and invest in a website that will, at the end of the day, be a good investment for your business.

2. Tailored website to your audience and not just business brand

Start fishing out what your audience is looking for. You can connect with your audience via social networks. Polls and surveys can really help you to improve your website and improve your relationship with your audience.

You could also directly ask your sales team about what the audience may need. This is ideal since they spend so much time with the customers, they could have important “website improving intel” for you. Once you know what the audience wants, get started on tweaking your website accordingly.

3. Connect emotionally with your copy

As a small business owner, you must keep in mind that you’re dealing with people all the time, even if not directly face-to-face. With that said, it’s very important to emotionally “open-up” to your readers through the content on your website. Appeal to their needs and their desire to have their problem solved.

You can bring in emotional elements with good pictures. For example; you own a real estate agency aimed at start-up families, a picture of a happy family who’ve received the keys to their new home will definitely strike a chord or two.

This is one of the most simple ways to transform your website for the better.

4. Be ready to pay more on design and content

Changing the look and feel of your site is without a doubt the most dramatic ways to transform your website.

If you want your website to do well, then you definitely have to be ready to pay for the quality. Going cheap is not going to help. Some companies offer a package deal that includes design and content.

You could also choose a freelance writer and designer. However, be sure to have a look at their portfolio and check for any referrals, then narrow your list to the ones best suited.

5. Optimise your website

Using SEO in your website content will help it to rank on search engines. This is very important because your audience will find you when searching for things related to your brand.

Essential tip: ensure that your website is fully optimized for mobile devices. Increasingly people are viewing sites on their smartphones or tablets. You will be missing valuable visitors if your website isn’t mobile-responsive.

6. Get creative and don’t rely on generic features

The templates available when creating a website are there to help you get a basic guideline but don’t be tempted to simply copy everything as is. Instead, why not use your own photos or other stock photos.

7. Make sure you add those call to action words

If you don’t have any call to action or CTA words then you should add those to your website sooner than later. Call to actions as we’ve already mentioned gives your viewers some direction. If you know your audience and you’re clear about what you want them to do, and then set clear call to actions in place.

Read up on great lead magnet ideas here.

And if you have been using the same lead magnet for years, check the conversion rate. If you discover that your lead magnet has also gone stale, then it’s time to create a new one.

This is a valuable step that will transform your website by adding value to your audience.

8. Don’t leave your pages under construction

If you’re not ready with the content or new text that you’ve planned for your website, then don’t create a page for it yet. Leaving your pages under construction is an immediate turn off to your readers and they’ll leave within seconds.

9. Get the content right

If you’re writing your own content, make sure that it reads well and is error-free. Proofread as much as you can and use free online grammar checkers to ensure your writing is error-free.

The takeaway

Your website can be thought of as a digital salesperson. Take a look at your website and ask yourself if it is still reflecting the image and message of your brand.

If you discover that your website needs some updating, be sure to use these tips to help you optimize your website so that you get more traffic.

As a business owner, we get that you are not a web designer. But don’t let that stop you from making your website great. Find a reputable digital marketing agency that can help you transform your website today.