Troubleshoot Your Underperforming Website

The Sprocket Report

“My website doesn’t work” is a common complaint we hear. While it would seem to be a straightforward project to fix a broken website, it’s not quite that simple. Read on for some items you should consider to evaluate your underperforming site.

Usually what folks are thinking when they say their website doesn’t work is that they have a gut feeling there would be more money in their pocket if the site was doing its job properly. Instead of relying on your gut, it’s much more productive to actually measure your website’s performance and set achievable business goals. 

With a clear goal in mind – like “increase email subscriptions” – you can experiment with specific steps to reach that goal such as “make the registration button green.” Comparing statistics before and after the button change will tell you if you’re on your way to meeting your goal or not. 

Below are some common deficiencies of underperforming websites. It’s best to just work on one at a time so you can track the changes and make the most of your efforts.

Why traffic to the website may be disappointing:

• You’re not using the same search terms your customers use
• You haven’t claimed your business at online directories
• You don’t have enough content text to be picked up by search engines
• Your text is really a graphic image of words that search engines can’t see
• You have no incoming links from traffic drivers 
• Your website is brand new
• You aren’t marketing on social or other media 

Why action on the website may be disappointing: 

• You aren’t getting enough traffic to the website 
• Your goal path isn’t funneling visitors appropriately
• Your website loads slowly
• You don’t have a clear Call To Action on the site
• You annoy visitors with broken links, bad grammar or other poor quality
• Your registration or purchase system is too complicated
• You surprise them with added fees or requirements before goal completion

Why website fixes may not be the only improvement needed:

• Your sales team isn’t following up on web leads
• You haven’t differentiated yourself from your competition 
• Your niche is too narrow for the ROI you need
• Your price is not competitive
• Your market is over-saturated
• Your customer isn’t happy with their user experience
• You’re too overwhelmed to produce and sell and market

A great website is an invaluable tool for your business, but it’s just ONE tool and ONLY a tool. It’s up to you to determine what goal you want folks to complete when they are on your site. Spend some time with your web analytics. See how many visitors you’re getting now and what they are coming to see. Find out the pages on which they lose interest. Learn if they come back a lot or never. Compare your website statistics to your sales stats or your subscriber list.

Of course your website can be improved. But a thoughtful and deliberate approach will not only result in invaluable marketing information, it’s also more budget-friendly. Consider asking us for a website assessment. We’ll look for low-hanging fruit that can help immediately as well as more extensive improvements. Just give us a call and we’ll be happy to help you.

Kate GingoldKate Gingold

I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

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Full biography

I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.

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