Leadzai Academy
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11 min read
From image and copy sizes to SEO-specific terms, our Performance Team recognised 12 different mistakes that are recurrent in many small business websites. To help you out, we have gathered all of them in a full list and addressed how you can avoid them. Let’s start!
Websites are crucial for small business owners as they allow you to showcase your business, increase leads and gain customers. However, since only a few people (if not only one, the business owner) have the task of managing the business website and understanding how to take the best out of it, optimising its features on a constant basis may turn out to be a complex process. If you’re in this position, we advise you to continue reading.
From image and copy sizes to SEO-specific terms, our Performance Team recognised 12 different mistakes that are recurrent in many small business websites. To help you out, we have gathered all of them in a full list and addressed how you can avoid them. Let’s start!
Does your website have a clear explanation of what your product is? Well, if you’re not sure, it is worth checking it again!
Insignificant or not enough copy — meaning text describing your product with the goal of advertising it — are two issues our performance specialists addressed as problematic when it comes to making the most out of your online campaigns.
When explaining your products you need to have in mind the person who’s behind the screen and meeting them for the first time. That’s why you should explain what you offer in the most objective and clear way possible. Also, your copy should try to answer these questions: How many services do you offer? What are their characteristics? Why should people buy your product and not the one from your competitor (why is your product different from theirs)?
How can you avoid this?
Keywords are your best friends when it comes to Search Engine Optimisation! When you write any piece of text, you always need to make sure the words you’re using are the most suitable to help you reach your target audience. This is a decisive factor in both organic and paid search, so it’s definitely a step to consider when creating any type of content on your website, whether it’s when writing your About section, the presentation of your services or products, your online store or even a blog post.
How can you avoid this?
Who has never siwtcehd a lteter? We’re human, so that happens all the time to everybody! However, when it comes to presenting your business to unknown audiences, we advise you to be extra careful. It’s not very hard to understand that having spelling mistakes in the text immediately conveys a sloppy impression of your business — if you didn’t pay attention to detail, you didn’t spend enough time and effort writing, so maybe you don’t care that much about the way your product is perceived or even about the product itself… yes, it escalates quickly.
Also, bad writing can’t possibly help you get higher on search engines’ search ranking or even get a good ads performance: if the word is incorrect, how will it be recognised, right?
How can you avoid this?
Now it’s time to talk about images. A good business website always needs high-quality and appealing images to showcase their products or services in the best way. Normally people only think of adding pictures of their products, but there are many, many types of images you can add: your logo, icons on a shopping process, pictures showcasing your products, of your physical store (if you have one), or of people trying on your products…
Whichever pictures you choose, you always need to be mindful of their sizes. When uploading them, you need to make sure they are just the right fit: not too big — make sure it doesn’t occupy the whole screen so the user doesn’t need to scroll endlessly — but also not too small — make sure the image is clear so the user can understand what is being portrayed. Images with the wrong sizes make your website’s bounce rate go off, which will harm your overall website performance.
How can you avoid this?
Even if you feel their quality is high and the costs are low (you can easily find them for free on the internet) the fact is: they are not pictures of your product or your business — so you will never be communicating your product in the best way.
Actually, according to our performance team, the majority of the time stock images appear as impersonal and unreliable. Users don’t feel as comfortable with them as they do when watching authentic pictures of you, your employees, and, of course, your product! Also, any company can use them so your reputation can be put into question.
How can you avoid this?
Is your website keeping up with the trends? The web is constantly evolving and so should your online home! Updating it is important not only when it comes to copy and pictures but also regarding your layout.
Having your website exactly like it was 10 years ago may give the impression your business is outdated, especially compared to your competitors. Besides that, an outdated look will lead to a poor user experience, which will certainly harm your engagement and conversion rates.
How can you avoid this?
Computers, mobile phones, tablets… With so many devices we use to access the Internet, having your web content fully optimised to fit different devices is evermore crucial to any business! The stats prove it: in 2022, 60,66% of the traffic came from mobile phones and 39,34% came from desktops and tablets.
According to our Performance team, not having a responsive website will look unprofessional and unreliable, damaging your brand’s reputation. Your customers will most likely get confused and won’t be able to find what they are looking for, which will, of course, make them give up on your business and go find it on your competitors.
How can you avoid this?
A Call to Action (CTA) is a short copy sentence with imperative verbs to instigate the user to perform a specific action. It can be found in hyperlinks or buttons and once or several times through a web page.
These small actions are so important because they help the user understand what to do. When the user encounters a call to action, he is in the Consideration stage — remember our last blog post? — and in many cases, the CTA is the action that allows him to jump to the Decision stage.
How can you avoid this?
Does your website language option work smoothly? Well, if you haven’t checked it for some time, we advise you to do it. Language inconsistencies are one issue our campaign managers added to our list of mistakes that happen often on small business websites!
According to them, some of the most common are related to the Change Language option. Three main mistakes are happening with it:
How can you avoid this?
Subpages are the ‘children’ of the main pages of your website. Not having them can be highly prejudicial for your business in two ways:
How can you avoid this?
These three important SEO terms are intertwined and it’s important you know them because they help you optimise your business website. In simple terms:
How can you avoid this?
Creating useful and free content on your website is a great way of improving your search results, gaining authority for your business, and reaching new customers! Despite being so important and talked about, the lack of valuable content on websites is still a mistake our Campaign Managers pointed out as common on small business websites.
Content Marketing can be produced in different formats — through text (copy, blog posts), audio (podcasts are a trend nowadays), or video (short videos appear on Tik Tok and Instagram Reels and longer ones are great for Youtube or Vimeo).
How can you avoid this?
Now that all the 12 mistakes have been unveiled, it’s time to put in the work. Check your website, do all the necessary changes, and wait for your business to skyrocket!
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