The other day, I was talking with someone who was telling me about a client she had. She said this client really needed help with SEO because she wasn’t getting leads from her website.
The more we talked, I stopped and said, “Your client doesn’t need help with SEO, she needs help with her web design.”
This is something we hear over and over again:
- I really need to work on my SEO!
- If I rank for these keywords, I’ll get more leads!
- I really need to rank higher on Google!
Here’s the thing: If your website doesn’t deliver, all the SEO in the world isn’t going to help you get leads.
Want even more tips? Get our Free PDF – The 5 Essentials to a Great Website
Why Web Design Matters
A good web design will benefit you so much more than ranking on Google. Good design attracts the right clients for your business, delivers the information they are looking for, makes you look like the expert that you are, and keeps people coming back. If a person finds you from Google, then clicks to a website that is an unorganized mess, they are going to leave. Period. People are busy and more impatient than ever, so you have to immediately let them know they are in the right place. If you aren’t doing this, SEO isn’t going to help you.
Why you Should Take an Audit of Your Web Design
Before you spend thousands of dollars on SEO or a marketing strategy, I recommend taking a look at your web design. Is it doing what it needs to do? If you aren’t sure what those things are, here is a list of 5 things to look at.
1. Navigation
Is your website’s navigation clear, easy to understand, and easy to follow? Or do you have a bunch of links everywhere, making your site a big, jumbled mess? People need to find what they are looking for quickly. This becomes a lot more difficult if your site has too many pages or buttons to click.
Take a look at your navigation and the pages on your site and see if there are ways you can clean it up. Generally, I recommend no more than 6 links in a main navigation. Anything after that can become cluttered.
2. Opt-Ins
An opt-in is an offer that you put on your website to get people to subscribe to an email list. Opt-ins are important because not everyone is going to visit your website every day, but they more than likely check their email every day. If you can email people promotional materials, they will go back to your website. Having opt-ins on your site gets people coming back more frequently and helps you get your brand on their radar.
3. Calls to Action
You have to remember that people might be visiting your website for the first time, meaning they don’t really know you or know what to do next. Calls to action help guide your visitors along and let them know what the next step in the process should be. Every page on your website should have a call to action.
Examples of calls to action:
- Contact me to learn more
- Buy now
- Add to cart
- Download your PDF now
Calls to action should stand out on your page and be easy to understand, so your visitors immediately know what clicking the button will do.
4. Images
Images play a huge role in design. Simply put, if you use crappy images on your site, people are going to think your brand is crappy. Using blurry, pixelated, or unprofessional images on your website can really hurt your brand. Make sure you look professional by using high quality images.
This is especially important for e-commerce sites. Good product photography is important because it helps people trust that they will actually get a quality product. Since people can’t actually see your products in real life, you want to make sure that your photography really shows off what it is you are selling. Bad images can make your company look less legitimate.
5. Multiple Contact Options
Everybody had their own preferences for how they want to contact you, which is why having multiple options is important. Some people may prefer emailing you directly over filling out a contact form. Other people may prefer to pick up the phone and call you. Whatever options you have for getting in touch, make sure you are listing them on your website.
Some popular contact options include:
- Contact form
- Phone
- Address (if you have a storefront)
- Social media profiles. Yes, these count! Many people like to connect via social media by sending direct messages or leaving comments on posts.
Can you Make Improvements to your Website?
Before you spend thousands of dollars on SEO to try and rank page 1 on Google, take a look at your web design. SEO isn’t going to help if your web design doesn’t get the point across to your clients. Make sure your design is professional and effective before you waste time and money on an SEO strategy.
Want even more tips? Get our Free PDF – The 5 Essentials to a Great Website
