Your website is arguably one of your most important business assets. It’s also easy to ignore. That should be a crime. Why? Because if you don’t put time and effort into this marketing tool, it starts working against you, instead of for you. And, that is no way to run a business.

Here are five website crimes that I hope you are not guilty of committing. And if you are, take action immediately before they lock-up your business.

Shannon’s business website crimes

1. Outdated information. Are you announcing a 2016 event? Referencing an expired promotion? Or announcing a “new” product that has been a best-seller for months? These are sure-fire ways to drive away prospects. Make a habit of regularly updating your website content.
2. Not optimizing for search engines. Search engine optimization (SEO) – making website adjustments to help make it more easily found by search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing – is critical. Most people only look at the first few search results. If your website is buried on page six, you might never be found. And people don’t buy what they can’t see.
3. Poor performance on a mobile phone or tablet. Mobile accounts for 65 percent of all digital media time. Bottom line: Your website needs to perform as well on a smartphone as it does on a desktop. Instead of building separate mobile, tablet and desktop sites, today’s website developers use Responsive Web Design (RWD). This technique uses a single set of code to build web experiences which automatically respond to a user’s device. RWD makes websites future-proof.

Mobile accounts for 65% of all digital media time.

4. Broken links. Imagine a prospective customer clicks on a link on your website that doesn’t work. How do you think they feel about it? Chances are, they are annoyed and your reputation just dropped a notch or two. Broken links also affect your search engine ranking. Don’t let this happen to you.
5. Design that doesn’t reflect your business. Trends come and go. That’s a good thing. But having an outdated website design – or wearing a 1980s pantsuit – can hurt your credibility. Sometimes, you need a rebranding; other times just a face lift. Either way, you need to routinely invest in design to make sure your website is accurately telling your story.

I won’t report you to the local authorities if your website is guilty of these crimes. I will help you see the light, however. The friendly, tech-savvy Checkerboard team specializes in website design and management. They can update your website to satisfy today’s users, implement SEO techniques to improve your website’s ranking or design a new rebranded site. Not sure where to start? Call me at 952-697-5218 for a free website audit.