Most small business websites start the same way. You needed something online, you built it yourself or got a mate to help, and it did the job. Then the business grew up and the website didn’t. Here’s how to tell if that’s happened to yours.
1. You apologise for it
If you’ve ever said “ignore the website, it’s a bit old” to a customer, that’s the clearest sign there is. People check you out online before they get in touch. If you’re embarrassed by it, some of them will be put off by it.
2. It doesn’t say what you do in five seconds
Open your homepage on your phone. Could a stranger tell what you do, who it’s for and where you work before they scroll? If not, a lot of visitors are leaving before they find out.
3. Your business has changed but the site hasn’t
New services, new prices, a new area, a new team member. If the website still describes the business you were three years ago, it’s selling the wrong thing.
4. Work comes from everywhere except the website
Referrals, word of mouth, social media, repeat customers. All good. But if the website almost never brings in a new enquiry on its own, it isn’t pulling its weight.
5. It’s painful on a phone
Most of your visitors are on their phones. Tiny text, buttons you can’t tap and a phone number you can’t press all cost you enquiries quietly, every day.
6. You can’t tell if it’s working
How many people visited last month? How many got in touch? Where did they come from? If you don’t know, you can’t improve it, and you can’t tell whether money spent on ads is working either.
7. You’d be nervous putting ads behind it
If you wouldn’t pay to send people to your website, that tells you how you really feel about it. Ads only work as well as the page they send people to.
And the sign you haven’t outgrown it yet
If you’re still working out who your customers are and what they want from you, don’t spend big on a website yet. A simple DIY site is fine while you figure that out. The best websites are built on what you’ve learned from real customers, and that takes a bit of time.
What to do next
If three or more of those sound familiar, it’s probably time. Have a read of what a website actually costs, or see how I build them. I design, write and build websites for service businesses that have outgrown the DIY version. One person, the whole job.
