An exceptional website can supercharge sales and enhance brand awareness, but what happens if your site isn’t attracting the attention your business deserves? If you’re on a mission to drive online traffic and boost conversion rates, here are some top reasons why your website may be underperforming.

Dull, drab web design

Aesthetics play a critical role in influencing decision-making and creating first impressions. Drab, dull web design can put customers off and encourage them to look for products or services elsewhere. If your site design lacks creativity or vibrancy, now is the time to update and upgrade your website. Working with professional web designers is a brilliant idea if you don’t have designers in-house. Choose themes, fonts and colors that are relevant to your brand and the target client or buyer, test different ideas and make sure your site promotes the business and creates a positive impression. The average human takes just 7 seconds to form a first impression. You want to be able to lure users in and ensure they want to spend more time browsing your pages and viewing content.

Poor visibility

To capitalize on having a brilliant website, you have to make sure that your site is visible and accessible. SEO (search engine optimization) is one of the best ways to do this. Even if you don’t sell products online, you can use SEO to drive traffic and introduce people to your company and encourage them to get in touch. Local SEO is hugely valuable for small, medium-sized and large businesses looking to target local customers and expand their client base. Studies show that over 85% of people will contact or visit a business within 24 hours of conducting a local search on a smartphone.

If you’re struggling to attract people to your website, start tracking local keywords, optimize content for relevant searches, consider using paid ads and directories and make sure your website URL is clearly visible on social media, press adverts, brochures, business cards and fliers. If you don’t have expertise in SEO, it’s wise to think about working with freelance marketing experts or hiring a digital marketing agency.

Functional issues

As consumers, we have become accustomed to buying items or finding information at the touch of a button. Functional issues and faults are a major bugbear for web users. If a customer cannot make a payment within seconds, or the links or pages they’re trying to view won’t load, there’s a high chance that they will leave the site and shop elsewhere. Test your website regularly, address issues promptly, make sure your content is mobile-friendly and try to ensure that processes are seamless, quick and easy. Many shoppers today are looking for convenience, as well as quality and value for money.

A website is like a store window. While fabulous, functional websites that are easily found can help brands to boost sales and attract customers from far and wide, drab websites that don’t work properly and are impossible to find can hold your business back. If you’re struggling to attract attention or convert leads, it’s beneficial to revamp web design, invest in SEO and ensure that your site is slick and easy to use.