Have you ever felt that your website was a waste of money? We're you told by the web designer that it would bring a flood of new business for you? If your website has fallen shrt of your expectations, here's why your website does not sell.

The main reason why your website does not sell is because it was built by a web designer.

Now, I know you're asking "sure who else would build it, and why is that a problem??"
First, because web designers are just that - designers. they can make you a nice looking site, with flashy images and graphics, maybe a nice scrolling gallery. But guess what, nice images and graphics don't get you found on the internet.

That's the first and most important point. Your site needs to be found. And found on the first page of Google (though there are other search engines too). It's no good having a nice, impressive looking site if it does't get seen by your ideal customer.

Getting your website found on Google is ​a separate skill (maybe be even an art) in itself. It's is called SEO - Search Engine Optimisation. 

SEO - what is it?​

Here's a brief explanation: SEO is not something that you can see from the user side of a website​. By that, I mean the buttons you click, the text or the images. To the normal viewer, an optimised and non-optimised site look exactly the same. It's what's been done in the background that matters. 

SEO is done both on-page, and off-page. On-page includes keyword and phrase optimisation, image optimisation, keyword density, interlinking, external linking, author detail, title tags and schema - and many other moving parts....
Off-page includes NAP, site maps, indexing, citations, authoritative links, web 2.0 links and many other parts.

Much of this will mean nothing to you. Gibberish to most people - but this is the stuff that when done correctly, gets your site found on google. When done really well, it gets you found ahead of your competitors sites.

So that was the first important part. Getting your site found. "So, if it's so important, why don't the web designers do it?". The simple reason is because most are trained as graphic artists. The don't know about SEO. Design is an art-form. SEO is a technical skill. It's a different trade, if you want to put it that way. 

I've spent 12 years learning SEO. I'm pretty damn good at it. I'm not a designer, but I can build websites that get found on page 1 of Google. They might not look as pretty as the designers - but getting found is way more important than looking pretty.

The second reason why your website does not sell

The second reason is almost as important as the first. Most pretty sites can not convert visitors to enquiries or customers.

Ye' see, getting the visitor to the site is only half the battle. You need to give them a reason and a means to provide you with their contact details - or to pick up the phone and call you.​ This part is the conversion process - or just conversion.

Visitors need to feel that you are solving a problem for them, or getting them nearer a desired result. To do that you need to talk to them (in print or video) about the problem that have, or the solution they want. They are only interested in themselves - not you!

Many sites with nice looking design, have little or no text. The designer thought that a nice image would "inspire" the visitor to get in touch.. Sorry pal, but that's not the case.
Those that do have text, 9 times in 10 are saying things like "we've been in business for 20 years, we're a family business, we do great work, ​we take pride in our work", etc... There's nothing there about the customer or past customer stories. 

You need to give the visitor a reason to engage with you. Few do.​
So if you've been wondering why your website does not sell, I hope you are a little wiser now. Can something be done to improve it? Maybe. It depends on the way the site was built. A quick look at the inner workings will pretty quickly give me the answer. If you want to talk about it, please go ahead and get in touch through the Contact page.

So what should a Good Website have?​

A good website needs to be found and get visitors to contact you - in one form or another. Yes, it needs to look professional, but you're never gonna impress someone only with nice images​ - to get them to contact you.

It's what goes on under the bonnet that matters. ​

Just imagine you've won the lottery and you want to buy a new red Ferrari. What if it's delivered to your home, the guys gently push it back of the truck onto your drive, give it a final polish and leave you. Imagine yourself walking around it. You admire the beautiful curves and the gleaming red paintwork. Then you hop in, turn the key - and nothing???

You though you bought the latest new model Ferrari. What you really got was a fibreglass kit-car without an engine. It looks great - but it's useless...
That's exactly what many businesses get when they buy a new website from web designers. It looks great from the outside - but it's hollow and useless in terms of bringing in customers.​

I have a short booklet that I've written as a guide to great web design and getting a website that sells. ​If you'd like a free copy, fill out the contact form by clicking here, and i'll happily pop a copy in the post for you. Don't forget to leave your address.

Chat later. Adrian​