As someone who often works with small business owners, below are the 3 most common mistakes we correct on their websites.

Mistake #1: Too much information on the home page

Because they have so much personally invested in their company’s accomplishments they place everything, including the kitchen sink, on their home page. Every service, every product, every press item, they want to find a way for it to all be front and center. Unfortunately, that leaves a home page where nothing stands out and users have no idea where to look.

A properly designed home page creates interest and drives users further into the site. That’s it. The rest of the website provides additional detail in the areas, products, or services that interest the user.

A home page should introduce users to the company, and tell them quickly (within 3 seconds):

• What this company does
• Why they should spend more time on this site (Point of Difference)
• Where they should click to get more details for whatever product or service they are interested in.

Mistake #2: Pride and emotion driving website decisions

Many small business owners are emotionally invested in and proud of their businesses, as they should be. They have had to trust their instincts on the road to success.

When it comes to their website, for many it is outside their area of expertise. This is not true only from a technical standpoint, but from a business standpoint as well. This is one area where industry knowledge, instincts and knowing their customers may not be enough.

Understanding how users behave online is a critical component when making decisions that affect a website.

• Gather data (through Google Analytics or other analytic tool), analyze the data, and understand how people are interacting with your site.
• Do an online competitive analysis. Know who your competitors are when potential clients search for the products or services you provide. You may be surprised to find your online competitors are different from your offline competition.
• Get to know your online competitor’s websites. Are theirs easier to use, or easier to understand?

Armed with accurate data and not emotion, you can make decisions that are right for your business and your website.

Mistake #3: Website content written using internal company language

The best use of a website is as a place where potential customers, who are looking for products or services like yours but who don’t know you exist, can find you. The website will introduce your business to potential customers. If it speaks to users who have never heard of your company, you can rest assured it is useful to those that have.

In order to write content that speaks to complete strangers make sure you do not use:

• Internal company language (every business has some forms of short hand)
• Industry acronyms (you’ll lose out on those new to the industry)
• Colorful language that is cute or funny to those who know you (outsiders may not get it or find it cute)

Read your website content and ask yourself, if I were speaking to a total stranger at a party, is this exactly how I would describe my business? And if so, would they understand it or would I need to explain further. If you would need to provide additional explanation, then the content will not be clear to a new user. Unfortunately, online you will not have the opportunity to clarify, because the user will have already clicked off your site and on to a competitor’s.

Take some time to look at your website with fresh eyes the way a new visitor would. If you find your site has any of these common mistakes, rest assured that you are not alone. Then, create a plan to fix them. Once you have tackled these problems, you will see how much more powerful a business tool your website can be.

Some of the best businesses rise out of the ashes of a fallen market and it’s no coincidence that most success stories view a down economy through similar lenses. Perspective matters when it comes to doing business in this economic climate. Otherwise, there are valuable opportunities to be missed.

Consider some of the following when wading through the muddy waters of this economy:

Less competition in the marketplace: In a down economy, there’s less competition. Period. Take advantage of the fact that there are fewer businesses competing in the same space.

This could be a huge opportunity to leverage your business and capitalize on the scarcity of competition. A proactive business can achieve greater market share and even become the market leader.

Advertising is less expensive: Historically, when markets are down, the first thing to go is advertising budgets. So, media companies often cut deals to boost their revenues and keep their advertisers. They practically give it away.

This is great news for you. Take advantage of low rates and increase your exposure to boost your brand presence.

Relevant messaging in the marketplace: Is your message relevant in today’s marketplace? Not the marketplace six months ago, but the present market with all its faults and inefficiencies.

Successful businesses take the time to evaluate the relevancy of their message in these uncertain times. Does it resonate with your consumer? Are you providing them with a solution that presently works for them? These are important considerations that show your potential customer that you have their best interest in mind and will, ultimately, make your business stand out.

Don’t just survive, thrive!
Surviving a down economy means operating with more fortitude than fear, thinking strategically, maintaining a “glass half-full” mentality and action, lots of it.

No matter what your business, if you take proactive measures to navigate this economy you’ll not only increase your chances of survival, you’ll most likely be one of the businesses still standing tall.

“The thing is our website is where we send leads to get more information. It’s basically like a digital brochure.”

The next time you hear anyone in your marketing or sales department utter those words, let them know if that’s how they view the website, it would probably have been less costly to create some printed collateral to give potential customers then to invest in a website.

The Internet is the best way to let people you don’t know and who don’t know you, but who need what you have, find you.

Create a website so that it’s helpful to users who know nothing about you, and keep in mind that they will be stopping by your competitor’s sites as well. Help them understand what you do or sell and why they should consider doing business with you. For B2B sites (especially those with complex sales cycles), you don’t need to put every tiny detail about your business front and center.

Remember that for B2B sites that don’t have an e-commerce function (like selling white paper downloads, for instance) the goal of a website isn’t to close a potential sale, it’s to create interest. The website should introduce your company to the user in a way that gets you on their short list. You simply want them to say, “I should get more information from these guys.”

That’s why if you’re investing in a website, it should be more than a high-tech, high-priced, brochure. Brochure’s are generally given to people following some sort of interaction. They are given out after a sales person has provided some background on the business. Even a 30 second conversation can put the information that’s in the brochure into context.

That process is backwards. Rather than using a person to provide initial information and sending leads to your site for more information, create a website so it can be easily found and write it so it provides the necessary introductory information.

It will act as your best salesperson, working 24/7 to get your business in front any potential customer looking for what you provide. Done correctly, the website will lead them to you for more information.

Say you have a website that sells hats. Now, imagine the website as a brick and mortar that sits in a strip mall full of stores that sell hats. To your left is a hat store and to your right is another hat store. Next to those stores are more hat stores and so forth. Online, this is exactly what your potential customers see.

If I am a customer walking in this strip mall, why would I want to choose your store? Does your store invite me to shop? Does it stand out from the other shops or does it get lost in the clutter? This is how customers view websites. Imagine they are walking down this row of shops deciding which one to enter. They may enter your shop simply because you are the store closest to their car. If your store is far away, there better be something that catches their attention and encourages them to take the trip to your store.

Once a person decides to enter your store, what will they see once they arrive? Is your store well organized so that your customer can find exactly what they are looking for? Or is the store a disheveled mess?

When designing a website, it is imperative that you think of your site in this way.  Good usability makes it easy, convenient and pleasant for someone to shop online or else they’ll simply walk out of your store and move on to the next. After all, there are hundreds, maybe thousands, of stores selling the exact same thing.

Users want to be able to find things quickly and with as little distraction as possible. They do not want to have to sift through unnecessary clutter. If your site appears this way, they can move on in just a couple of clicks.

1) Write it so they can read it. Write your content for users who are scanning, not reading. Making it easy for them to find the information they need on your site makes it more likely they’ll contact you and not your competition.

2) If you have a “contact us” form, remove the phone number as a required field. Users fill out forms rather than calling so as not to have to speak with sales people. Removing the phone number as a requirement lets them know you understand this.

3) Add your physical address to your site. It gives users a sense of comfort that they are going to be dealing with a real company.

4) Provide valuable information users researching your products or services may need. The more you become a resource, the more they feel they can trust doing business with you.

5) Make it as easy as possible for them to experience your product or service on a temporary basis. If you sell a product, can they try it free for 30 days, or see a demo on your site?

And remember, the point of your website isn’t to tell them every minute detail of your business. The site content needs to move a potential customer or client to put your business on their “short list” of companies they need to consider prior to signing with anyone.

Your website should get you on that list. Your sales people should close the deal.