Website Audits can generate as much revenue as your best salesperson
How can a website audit generate as much revenue as your best salesperson? That’s not just something written to catch your eye. It’s true and I can prove it. Give me 10 minutes of your time reading this article and by the time you’re done. If you don’t agree. You’ll at least agree to disagree.
Checking on the health and viability of your website is not just suggested but necessary for businesses. The days of saying websites are only for businesses that sell services online have come and gone. If you take nothing else from the pandemic as a business owner. It should be still able to reach people even when they can’t walk through your front door.
Much like a great salesperson who can cold call and sell water to a fish. A website can generate leads by helping people looking for exactly what you’re selling to find you. A healthy website can lead to a healthy sales cycle and results. This is why website audits are important. It’s a check-up to make sure it’s putting you in the best light.
Not sold and need more information to help prove my point? It’s okay I like a challenge. The more examples you get the more it will start to make sense Let’s list out ways that not performing a website audit on your existing site could be costing you money. Take it a step further… Let’s list out ways that a website audit can help your business.
You’ve dropped a lot of money on your website. Now what?
Let’s break down a few scenarios and let’s see if you fall into any of them. If you do you could be costing yourself money by not taking action.
- You invested in building a website for your business but it hasn’t been updated in years. Sure your telephone number and email address may still be the same but how much has changed in your business?
If this is resonating with you. Let’s break down some of the questions that you should be asking. Take it a step further by not only having an answer but also the solution you’ve already put into place
- How many things have changed about your business within the industry since the last time you updated your website? Chances are plenty. The tools have changed. The options have changed. The clients have changed.
- How have your clients’ needs evolved over the years? Customers get smarter ask better questions and learn from good and bad experiences. Are you updating the frequently asked questions (FAQs) on your website?
- How have the solutions used to solve the problems changed since you last updated your website? While some methods still stand the test of time. Chances are there are a lot of new ways to address the same old problem. Look beyond that and there are new problems that can’t be solved by the same old solution. Does your website reflect those changes and solutions?
- How have your prices changed? Pretty sure you’re not still charging what you used to charge when you first created your site if it was last updated two or more years ago. If you are I stand corrected and you are the rarity and the unicorn for being able to keep your doors open. As the cost of living increases so do the prices. Breaks my heart but a slice of pizza at the local pizza shop is $2.50 now and it’s about the same size as my hand. Burger and fries feel more like a burger and fry but sure enough, it cost more than it did when they opened shop.
- You have lost touch with the web designer who built your website. Perhaps you had such a bad experience that you dread going through the process of working with someone again. Worse yet, they built the site and you have no idea how they did it, what platform it’s on, or even how to go in and make updates.
Here’s the rub on this one. A website that you can’t update is not a website that you can count on for your business. Which leaves you relying on word of mouth, repeat business, and in-person networking.
- Word of mouth and referrals are great for businesses with a large client list and great customer support. Depending on the product or service. They may only need your services once in a blue moon. What are the chances with everything going on that your card is still on their fridge? Counting on referrals is counting on being memorable enough in a good way that they feel comfortable being responsible for the experience the next person has with you. That’s a fairly large ask if you’ve only worked with a person once.
- Repeat business. Now, this is a tricky one. Unless you’re a restaurant. Products with a short shelf life tend not to go over too well. People want to know they got their money’s worth. If I have to come back to you too soon for the same issue or situation it could do more damage than good to our relationship. That aside repeat business requires that the customer feels so good about the experience that they’re willing to forgo anyone else that may have a similar offering and a sale. We are in a “we like options” society. But again let’s look past that. Are reoccurring customers enough to grow your business and revenue without raising your prices along the way? Do I need to get into how well that goes over with cost-conscious clients?
- In-person networking. Unless you’re a fully staffed company. Time spent away from doing the actual work is time you’re not making money. While it is a necessary task in business. The goal is to be making money while you’re pursuing it. Networking events and conferences tend to cost money. Which also affects your bottom line.
- You’ve invested in your website under the guides of “If you build it they will come”. Only you’ve built the website and found the struggle is real. You’re not generating enough traffic to justify the cost of building the website.
Building a website is great but you have to have a plan for what comes next. More importantly, you have to ensure your website is built to meet the standards needed to generate traffic.
- How are you going to make sure people know about your website? You can promote it on social media accounts but if you don’t have a strong following it’s not going to do much.
- You can sign up for lead generation sites and platforms. However, that’s more revenue being spent to address a situation that was meant to bring you business.
Suppose you fall into one of these 3 scenarios or a combination of any of them. It’s okay. It’s not the end of the world or your business. Honestly one of the reasons I know to speak on these issues is because I’ve lived through them as someone that has had websites myself.
One of the first things you figure out as a business owner is that there’s plenty to learn. The longer you’re in business the more you learn how much you didn’t know when you started. The first 3 to 5 years can be the toughest as you work to establish yourself.
We’ve talked about the issues a business and website owner can face. Let’s talk about how to identify and correct them. One of the best ways that you can go about correcting issues is by identifying them. You can’t fix what you don’t know needs fixing.
It’s not you. It’s me. Identifying and fixing your business site via a website audit
A website audit will help you address many things. Two of the most important are SEO and user experience. Your website has 2 groups that it needs to please as a priority over yourself. Search engines and the customer. Once you can adjust to that reality, you are well on your way to a better-producing website.
Let’s tackle these two issues with what a website audit can do for your business website.
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Simply put you’re making sure your website is appealing to the search engines. In doing so they reward you with a higher ranking in the searches that users do for topics and businesses. Locally and beyond.
Google being one of if not the biggest contributors as a search engine is a great place to start. Essentially win over the cool kid and the rest tend to fall in line. Next thing you know you’re getting invited to better parties and High School isn’t so bad anymore.
Cute analogy but how do I make it happen? Well, look at it this way. Google has a set of things that they judge your website on. The more boxes you check the better the ranking you receive. A website audit will help you identify which boxes you check and which boxes you don’t.
- User experience. What is the experience like for the person who discovers your website? They’re there for a reason. How easy do you make it for them to accomplish that goal?
The better the user experience the better results you will receive from visitors. There’s a goal that you have in mind and a goal that they have in mind. The more in sync the two are, the better the relationship will be.
“You asked for 10 minutes to prove your point. You’re running out of time.” Okay so let me break down where a website audit can help generate and bring as much value as your best salesperson
Here is a list of 6 things that a website audit can identify for you and allow you to correct. These things will not only help you stop costing yourself money but help you generate money. Some of the items on the list are seeing to Search Engines & others the potential customers. In some cases both.
- Whether or not your site is mobile-friendly. It’s not just important to have a responsive site. You have to be able to meet usability standards. Simply put some things look better on a desktop computer than on a mobile device.
- Not meeting SSL requirements. While this is a pretty obvious one. There are still plenty of really great sites that have been built by businesses that do not have an SSL certificate and it’s costing them. Google went from it being a nice to have to a full-on requirement for your website to be viewed at all.
Here’s what it looks like when someone searches for your site and you don’t have SSL in place
- Website speed. The faster your website loads. The higher your ranking. Speed is now a factor in how your website is ranked by search engines.
- User-Friendly Navigation. Can people see how to contact you or follow through on answering questions? They came to your site for a reason. How hard are you making it for them to find out how to contact you or answer those questions? Things like how to make a purchase. This is where having an FAQ section proves to be helpful. Answer the questions people are most likely to ask so that they can move on to the next step. Find out how you’re able to solve the problem for them.
- Is your site accessible to search engines? If Google can’t index the pages of your site and or it doesn’t have a sitemap. It’s like having great products on sale but the curtains or blinds closed. Telling search engines “Shhh let’s just keep this a secret”. If they can’t read your site to identify what’s on it. How can they tell other people about it?
- Is your website meeting the Google Search Console requirements and suggestions? Adjust or end up in the back of the line. Google’s requirements are not to be taken lightly. Have you received an email from Google Search Console letting you know issues were detected and didn’t know where to start or what it was talking about and just kept it moving? Not fixing these issues is costing you potential customers and traffic.
There are a lot more things that a website audit can shine a light on and help you with generating revenue. All while correcting the issues that may be costing you money. These are six that are the simplest to list and have someone say “Yeah, I can see that”.
Your best salesperson can hop on a call and sell with the best of them. However, a website audit can help you put your best foot forward with people that your product and or services are being offered to without your salesperson uttering a word. More sales happen online than a salesperson can dial in a day. Speaking from experience. I’ve had jobs with a 100-dial requirement each day. 100 dials don’t equal 100 sales. It doesn’t even equal 100 conversations. A website audit allows you to address and adjust to the power of the click. Someone clicking and landing on your website and coming to their conclusion before you even knew they were there.
It’s much harder to close a sale on someone who’s already decided against your product or service than it is to sell them on it right in the first place. Last but not least. If you haven’t addressed any of these issues and you’re paying for SEO services. You are running up a hill with skates on… Working harder to accomplish something that you could do a lot easier in an easier way. I find myself speaking with business owners who say they’re paying good money for SEO services but they’re not correcting this issue. Instead, they’re leaving them beholden to the results they may or may not get for them.
Empower yourself by taking a deeper dive into what’s working and not working with your website.
