Why does my website suck?

Are you looking at your website and wondering why it isn't working? You may have just had it built or had it for a while, but you don't like how it came out and you don't know why. Was it you? Was it your web developer? Was it fate? Check and see if any of the following things could have been the problem.

You lacked clear-cut goals

Just like with life, goals are very important in order to have a successful website. You should have an idea of what you want to accomplish with your website. Are you starting a business website? What is it that you want out of it? Do you want to generate leads? Make it easy for people to find you in search engines? Get more foot traffic to your brick and mortar office? Are you entering an internet eCommerce market to supplement your physical sales? Make sure to know what you are setting out to accomplish before jumping into making a website.

You hired someone who was inexperienced

There is a common saying, “If you think hiring a professional is expensive, wait until you hire an amateur.” Professionals know what they are doing and will be able to help you with more than just putting the website together. They would be able to suggest different things to you that will help make your website the best that it could be. Experienced web developers and designers know how to make websites that accomplish your goals and convert.

You shopped for the cheapest web developer

While price is definitely a factor when shopping for anything, if you are looking for a website for the cheapest price possible – you are going to get what you pay for. Remember, a website is an investment. If you are going to spend money, it is better to spend a little more and have the investment worth it rather than spend less and throw the money away. When you are looking for a web developer, get several quotes to compare, but there are other factors to consider as well, which leads me into the next no-no:

You and your web developer didn’t mesh

When looking for a web developer make sure that you both are a good fit. If for some reason your potential developer rubs you the wrong way or something doesn’t feel right, keep looking around. Remember this is an investment, find someone experienced that you can trust.

You forgot about the importance of content

The copy on your website is important to not take lightly. Quality copy writing will focus on achieving your goals, whether it be to make sales, to contact you, or to learn more about your company. You can’t just put words together and expect them to do what you want.

You let your website get stale

It is important to make sure that your website doesn’t get out of date. A blog is a great (and an almost necessary) thing to have on your site, but having a blog with the most recent post being over a couple of months old isn’t so great. It is almost better to not have a blog at all than to have one that makes your blog look like you forgot about it. This goes the same of the rest of your site. A website owner wants to makes sure that their site is evolving and responding to the way that visitors expect.

You took the “Do It Yourself” route

There are many different free and paid ways you can make your own website, but if you are looking for the most effective website, you will need to find somebody who knows what they are doing. A good web developer will not only have the technical coding know-how, he or she will also be able to provide quality advise on how users will interact with your site and give you the best return on your investment.