Here’s a list of ten common website problems.
If you find that your site is doing any of the following then take this opportunity to help your business with a website face-lift.

1. The site looks amateurish and parts of the site are broken.
Recent studies have shows that people form an opinion of a website within the first three seconds of viewing it. Make sure your customer’s first impression is of a professional business rather than someone who isn’t serious about what they’re selling.

2. The site doesn’t ask viewers to do something.
If you’re selling a product, you need to ask your viewers to click a link to buy the product. If you’re selling a service, you need to ask your viewers to submit a form and contact you to get a free quote (or whatever).

3. Viewers don’t have a reason to return to your site.
Give visitors a reason to return, whether it is a great article or seasonal coupons, or a blog. Make your website an important part of your customers lives.

4. The information on the site is obviously dated.
If you go to a website that’s still promoting a series of events that happened last year, how much will you trust the rest of the information on that site?
Obviously, it’s time for a change. You can either make the change yourself if you know HTML, or hire a web designer.
You can also get and learn some software such as Nvu (free) or Contribute ($149) that allows you to easily make website changes without having to know HTML..
Some people also use “blogs” (web logs, a kind of mass-produced content publishing system) to keep their events listings up to date.

Blogger and WordPress ... two blogging tools.

5. The pictures on the site aren’t “optimized.”
You may have photos on your site that you took yourself this can cause major problems for viewers. If your site is full of huge pictures that take forever to download and look bad once they do, viewers will leave and never come back..
Have a professional help you with cropping, color enhancing and reducing the file size or purchase software that lets you do this at home like Photo Crunch ... costs $8 and allows you to optimize (compress) your JPEG (or JPG) images for fastest possible download speed. Very easy to use. (Windows)

6. The body text is too long.
Reading text on a computer screen is harder on the eyes than reading from a piece of paper. The font shouldn’t be too small or too large, and the typeface should be one that’s easy to read on a screen.
If you have a lot to say about your company then find unique ways to direct viewers to the information rather than one huge long block of text. You can also add headings and subheads which help optimize your site for search engines.

7. The site is hosted by a free service.
There’s nothing wrong with free hosting if your website is of a personal nature, but if your site is for your business, you need full-service (paid) hosting. Free hosting generally puts other businesses’ ad banners on top of your site, and is slow.
Avoid it. Here’s some great hosting.

8. The site is down or can’t be found.
If your site can’t be found by anyone, what good is it doing you? If the problem is that your site is constantly down, consider a new hosting service.
If you can’t be found on the web it may be because your website was not designed with key words, alt tags andthe best titles. You may also need links to your site from other sites or website marketing. Don’t forget ideas suchas direct mail to get your website name out there.

9. Your website looks like all your competitors websites
How unique is your website? If someone is reaseaching your product category will they be wowed over your website? Does it have something your competitors don’t such as useful articles or as a better design?

10. The design of your website doesn’t reflect your companies image.
Sometimes it’s the use of color, typefaces or special artwork that makes your website reflect your image. If your customer buys your product because it is fun - do you come across as fun? Whether your company is conservative, elegant, innovative, kid friendly or something else make sure your website fits.

To email Splash for more information about websites
click here.