Top 10 Reasons Why Your Website Sucks

Part of the Top 10 Reasons Your Marketing Sucks series.

As easy as it is to get a website online it’s no wonder so many Realtors have websites that just plain suck. Having a website that actually works to achieve your goals involves more than a push button solution.

Your website should attract, engage, and convert visitors.

Let’s get real: if your website isn’t doing these three things then it sucks. With that in mind, here are the top 10 reasons your website sucks…

1. You don’t know why you have one

It’s one thing to know you want a website but it’s something else to know what you want your website to do for you or how you plan on using it. Sure, you want it to bring in business but your prospect’s path from disinterested suspect to raving evangelist is longer than a hop, skip, jump or a click.

2. You don’t know the difference between sales and marketing

Your website tries to sell visitors on listing or buying their home with you. You probably use copy like “I work hard for you” or “put my experience to work for you.” Gag! If you want your website to stop sucking then use it to build trust, rapport and credibility.

3. You’re a generalist

Nothing turns potential clients away quicker than a website that has no appeal. And by “no appeal” I mean you try to appeal to everyone with your content and your positioning. Look, you don’t sell real estate to a group, you sell it to individuals. If you want your website to stop sucking then your website should appeal to individuals.

4. You offer no real value

You’d rather use your content to tell visitors about your experience rather than help them move from point A to point B. People are at your site to learn something so even home search will only get you so far. Let’s face it, good informative content will attract more visitors than a summary of your designations any day of the week. If you want your website to stop sucking then provide content that educates and you’ll gain their trust.

5. Your site is not visitor friendly

Your navigation, crunched up in a wall of links or with titles so vague folks have to consider what they might find on the other side, is turning people away. Your text stretches to the page borders (and center aligned), images bump up next to your copy, and your font size makes reading difficult. If you want your website to stop sucking then don’t make people work to read your pages.

6. You write for search engines

You squeeze as many keywords as possible into your article content and post titles. Your website URL is probably something like www.phoenixarizonarealestatehomesearch.com, too. The more complicated and unnatural you make it the more you alienate your visitors. If you want your website to stop sucking then write your content for people – they’re the ones who become clients.

7. You think everyone enters through the home page

You’ve loaded your home page with all your appeal and left the other pages of your site to be bland, faceless, and without any call to action. No wonder visitors don’t convert. If you want your website to stop sucking then create every page as if it’s the first and only page your visitors will see.

8. You have no call to action

You don’t tell your visitors what to do now that they’ve arrived to your site. They should be able to figure it out, right? Of course, you may have several calls to action which is just as bad. If you want your website to stop sucking then instruct your visitors on what actions to take to move closer to achieveing their goals.

9. You don’t highlight benefits

Your website copy doesn’t explain how people actually benefit by hiring you. You talk more about what you do rather than the why. People take action when they know what they stand to gain. If you want your website to stop sucking then you need to start highlighting the benefits your service provides.

10. You don’t let visitors become prospects

You think the only way someone becomes a prospect is if they pick up the phone and call you. In fact, you don’t have an email subscriber form anywhere on your website because “real business” happens on the phone. If you want your website to stop sucking then you need to start make it easy for visitors to become prospects and the easiest way is by email subscription.

Stop Sucking

At the end of the day you want to know that your website attracts the right traffic, engages them in a manner that is beneficial, and converts them into active subscribers so you can build a deeper relationship.

If a visitor lands on your website what will they gain from the experience? Is your site compelling enough for them to register, sign-up or ask for more info? Is your site credible/interesting enough that they would feel comfortable sharing your site with someone else?

If the answers are “no” then you know where to start to stop your website from sucking.