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Guest post by: Janis Pettit Become an Author

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Most small and solo business owners know they need a website to be taken seriously as a business. They spend time either planning it or even spend endless, frustrating hours trying to design one themselves. Or they pay too much for a site that doesn’t bring in any new business. And they really don’t know how to change the results they’re getting, so they just either ignore the dismal performance of their website or keep making tweaks that still aren’t increasing sales.

I’ve seen this happen too many times. In fact, it’s what I usually find when someone contacts me about coaching or about entering one of my programs. I see amazing, talented women (and some men too) who get great results for their clients, but they struggle to keep the pipeline full. They have picked up information and tips here and there and have created a website that has some of the elements they need. But they have often missed the key elements that will pull everything together into a website powerhouse that attracts leads and gets them to take action. The result is that they are missing out on targeted traffic, leads, subscribers and paying clients that could double or triple their income.

Your website is your virtual storefront. What would you think of someone who opened a store but left the lights off and the shades drawn? Yet that’s essentially what you do when your website is underperforming. So what are the mistakes that could be hurting you?

Here are the 6 biggest mistakes that I see often and tips for easily eliminating them.

1. Poor design

Wordpress has hundreds of great templates you can use a starting point. Most are free. Then you can pay a designer to customize the template with your colors, logo and branding so it looks professional. If it doesn’t people won’t take you seriously and they’ll look elsewhere. You’ve often heard that when you walk into a room it takes just a few seconds for people to form an impression of you. The same is true of your website.

Make sure you chose 2 basic colors that look great. Be sure you have dark text on a white background. Remember people are coming to your site to get some quick information. If it’s difficult they’ll leave. And include some great graphics or photos, which will really enhance your site’s appeal.

2. Poor copywriting

If the website content is all about what you and not about your prospects’ problems and the results they’re looking for, they will leave. When I see a site that says “welcome—we do this and we do that” I know they aren’t getting the results they want. And what about your sales pages? You need a dedicated sales page for each product or program you sell.

3. Too much content, or too many topics covered

Each page needs a purpose. Keep it brief and focused on one topic, unless it’s a sales page, where a long page with lots of details works best. Use bullet points and checkmarks to emphasize key points. You don’t want to overwhelm or confuse people, but you do want to include all the pertinent information they need.

4. No opt-in form or call to action

This is BIG. You need an opt-in form at the top of every key page that asks people to sign up for your mailing list in exchange for a valuable gift, like a report, video, mini-course or guide. This is your call to action and, other than your About Us and Contact Us pages; every page should have one clear call-to-action. After all if you’re getting traffic, but no one takes action, the traffic is worthless.

5. No social media links

Today these are essential. You need to have a way for people to connect with you on social media.

6. No SEO

By simply focusing on the insertion of great keywords on each page of your website, you can begin to get some notice from the search engines. You do need to learn the simple system that will help you with SEO, but it’s not hard and it can mean tons of free traffic.

Finally, adding video will make a world of difference. If you want to shorten the learning curve and dramatically increase the money generated by your website, then get the expert help you need to show you how to make it shine. I’ve seen amazing people give up in frustration because it seems so hard to get clients. The truth is that there are people out there who would love to have access to your expertise, your products and programs. But they aren’t finding you, so start turning that around!

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