Sklar Technology Partners - October 2019

OCTOBER 2019

7462 Old Hickory Drive, Mechanicsville, VA 23111 • www.sklartechnology.com • 804-730-2628

THE ‘90S CALLED. THEY WANT THEIR WEBSITE BACK.

resources available for building websites, but if you want a sleek website that will draw clients in, invest in a professional. Cutting corners on your website is a great way to cut down on prospects.

I never ceased to be amazed by the terrible websites I come across almost daily. And by amazed, I, of course, mean horrified. Consumers have been using the internet regularly since the ’90s, and for some reason, many websites still look like they were built in the ’90s. I see so many fundamental flaws in websites across industries. You don’t have to be a graphic designer to spot these mistakes. Broken links, long load times, and missing security certificates (https) are just the tip of the iceberg. Here are five fatal flaws that will send your clients running into the arms of your competition. It takes 0.05 seconds for someone to form an opinion about your website. And if your website is full of clip art, clashing colors, or looks like a 14-year-old’s Myspace page, they’re going to use those milliseconds to find the back button and get the heck out of there. If you made your website yourself over five years ago, I can almost guarantee that your clients hate it. Outdated visuals are your first enemy. I tried creating the new Sklar Technology website myself with a DIY service and quickly learned how difficult it is. There’s a reason web design is a profession. I had our in-house designer take what I created and turn the website into what it is today and I’m very happy with the results. Our site converts leads regularly. There are plenty of DIY You made it with Microsoft Paint.

It’s not mobile-friendly.

Don’t have time to write blogs? Adapt content from other marketing avenues. Can’t manage the blog yourself? Delegate it to someone on your marketing team. If you can’t do that, then I suggest deleting the blog altogether. Having no blog at all is better than having an outdated blog. To prospects, seeing an outdated blog causes them to question your competency. If you can’t even update a blog, how are you going to take care of your clients? Speaking of blogs and content, who are you targeting with your copy? I see so many websites making this mistake, filling their pages with jargon and statistics their clients don’t really care about. For example, construction companies with web pages dedicated to the specs on their equipment — the only people who care about equipment are other construction companies. Clients don’t really care what machines you’re using; they want to know if those machines can get the job done. Make sure your website appeals to potential clients, not your competition. You’re marketing to the competition, not your prospects.

Come on! It’s 2019. If I can’t read your website clearly on my smartphone or click a phone number and start a call instantly, then I’m probably never going to visit your site again. SimilarWeb, a digital analytics company, found that 58% of website traffic is conducted via mobile device. This means if your website isn’t smartphone- and tablet-friendly, you are missing out on two-thirds of all potential traffic. If you’re not sure if your website is mobile-friendly, take out your smartphone and check it yourself. Can you easily read the screen? Is the layout easy to navigate? Are the buttons large enough to click on a touchscreen? Does it look good? If not, stop wasting time and look into making your website mobile-friendly right away. Blogs are a great way to offer value and show prospective clients that you’re an expert in your field. But only if you are keeping that blog updated. When your website blog hasn’t been updated since July 2015, your whole site looks abandoned. If you have a blog, you need to put up new posts at least once a week. Your blog is a ghost town.

A REFERRAL IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF FLATTERY. WHEN A CLIENT REFERS FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES TO US, IT REPRESENTS AN APPRECIATION OF A JOB WELL-DONE. IF YOUR FRIENDS OR ASSOCIATES COULD BENEFIT FROM OUR SERVICES, I’D BE HONORED TO HAVE YOUR REFERRAL! Continued on Page 3 ...

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