Some businesspeople like to surround themselves with subordinates and vendors who will praise all of their ideas, whether or not their ideas are good. Luckily, none of my clients are like that! After all, what’s the point in hiring a professional if you don’t want them to share their professional opinion about important matters?

Likewise, if you are creating or redoing a website, be sure to work with a website developer who will speak up to ensure you get the most out of your website investment – even if addressing these things will increase your bill.

There are many factors that impact the success of a website, and you might not be aware of all of them. Here are five things that your website developer ought to tell you:

1. Your website needs to be easy to use. Your site’s navigation needs to make sense, your page layout needs to be intuitive, and your text needs to be easy to read. If  prospects come to your website and can’t read the text or quickly figure out how to find the information they’re looking for, it will only be a matter of seconds before they give up and leave.This is why, for example, it’s usually best to avoid “clever” names for your navigation buttons and stick with the tried and true, such as “about,” “services,” “contact,” etc.
2. Your SEO key words need to make sense. Over the years I’ve seen how some “SEO experts” will promise to “get you to the top of Google” for key words that are irrelevant. Page 1 Google results are only useful if people are actually using these key words when they’re searching for whatever it is that you’re selling. If you’re selling, say, life coaching for young adults who have ADHD, your SEO keyword list should not include something like “geriatric ADHD treatment.”
3. Your writing is ineffective. A professional website writer knows how to write text that will make an emotional connection with the reader, sell the benefits of what you’re offering, and motivate the reader to take action. Chances are you do not. For best results, hire a professional. Otherwise you may end up with a beautiful, easy-to-use website that does not sell.
4. You should provide full contact information. Real businesses have telephone numbers and email and mailing addresses. Scammers often do not. Your business will look sketchy if the only way to reach you is via a contact form.
5. Your website statistics are meant to be used. You should be able to access statistics showing how many people are visiting your site, how long they’re sticking around, what pages they’re visiting, what key words they’re using to find you and much more. Your website developer should help you make the most of this useful information.