5 Signs Your Website Is Hurting Your Brand Reputation

Your website is the face of your brand, your first impression. This is the first place people interact with your business. It’s not just a marketing and visibility tool, but if not used correctly, it can negatively impact your business. From outdated design and content to no clear call to action, there are many red flags in your website that are quietly hurting your website. A weak website experience can turn potential customers away in seconds. Read further in the blog to understand more about the importance of a website to brand reputation, signs that your website is hurting your business reputation, and strategies to improve your online presence.

Importance of a Website to Brand Reputation

Your business website is not just a fancy place to showcase your business and its products and services. It’s the first impression and touchpoint with a potential customer. Here are some of the major reasons why a good website is important to your business and brand reputation:

• Establish Credibility: With increased technology, customers tend to research online for information and finalise purchasing decisions. Your business website is a place to share credible information and build trust.
• Acts as a Portfolio: Your business website can act as an online portfolio for your products and services and making it easier to connect with potential customers.
• 24*7 Presence: A website allows you to interact with customers beyond business hours and let them make a purchase at any time of the day. It makes your business website a powerful channel for generating revenue.
• Increase Organic Traffic: If digital marketing efforts and good SEO practices are utilised, your website can appear right in front of your potential customers when they search for your business or its products and services.
• Improve Customer Experience: Website plays a major role in improving customer experience by allowing them to raise concerns or queries about your products or services using contact forms or chatbots.

Signs Your Website Is Hurting Your Brand Reputation

Now that you understand how important your website is to your brand reputation, let’s understand some signs that are silently killing your website and hurting your brand reputation:

1. Outdated Design and Content

If your website looks dull, old and outdated, it is more likely that your customers will not visit your website or interact much with it. There are certain aspects of your website that should be carefully designed and updated, such as:

• Visual designs like graphics, images, videos, etc., that are outdated or don’t match your business’s current state and offerings.
• Hard-to-read text blocks
• Irrelevant blogs and articles
• Broken or incorrect links, etc.

1. Poor Mobile Experience

The majority of internet users use their mobile devices to search for a business or its products, or services. If your website is not mobile-friendly and not optimised for mobile browsing, your potential customers won’t stick around. Key aspects to consider to provide your customers with a good mobile experience are:

• Text should not be too small to read
• Buttons should be comfortable to click
• Images should not break the flow of the website
• Load times should not be too long

1. Slow Page Load Speeds

Customers expect your business website to load in seconds. If it takes too long to load, customers are more likely to bounce and go back to your competitor's website. Look for these signs when checking for slow page load speeds:

• If the pages are taking more than 3 seconds to load
• If the website lags while switching between pages or sections
• high bounce rates

1. Confusing Navigation or User Experience

It is of utmost importance to provide customers with a seamless user experience on your website. Confusing or wrong navigation can make your potential customers exit your website. Look for these signs while optimising user experience:

• Check if the menus are hidden
• If the website is too complex to navigate
• No or difficult access to contact information
• Unclear page layout or structure

1. No Clear Call to Action

It does not matter how many visitors you get on your website if they are not turning into leads or your customers. Here are some of the most common reasons for low website conversions:

• Weak or hidden call to action
• Forms are too long or confusing to fill out
• Complex checkout process

Strategies To Improve Your Online Reputation

If you are in a position where your website is hurting your brand reputation, follow these strategies to improve your online reputation:

• Refresh your website design with fresh and updated visuals and content
• Optimise your website for mobile browsing anf functions seamlessly across devices
• Ensure your website loads fast and that no links are absent or broken
• Simplify navigation for visitors and allow a seamless user experience across pages and sections
• Include a clear call to action focused on your customers' requirements
• Add testimonials, reviews and case studies to add trust signals
• Regularly update content on your website in terms of blogs, service pages, pricing, offers, etc.

Conclusion

A poor website is not just a bad user experience; it can drastically damage your business’s brand and reputation. There are several signs that reflect that your website is hurting your brand reputation, such as outdated design and content,  poor mobile experience, slow page load speeds, bad user experience, and no clear call to action. It is advisable to associate with a website designer who understands all the technical aspects of your website and its importance. At Gluu, we understand how important your website is and create one that actually reflects your brand story! Connect with Gluu today for a customised website design.