How do you know if your website is performing at its best and attracting your intended audience or is costing you, customers, due to poor optimisation and user experience?
In this blog, we will explain how to avoid some key mistakes small businesses make online and highlight the potential consequences of these issues. By resolving these common mistakes, businesses can gain better leverage in online marketing and build a substantial online presence, thereby avoiding the loss of potential customers.
One of the most common marketing mistakes for small businesses is diving headfirst into online marketing without having mapped out a well-defined digital marketing plan. This lack of clear digital marketing strategy goals makes it difficult for small business owners to measure success or adjust tactics when needed.
Other essential factors to consider are:
- Inconsistent branding
- When a business uses inconsistent brand colors, an ever-changing tone of voice, an incorrect logo, or random imagery, it creates confusion. Potential customers want a consistent, unified brand presence, which is important for building trust, brand recognition, and brand authority.
- Ignoring your target audience
- Trying to reach everyone online is daunting and unproductive. Instead, you should target your online marketing efforts at a specific audience, focusing on demographics such as gender, age, and location and tailoring your messages and content to suit their needs. This will yield better results.
- Poor user experience
- Once your intended audience reaches your website or social media platform, they must have a positive, user-friendly experience.
- Recent 2025 statistics confirm mobile devices are the primary device used for internet searches in Australia, accounting for approximately 68% of all search activities, while desktop searches constitute about 30%, making it vital to ensure businesses have mobile-friendly websites to help attract and retain customer engagement.
- Once your intended audience reaches your website or social media platform, they must have a positive, user-friendly experience.
- Unclear CTA (Call to Action)
- Unclear CTAs lead to poor conversation rates. A strong call to action on a business’s website encourages users to take action by guiding them to a direct engagement request, such as subscribing to a newsletter, contacting a customer service representative, or clicking through to a landing page with a special offer.
- Users need clear, easy-to-follow instructions, so a strong CTA reduces decision fatigue. It tells them exactly what to do next, creating a sense of urgency so they act quickly. A clear, well-placed call to action improves site functionality and navigation while strengthening the brand’s messaging.
- Unclear CTAs lead to poor conversation rates. A strong call to action on a business’s website encourages users to take action by guiding them to a direct engagement request, such as subscribing to a newsletter, contacting a customer service representative, or clicking through to a landing page with a special offer.
There is no place for weak SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)! Small businesses must use professional SEO services to optimise their websites and track their metrics. Knowing how much time a user spends on your site and what the click-through rates are is valuable data.
Why should small businesses invest in a professional SEO audit?
The leading SEO best practices include technical back-end strategies, such as aligning with search engine algorithms to increase organic visibility, and front-facing strategies, like improving and refreshing old content and using backlinks to rank better on search engine pages and gain user interaction.
An SEO audit helps businesses identify website weaknesses that may harm search rankings and user experience, costing them customers instead of attracting new ones. Without proper SEO, visibility in search engine results is difficult, limiting website traffic.
Don’t overlook analytics.
Small businesses often neglect tools like Google Analytics. Not tracking website traffic, social media engagement, and conversion rates can lead to poor decision-making. It’s also vital to realise that SEO isn’t a sprint—it’s a marathon. SEO does not yield instant results but forms part of a long-term strategy that eventually provides valuable data on what’s working.
Common SEO mistakes small businesses make and how to fix them
Small businesses often struggle with SEO and make costly mistakes, but these quick-fire tips are essential for success!
- Not having an SEO audit to determine the health of your website.
- Neglecting keyword research.
- Failing to optimise meta tags.
- Missing out on local SEO opportunities.
- Ignoring the need for mobile optimisation.
The Importance of a well-designed hierarchical website structure
A well-planned hierarchical website structure is not just maximising essential for efficiently guiding users and search engines through a website. It’s also a strategic tool for internal linking structure of a website to maximise SEO and keep users engaged. An organised site hierarchy improves user experience, enhances search engine indexing, and ensures essential pages receive proper visibility, adding value to your online presence.
How website navigation structure impacts user experience and SEO
A confusing website navigation structure can frustrate users and cause them to leave without taking action. Instead, web designers must consider intuitive navigation with clear menu structures and internal linking. Think of it as leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for the users, gently guiding them to a path that fulfills their needs, enhancing engagement and search rankings.
A solid website structure in terms of SEO strategy is good for both user engagement and search engine rankings!
Connecting with customers
Some small businesses don’t spend enough time on social media marketing and, therefore, have an inadequate content marketing plan. Content creation should be diarised as a monthly priority because it’s essential for SEO, customer engagement, and building industry authority.
Blogs, videos, and infographics can be powerful tools for sharing valuable content. However, instead of creating posts across all platforms, focus on only two to three key social media platforms that align with your audience. A targeted approach is always more effective.
Engaging with customers
Don’t ignore your customers! Engaging with them by responding to comments, reviews, and feedback on social media fosters relationships and trust. On the other hand, don’t be tempted to ‘overdo’ marketing communications. Customers can interpret this as spamming or constantly pushing sales rather than providing value-added information and loyalty discounts.
Why Is It Important to Set Up Lead Funnels on a Website?
A website’s lead funnel guides visitors through different stages, from initial interest to engaged and paying customers. Lead funnels become sales funnels, so use tracking methods to maximise effectiveness and avoid missing out on valuable conversions.
How refreshing outdated content can improve search rankings
Failing to retarget or re-engage visitors and not refresh outdated content is a key common mistake small businesses forget to make. Email marketing is a good option when re-engaging with former customers who have gone quiet, but a specific call to action is required to pique their interest.
Websites with stale content struggle to maintain relevance in search results. One idea is repurposing old blog posts or forwarding interesting articles from other businesses or partnerships that align with your brand and values.
The connection between website performance and customer retention
Many small businesses overlook how their website directly impacts customer retention, so audience targeting is a huge consideration that provides website authority. Maintaining a user-friendly, well-optimised website with reliable, fast functionality and clear calls to action is essential for keeping the connection with your customers alive. A non-responsive site can drive potential customers away.BeOnTop is here to support all your digital marketing needs. From website design and development to content planning and SEO audits, we are the experts to take your website to the next level.
Contact BeOnTop to discuss your next strategy!
Frequently Asked Questions
How does poor website design affect customer retention?
The brand can appear untrustworthy or unprofessional if a website looks outdated, poorly designed, or cluttered with too much information. A poorly designed website diminishes the business’s credibility and can push potential customers away. Similarly, if a website is complex to navigate, customers will struggle to find what they’re looking for, leading to frustration. Sadly, this means they will likely leave the site quickly, discouraging them from returning.
Why is mobile optimisation important for small business websites?
Some websites are slow-loading, causing visitors to bounce. With more people browsing the web, shopping, and researching products from their smartphones or tablets, you risk losing customers if your website isn’t optimised for mobile. Mobile-optimised sites offer a smoother and more intuitive user experience because the website adjusts to fit smaller screens, loads faster, and is easy to navigate, so visitors are more likely to stay and engage, which can lead to conversions. Another important consideration is the Google Ranking Factor. Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning that the mobile version of your site is the top consideration for ranking in search results. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, it can negatively impact your SEO.
How does a weak call-to-action (CTA) affect website engagement?
A weak call to action (CTA) negatively impacts website engagement by lower click-through rates, higher bounce rates, and decreased conversions. Engaging and relevant content with compelling CTAs is vital for online success. Ensure your CTAs are clear, concise, action-oriented, visually appealing, and value-driven, and they retain a sense of urgency. In other words, they should provide what your customers need.
