Making your business website work for you

Almost a third of small businesses say they're unhappy with their websites, according to a recent survey by Newtek Business Services.

Attributing factors ranged from sites being outdated to poor optimization.

Regardless of the reasons, if your  business website isn't up to par it's going to lose web traffic and fail to attract new visitors, say experts.

"Just like in life you get one first impression," says Craig Agranoff of Gripd.com, a Boca Raton, Fla.,  interactive agency and co-author of "Do It Yourself Online Reputation Management" (Pendant Publishing, $19.95). "The same goes for your business on the web."

Web visitors have a short attention span and if they aren't engaged within seconds, you'll lose them. Here are some of the reasons your site may be losing traffic:

Tough to navigate. A lot of sites look glossy and glamorous, but all that glitz makes it sometimes difficult for users to navigate through a site, Agranoff says. If people get lost trying to find what they need, they'll just click off your site, he notes.

Overly promotional. Ever go to a website that reads like a brochure or is too self-promotional? "A lot of companies love to display stuff about themselves, however customers come to your site to see what you can do for them," Agranoff says. It's great to provide corporate info on your site, but visitors also need to assess quickly how you can solve their problem, he said.

Poor optimization. You could have the glitziest site, but if no one can find you, then you're out of luck. Keywords play an integral role in searches, says Andrew Hazen of Prime Visibility, a Melville digital marketing firm and author of "Search Engine Optimization: Plain & Simple" (Angel Dough Media, $11.95). You may think you've embedded the right keywords throughout your site, but you may be missing the boat, Hazen says.

GoogleKeywordtool.com can be helpful in keyword selection, he notes. (Click here to see it.) Also google.com/webmasters can offer insight into how Google sees your website, he said. (Click here to see it.)

Too little information. If you're an online retailer, users need enough information to make educated buying decisions, or they'll leave, Hazen says. For instance, if you go to a site to buy a watch and only see a thumbnail photo and can't enlarge it or if you can't rotate the item to see different angles, that could turn off buyers, Hazen said.

Lacking purpose. On many websites, it's not clear to the user what their next step should be, says Denise Wakeman of DeniseWakeman.com, a LA-based online visibility expert and business blogging consultant. There's no clear call to action, she says, noting the purpose of the site must be clear.

Failing to connect. So you get a visitor but there's not a way to develop a relationship or stay connected, Wakeman says. There should be a way for people to subscribe to get more content (for example an email subscription form, etc.) "There needs to be a way to deliver updates to your visitor," she says.

Stale or outdated content. If you want to break through the noise, you need to stand out from your competitors and that means producing fresh content, says Wakeman, who recommends updated content two to three times a week. Search engines also like fresh content, she notes.

Not mobile friendly. Customers are increasingly accessing the Web via mobile devices, explains Nathan King, a digital strategist at Austin & Williams, an ad and marketing agency in Hauppauge. If your site isn't mobile-optimized you can be losing visitors, he notes.

Poor analytic. You won't know if you're losing visitors unless you track it, King says. A free tool like Google Analytics could help you understand your bounce rate, he notes.  (Click here to visit Google Analytics.)