8 Website Tweaks Small Business Owners Should Do (But Don't)

A website that is kept up to date and maintained can last up to seven years between rebuilds. However, this does not mean that you can allow your website to become stale. New technology in the way websites are built and delivered, new devices that users use to access your website, and new features that users expect from your website can continuously drive website tweaks and improvements.

Small business owners, in particular, face great competition among their peers and from large corporations that have entire departments to manage and promote their online presence. However, small business owners are often too busy running their businesses to give their websites the attention they need. This is a feature, not a bug, of the free market economy. Small business owners should focus on running their businesses and hire an experienced, fast, and efficient web developer to add little tweaks in between website rebuilds.

Here are eight website tweaks for small business owners:

Embedding Maps

More potential customers are using search engines to find local businesses, such as "web design company near me" or "website design agency in Houston TX." In fact, according to Social Media Today , 46% of all Google searches are for local businesses. For many of your website visitors, your location is the most important piece of information they are looking for. Most importantly, these are easy for you or your web developer to add to your site.

Adding Social Media to Website

Assuming that you have an active social media presence, adding social media to your website fulfills two expectations of your customers:

1. Customers expect up to date information in the form of news, special offers, and promotional photos and videos.
2. Customers expect interaction with your business whether it be an answer to a quick question or a response to a complaint or concern.

Adding a link or widget for social media to your website is relatively easy for you or your web developer.

Adding Website to Social Media

If your social media presence is active, the first contact customers have with you may be through social media. Thus, your social media profiles should provide as much contact information as possible to convert social media followers into paying customers.

Reviewing Copy

You should review and update your copy on a regular basis so your website copy is up to date. Updating references to awards, locations, and offerings can keep your copy fresh.

Also, you can edit your copy periodically to follow technological trends. For example, simpler and more conversational copy is preferred because it is easier for voice assistants and smart speakers to find and read back.

Fine Tuning Marketing

If you boil marketing down, you must make an emotional appeal to your customers and provide a clear call to action.

However, sometimes your customers change, your business changes, the world changes, or you find your initial marketing message is mistargeted. Whereas the marketing for a computer security company might have focused on viruses a few years ago, the marketing message might need tweaks to focus on hacking and identity theft today.

Improving Navigation

A website that is easy for users to navigate is also easy for search engines to crawl and index. One of the easiest ways you or your web developer can improve navigation is to add separate pages for each service or category of goods you offer.

Increasing Readability

Readability, including the length of your copy, fonts, type size, and background contrast, is much more important than it was a few years ago. The primary reason is that mobile devices now account for over half of all web traffic worldwide. If your copy is unreadable on a phone-sized screen, you might be cutting your leads in half.

Refreshing Graphics

Your stock photos might be stale. Refreshing your photos can help spruce up your website without blowing your budget on a complete overhaul.

Moreover, your photos might be outdated. Readers spot small mistakes that you might miss, such as the desktop computer or brick phone in the background of your stock photos. If users expect attention to detail or cutting edge technology, using old stock photos can be a turn-off.

Even if your next website rebuild is years away, you can still tweak your website to generate more leads and convert leads into customers.