Have you ever wondered what’s the difference between a good and a bad website? What makes someone choose one website over another?

Let me show you what makes a website good or bad in 2023.

In one way or another, I think we've all realized that life as we know it has changed considerably following the pandemic that devastated and isolated the world between 2019 to 2022. But Covid-19 hasn't just changed our day-to-day lives. The whole dynamic on websites has changed. There has been astronomical growth in e-commerce and what were already markets with a lot of competition, have become over saturated markets. Maybe the product/service you sell already exists in different brands and forms, but that's not why you should give up on it. You have to work even harder to stand out from all your competition. And how can you do that? Stop being just another brand and having just another website. Consumers are no longer looking for websites to simply provide information. They're looking for websites to provide an experience. Having a website where you simply put information and leave it there, is not enough.

Recent studies show that 96% of visitors who land on your website are not ready to buy. If you only keep the remaining 4% who will buy, imagine how much money you're losing. The other 96% have to be convinced.

Shall we look at an example?

Chloe needs to buy a new pair of sneakers. Nowadays, we can consider that she has thousands of options, right? If we look back and, for example, think of older generations (I'm thinking of my mother, for example) she would simply want a pair of sneakers to wear, that weren't too ugly and if they lasted and were comfortable, the better. But that even was a criteria for her. But if we go back to Chloe, she doesn't just want a pair of sneakers, she wants to support brands that she identifies with and likes. When she goes to the sneaker brand's website, she wants to feel something, she wants to be a part of something and not see just a list of sneakers. And this is the same for those who sell services or products.

It has to be convincing

As soon as she enters your website, the challenge begins: she wants to be convinced. For you to be able to do that, your website must give her a perfectly aligned brand experience that shows her what you do, what you do differently and better than other brands, that your sneakers are perfect for her and will work perfectly for her purpose, concrete proof (and here comes the important social proof) and have a clear path of what she has to do to take action and buy your shoes, with a buying experience that is as agile and simple as possible. There's nothing as annoying as wanting to buy something and and not being able to do it because the process is too long and tedius.

You shouldn’t be ashamed of your website

Unfortunately, it's still very common for many business owners to be ashamed of their website (even more so for service providers). But it doesn't have to be that way. And even less so, because if you continue with a website that you're ashamed, whether you like it or not, it exists and people will visit it.

According to a Stanford study, around 75% of people judge a company's credibility by its website design. So you want to keep waiting while they judge your credibility and don't take you seriously because you don't have a website that lives up to your brand.

Your social media is only your store window

It's true that social media have also grown enormously in terms of their relevance to a business. But if you think of your business as a physical store, social media is like your store window. Its main purpose is to be eye-catching and draw the attention of anyone who passes by. If you think of a physical store, nobody buys through a store window, they have to go inside. Your website is where you do business, so get them into your store. This is especially true for product brands.

A well-designed, well-used and well-implemented website works like a salesperson who never sleeps. If you neglect it, it's as if that salesman has taken a few years off.

That's the big difference between a good website and a bad one. A website that convinces the customer to stay and buy, that takes them on an experience with a perfectly aligned brand rather than just a list of available products, a well-designed, well-implemented, easy-to-use website that you're not ashamed of, on the contrary, that you're very proud of, it’s a good website.

Don't let your fear of having a website or the shame of your current website win. It's time to start working and building your website and start taking advantage of all its capabilities.