
Small Mistakes That Could Be Hurting Your Business
Running a business comes with its fair share (or not so fair share, depending on how you look at it) of challenges, and sometimes it’s the little things that can cause the most damage – the problem being that they’re generally not the ones most business owners are paying attention to. The fact is that major disasters are easy to spot, but smaller mistakes often slip under the radar, and when they do, they can quickly damage your business. The good news is that they’re usually easy to fix once you know what to look for, and with that in mind, here are some small mistakes that could be hurting your business – read on to find out more.
Neglecting Your Online Presence
In the modern world, having a weak or outdated online presence is a bad thing – it’s something that basically tells your customers you’re not paying that much attention and they might even think you’re closed or you’re not doing well. Your website is often the first thing customers see and the first impression they’ll get, and if it’s not user-friendly, fast, and mobile-optimized, you could be losing potential sales.
You need to keep your website clean, modern, and easy to navigate, and make sure it’s mobile-friendly and loads quickly – test it out yourself on various different devices to make sure it’s showing your customers what you want them to see.
Ignoring SEO
If your business isn’t showing up in search results, how will potential customers find you? Ignoring search engine optimization (SEO) can make it much harder for your target audience to discover your business, and that’s even more true if you’re in a competitive industry. For example, focusing on niche strategies like SEO for remodelers is something you’ve got to do if you want to attract the right customers to your business – and that’s precisely what you want.
You should start by researching the keywords your audience is searching for and make sure you add them naturally into your website. And don’t forget the hidden areas like your meta descriptions, titles, headers, and so on. It can all take a bit of time and you do need to keep up with it, which is why hiring specialists to get your SEO right can be a great investment.
Forgetting To Follow Up
You know that feeling when you send an email or proposal and never hear back? Your customers feel the same when you don’t follow up with them – it could be a lead who reached out to you or a customer who bought from you or anything else, but if you don’t follow up it can cost you not just money but also good relationships, and that’s vital for your success.
The best thing you can do is to build follow-ups into your routine so they become a habit you do pretty much automatically. Plus, you can actually automate them by arranging for follow-up emails to be sent out after a certain amount of time. Other ideas include sending out thank you notes or asking for feedback (which can be really useful when you’re building your business).