When Was the Last Time You Looked at Your Website Like a Customer?
When you’re busy, it’s easy to tick ‘website’ off the list and move on, especially if you think of yourself as mainly a bricks & mortar business. But over time, things change. You’re selling different products, links mysteriously break and you’ve forgotten to update your opening hours or remove a campaign that finished ages ago. Even the way customers expect to navigate and buy changes because technology does too so, in the blink of the eye, your website is out of date and that’s not what you want to present to customers.
Have you heard of ‘webrooming’? That’s when customers check your website before visiting your store and, these days, most people do it. In fact, around 78% of Australians research online before buying in-store, so your website matters.
Added to that, search engines like Google favour websites that are active. Keeping your content current, even with small updates, helps your site stay relevant and more likely to come up in searches and be seen .
A simple five-minute check of your website every month can tell you a lot.
Think of it like a mystery shop of your website, but you really do have to pretend that you’re your own customer. Don’t look at it through your eyes, you’ve got ‘in-head knowledge’ that a customer doesn’t have. This might be the first time they’ve even heard of you, this is their first impression.
A customer will make their decision on whether to shop with you, either online or in store, based on what they see on your website and often in the first 10 seconds. Your website matters, don’t forget about it. Grab a coffee every month and start scrolling your website with a critical eye.
BEFORE YOU EVEN GET TO YOUR WEBSITE
Most customers don’t start on your website. They search for the products you sell or, if they know you, they will search your business name.
Try this first:
Google the products or services you offer in your area.
See if your business appears (and where).
Look at the other businesses that show up alongside you.
Then click through to your Google Business Profile listing. Do you have one? If you’re a bricks-and-mortar store, you should.
What does your business look like there? This is often the first impression a customer gets, it’s the online equivalent to them being a pedestrian walking past your store.
Are your opening hours correct?
Do your photos reflect your business now? Remember, other people can put images on too, so you need to be on top of that.
Is your description clear and up to date?
Are there recent reviews, and have you responded to them?
And just as importantly, would you click on your own business over the others listed?
“Check your website on your phone first because that’s where your customers are. Mobile now accounts for over half of website traffic and what looks fine on a computer can feel clunky and frustrating on mobile. ”
NOW, HEAD TO YOUR WEBSITE
Open your website as if you’ve never seen it before.
Is it immediately clear what you sell?
Can they see quickly where you are located so they can visit you easily?
Is it clear if you deliver and if so, where?
If someone lands on your homepage for the first time, they shouldn’t have to work to figure all of this out.
CAN CUSTOMERS FIND WHAT THEY NEED QUICKLY?
Try a few common tasks:
Find your store location or delivery information.
Look for opening hours or contact details.
Browse a product or service category.
Are these easy to find, or do you have to hunt for them?
What feels obvious to you often isn’t obvious to someone seeing it for the first time.
“Your location shouldn’t be hidden away in the footer, it’s one of the first things customers look for. If they have to scroll to the footer (on their mobile) and click ‘Contact’ just to find out where you are, you’ve already lost them. Make it visible early, and make sure it matches your Google Business Profile and social media.”
TEST THE BUYING EXPERIENCE
If you sell online, actually go through the process yourself:
Add something to cart.
Move through checkout.
Check delivery options and pricing.
You don’t have to complete the purchase, but pay attention to how it feels and whether it’s intuitive.
Is anything confusing?
Are there any surprises?
Does it feel smooth and reassuring?
Small friction points here can cost you sales without you even realising.
CHECK FOR THE LITTLE THINGS
These are the details that build or break trust with a customer:
Outdated information.
Broken links (click on everything).
Old promotions still showing (I’ve been guilty of that myself, now I put the end of a promotion in my diary to make sure I remove it).
Missing images or slow-loading pages.
They’re easy to miss, but customers notice. There’s nothing grumpier than a customer who visits your store expecting to find something you have on your website, only to discover that you don’t.
A SMALL HABIT THAT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE
Websites aren’t “set and forget.”
Taking a couple of minutes every few weeks on your website, stepping into your customer’s shoes, can highlight issues before they become problems and will make sure your website is doing its job properly. This is a valuable resource that you’re investing money into, it needs to pay its way.
Your website is a virtual ‘shopfront’ for your business and should reflect it as it is today. If it doesn’t, it’s not doing its job.