First impressions count and when you’re running a business you’ll want to attract as many customers as can. In order to do so, it’s vital you make a good first impression, and you certainly won’t want to put customers off before they’ve had a chance to get to know you.

Avoid these common mistakes and you’ll immediately improve the first impression customers get from your business…

Ignoring Quality Issues

Whether you sell a product or provide a service, providing a high level of quality is essential. Of course, it isn’t just the quality of your product or service you need to worry about. The quality of your marketing materials, your website, your social media presence and your blog posts all imply a certain level of quality.

Broken links, empty posts and sporadic social media activity implies the business is unreliable and unconcerned with maintaining quality. Commit to a digital marketing strategy which incorporates regular online posts and seek help from a website design expert to make sure your site is working perfectly. If you don’t do this, customers will not stick around.

Publishing Boring Content

Websites which fail to feature new content quickly become stagnant and users have no reason to return. Whilst your website should be packed full of fresh content and thought-provoking articles, don’t make users search for it.

Ensure your homepage is frequently updated, add scrolling company news to the first page your users see or incorporate a new video every week to provide updated content. Find ways to make your homepage different and interesting, so that users will be keen to click-through to other areas of your site.

Sticking with an Unreliable Hosting Provider

Your business website should be available 24 hours, 7 days a week, excluding any planned downtime for technical upgrades. If your hosting provider is unreliable or you frequently run into technical problems, it’s time to find someone new.

There are plenty of reliable hosting services out there, and you don’t have to pay through the nose for them. If web hosting or development isn’t your area of expertise, outsource your needs to a digital marketing or website design and development company so that you’re able to access the services you need.

Ignoring Bad Reviews

From time-to-time things can go wrong and you may have an unhappy customer to deal with. Unfortunately, this can lead to a customer or client leaving a bad review on your website or on other websites. Ignoring a bad review is never a good idea, however unfair it may be. Nor should you react angrily or accuse the customer of being unfair.

Reply to the customer in a constructive way and try and resolve the situation, if you’re able to do so. As well as turning an unsatisfied customer into a happy one, you’re showing other potential clients that you respond to customer concerns and take steps to resolve any issues which may arise.

Making a good first impression isn’t always easy but avoiding these common mistakes is a great way to give your company a head start. If you’re not sure where to start, take the time to experience your website from a first-time customer’s point of view and see what changes you need to make. Alternatively, seek help from professionals and put your site through a website audit to find out where you’re going wrong and how you can improve.