Website Suck Syndrome – Are You Infected?
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Let’s face it, your website is sick, and not in that hipster good way (screw those cool kids). I mean your website is sick as in its sweating away value and coughing out customers.
It needs someone to help. That’s something that unfortunately I have to say to clients all too often. Why? Why does it suck? How can it suck when it looks so pretty? Well, Website Suck Syndrome actually has nothing to do with the way your site looks. There are beautiful sites that are useless, and butt-ugly sites that make millions. Being ugly doesn’t make you sick does it?
See, we have a problem. Just a few short years ago, the majority of business was done offline. Then came the internet buzz, and everybody ran as fast as they could to put up a website.
Along with the mass adoption of websites for new businesses though came the pandemic of Website Suck Syndrome. They had to ruin the party for us all 
So what exactly do I mean when I tell you that you might have Website Suck Syndrome? Read on, and all shall be revealed.
The Purpose
Before you assume you need a website, you need to know why. Sadly, no one seems to. Why do you need a website? What will it do for you? Can you survive without one? What’s the benefit a website will bring to your business?
You need to figure out very clearly what it is that this website will do for you, and what its purpose is.
Unfortunately, when someone tells me they need a website and I ask why, they’re usually speechless. After they get over the initial shock, they seem to murmur something along the lines of “Because everyone else has one.”
Wrong answer buddy.
If everyone was jumping off a cliff, would you do it too? (I love that example. #oldschool).
You may not admit it, but there is bound to be people that would try it just to see what all the rage was about. (Quick note: Don’t be a cliff jumper, it’s not healthy).
You only need a website if you have a purpose. What’s your website’s purpose? That majority of the population on this planet cannot tell you the purpose of their site, and if you leave the question open-ended, it could take them damn near forever to reply. In light of this seemingly simple yet over-complicated quiz question, I have decided to make it multiple choice.
Which of the following 4 things is the purpose of your website?
- Increasing Revenue
- Creating an Impact
- Building your Brand
- Providing Customer Service
So, what is the purpose of your site? Is it one of the above? Is it a combination of above? Is it somewhere in-between? The answer to that question is priceless. After all, you can’t get cured of a sickness if you don’t know you’re sick.
I had a client once that was obsessed with getting up a website, but he couldn’t answer the why question. He seemed to think that every business needs a website, and that’s just simply not true. Without a purpose, there’s no point in a website.
Has your website been built around its purpose, or does it even have one? If not, you might have Website Suck Syndrome.
The People
Once you understand your purpose, you need to know the people that give it that purpose. Ironically though, one of the most common mistakes with creating a website for a business is not taking into account the fact that the audience may not match up with the purpose. That’s mainly because the business owner wasn’t aware of the purpose to begin with.
You’re already a step ahead of that though, so you don’t have website suck syndrome…do you?
I had a client that received a ton of traffic from people searching for personal training services, and he tried to sell an eBook about motivation on that same site. First, they’re not looking for eBooks, they’re looking for personal training. Second, they’re not looking for motivation; they’re looking for personal training. Once we established that the purpose was to get clients for personal training, and that our audience was people looking for personal training, the business and the website worked much better.
Whatever the purpose is for your site, you need to either make sure it plays nice with your audience, or pick a new audience based on your purpose and attract them.
There are a ton of things you can do to figure out who comes to your site. Surveys, analytics, questionnaires or even simply asking them questions on social media are just a few examples. Figure it out and get it done, no excuses.
To simplify, here are some questions to ask yourself about your people:
- Who are they?
- What do they want out of my site?
- Where are they coming from?
- Why are they coming to my site?
- How are they finding me?
Once you know the answer to these questions, it’s worth asking yourself if those people match up with the purpose of your site. Do they? If not, you might have Website Suck Syndrome.
The Plan
Once you know the purpose and the people, you need to know the plan. Here’s where it gets tricky. There are a ton of websites out there that have a kick ass purpose, and attract kick ass people, but their plan doesn’t exist, so they get infected.
The plan is the follow through, and ultimately, it’s the cure for Website Suck Syndrome. A good plan is built on a good purpose and good people though, so ultimately it’s a three-sided pyramid of awesomeness, not a one-size-fits-all solution. Failure to complete all three is like taking cough medicine to cure decapitation.
Some questions to ask yourself:
- How can I help my people?
- How can my purpose help my people?
- What can I do to facilitate my purpose helping my people?
Notice I never once asked how your people can help your purpose. They aren’t cattle that need prodding in the right direction, they’re real people. Stop trying to control them and give them what they want. You can’t calculate the ROI on human interaction, so instead of getting them sick (of you), make them better (people). 
By this point you should know what to do. Is your website is sick? Does it need your loving care and attention to nurse it back to health? If you have a purpose, you need to attract the people, and make a plan. That’s it, you’re all set.
If you don’t make a plan to help your people with your purpose, you have Website Suck Syndrome.
Website Suck Syndrome – Are you infected?
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So maybe I came off a little sarcastic, but my point still stands. If you don't have a purpose, and a plan to help your people, you have a useless website. Make sure you're not infected with Website Suck Syndrome!
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