{"id":38189,"date":"2023-10-20T14:54:46","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/the-top-five-website-errors-committed-by-aussie-smes-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:54:46","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:54:46","slug":"the-top-five-website-errors-committed-by-aussie-smes-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/the-top-five-website-errors-committed-by-aussie-smes-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"The top five website errors committed by Aussie SMEs &#8211; StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"td-post-featured-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"450\" height=\"225\" itemprop=\"image\" class=\"entry-thumb\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/1-maze.jpg\" alt=\"1-maze\" title=\"1-maze\"\/><\/div>\n<p>While even our lumbering retail giants are, albeit reluctantly, beginning to embrace the digital world, it appears that the online progress of Australian small businesses is a little patchy.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This week saw the latest report card on how Aussie SMEs are doing online. A survey by design firm Snap found that 29% of the nation\u2019s small firms don\u2019t have a website, with nearly half of those that have an online presence waiting a ponderous <a href=\"internet\/smes-playing-the-waiting-game-with-their-websites-report\/201211128149.html\">six months before taking the plunge<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The research follows previous studies that show the proportion of website-less businesses <a href=\"internet\/more-than-half-of-small-businesses-now-have-websites-google-report\/201203215751.html\">could be as high as 50%.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, an Optus poll in May found that just 18% of SMEs offer mobile apps, <a href=\"internet\/businesses-failing-to-create-mobile-optimised-sites-report\/201205256407.html\">although 48% say they plan to do so<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With the value of online transactions set to balloon to $37 billion in Australia next year, it\u2019s perhaps surprising that so many small businesses are reluctant to invest in a new website.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But Snap\u2019s research uncovered reasons why small firms may be wary of online. Businesses with websites reported that they encounter a number of problems, which may put off the uninitiated.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here are the top five website errors committed by Australian small businesses, along with what to do about them:<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>1. Confusing navigation<\/h2>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-19374\" alt=\"1-maze\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/1-maze.jpg\" height=\"225\" width=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/startupsmart-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2012\/11\/1-maze.jpg 450w, https:\/\/startupsmart-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2012\/11\/1-maze-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/startupsmart-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2012\/11\/1-maze-215x108.jpg 215w, https:\/\/startupsmart-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2012\/11\/1-maze-150x75.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The basics of enabling customers to find their way around a website is the biggest headache for small businesses, according to the study, with 65% identifying it as a major issue.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If you are really struggling with this, it\u2019s probably time to get outside help to avoid wasting your time and money.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While navigation (65%) is the major issue for most websites, ill-conceived design (42%), spelling mistakes (29%), unnecessary website downtime (29%) and broken links\/error 404 messages (24%) also prove to be bugbears.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Stephen Edwards, CEO of Snap, says: \u201cI think a lot of people designing websites don\u2019t know where they need to go or what they need to ask. People receiving the brief are often backroom technicians.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI see a lot of websites and it\u2019s about function versus look and feel, so it\u2019s a very conflicting story.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDeal with a professional that has a bit of history in the market. Go to people who have credibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>Story continues on page 2. Please click below.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While even our lumbering retail giants are, albeit reluctantly, beginning to embrace the digital world, it appears that the online<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38189"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}