Image: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-woman-using-laptop-3194518/
Everyone in the business community and their cat has a website. It is your digital identity, essential for appearing legitimate, never mind the number of social media accounts you have.
From fashion brands to B2B products, businesses typically own websites to let clients reach out to them. They are dependable as information providers, troubleshooters, and shopping platforms.
While websites let you connect with customers directly, they could also cost you business in inconspicuous ways. It happens when your business website has inherent characteristics that don’t spell success.
1. It Looks Fine, Just Like Every Other Business Site
You have a logo, a header image, product descriptions, and shop links. Everything looks okay… much like any other business.
Unless you can convey a compelling value proposition from your website, which is often the first contact with a prospect, you don’t stand much chance in a hyper-competitive world.
Forbes recently shared UK survey results on websites and their significance in 2025. A remarkable 83.5% reported that their site played a pivotal role in the business performance. The report also estimated that global users create 175 websites every minute. It is no surprise that many of these never become very successful or manage to attract a large audience.
Finding and developing a unique voice for your organization can help your website stand out among rivals. Here are a few ways to achieve this:
- Create engaging content that addresses relevant concerns for your customers and offers the support they can’t access elsewhere.
- Explore emerging website technologies, like AI-integrated chatbots or responsive layouts.
- Collect feedback from target customers and diverse stakeholders through personalized communication.
- Use color and typography elements to build a standout identity.
The best part is that artificial intelligence has ensured that even startup businesses don’t need to struggle with web development or design limitations. Intuitive tools can now create entire websites that cater to your business’s unique features—no cut-and-paste that dilutes your value proposition.
According to Hocoos, powerful websites radiate the brand’s voice and develop trust with their clients. This is possible only when you incorporate distinctive aspects of your business, such as customized content and tailor-made visuals. Advancing AI technologies have made click-and-edit interfaces possible, reducing the time-to-launch even for fully tailored websites.
2. It Doesn’t Load Right on a Smartphone
There was a time when websites aimed to cater to desktop and laptop users. Not saying they still don’t, but the majority of your audience is probably online from a smartphone.
Statista reported that over 60% of global website traffic originated from mobile devices in late 2024. Many developing countries have a massive mobile-first online population. Logically, not building websites that are compatible with mobile phones is a recipe for business disaster.
Mobile-incompatible websites may load slowly on a potential customer’s phone. They may be unable to navigate properly or miss out on offers because of pop-up blocker settings on handheld devices. The experience leaves a sour taste and a disinclination to consider your brand again.
Here’s how you can ascertain mobile compatibility for your business website:
- Structure your content with headings and use short paragraphs to facilitate easier reading on phones.
- Check if your images are small enough for quick loading. They should also have alternate text.
- Test and test repeatedly, asking your team to examine various elements such as nested pages and links.
- Assess the website experience across Android and iOS platforms and different browsers.
3. There’s Such a Thing as Too Much SEO and Social Proof
Is your website SEO-optimized? That’s perhaps one of the most vital things to do, or so tech experts have often told business owners. After all, the point is to attract viewers, and that needs better search engine appearances.
But the SEO shoe starts to pinch when you overdo it. Overoptimization can be counterproductive. Not only might Google penalize you, but you may seem off-putting and desperate to potential clients.
It’s ditto for social proof, such as client testimonials or glowing reviews from random Instagram and X accounts. While positive word of mouth is inspiring, going overboard may be suspicious instead.
An even worse practice is using AI-generated reviews—yes, some firms have resorted to the AI machine to pump out positivity for their products.
In January 2025, Google announced that it would take strict action against British businesses that publish fake reviews to improve their star ratings. The Verge reported that the problem started when platforms like Amazon allegedly violated consumer protection laws. Failing to eliminate fake reviews is almost equivalent to misleading people.
Objectively speaking, here’s what you should avoid:
- Keyword stuffing in every single piece of content on your homepage
- Failing to create meaningful content and focusing only on incorporating SEO keywords
- Manipulative linking that takes customers to places unrelated to the anchor
- Using fake reviews or snippets from disingenuous social media accounts
Conducting a website audit is a good way to identify problems like the ones above. It can alert you to shortcomings in every sphere, from performance to content and technology integration. A hardworking website pays dividends that help businesses grow and obtain referrals or recommendations.
