The 5 Website Mistakes That Are Costing You Listeners

Brett Johnson [: 00:00:00

Welcome to the Circle Sessions featuring the Circle of Experts. Each week, one of the Circle of Experts joins me to talk about critical aspects of growing your podcast. The Circle of Experts are Yasmine Robles and Izzy Dadoski from Rebel Marketing, Tonnisha English Amamoo of TJE Communications, and Don The Idea Guy. I'm Brett Johnson, My Podcast Guy from Circle 270 Media Podcast Consultants. This week, Yasmine and Izzy are here. They work alongside clients to design a website that's driven by create a podcast, and then in turn, your business as well. Yasmine and Izzy, thanks for joining me today.

Yasmine Robles [: 00:00:39

For having us again.

Brett Johnson [: 00:00:41

It takes a tremendous amount of time to put a website together. Whether it's because we think it has to be perfect or it's just there are a lot of, working parts to it depending on how you what what you're doing with your with your website. So we wanted to talk about five website mistakes that are costing you, clients, listeners, whatever your goal is to have that website. So let's talk about these five mistakes. Yasmin, unclear messaging. That, yeah, I think that's great for number one. Could you break that down a little bit more about unclear messaging on your website?

Yasmine Robles [: 00:01:16

Yeah. So I think of it like a brand guide. Everybody I think most people know what a brand a visual brand guide is. It has your logo, how to use your colors, what the color codes are. You're you should also have a messaging guide that tells you what your personality is, who you're trying to attract, who the primary secondary audience is, what how you speak about the problem that they're having. And that guide can then support you in creating the copy or the content that goes not just into your website, but into social media, email marketing, all of the places that you that your clients potential clients or customers might be seeing you. So when the messaging is unclear, it can be a couple of different things. Either you don't know how your audience is describing their problem, so you're not speaking their language.

Yasmine Robles [: 00:02:07

You're not meeting them where they are. I like I love the, example of a personal trainer. I'm sure I've used it way too many episodes. But if a personal trainer goes up to my husband and wants to get them to sign up, they will likely talk about health and they will likely talk about possibly energy. And don't you wanna have energy to go chase after your kids? That will likely get my husband to sign up. For me, that would not work because I don't like my kids. I love my kids. I just, you know, I'm not the kind of person that is like, yeah, let's go out to the park and toss a ball.

Yasmine Robles [: 00:02:45

I'm like, hey, can we read a book together or watch a crime flick? Are you old enough to watch a murder show? So what that personal trainer, if they did their research and I am their target market, they will likely say something like, you've probably been on the couch too long and, those skinny jeans are not fitting really well, are they? And they'll go, maybe. Again, I'm not speaking from experience, but I would likely go, yeah, maybe. Maybe those pants, whether or not they're in style, they're kinda getting a little a little hard to button up. So maybe I do need a personal trainer because I need to look hot. So, again, knowing your audience will help you understand the whole messaging. So it could be on your website. I know we're talking about websites today. Mhmm.

Yasmine Robles [: 00:03:29

You'll be able to do SEO research. You'll be able to sprinkle that into any podcast interviews or videos that you're creating. You'll be able to sprinkle in that messaging throughout your social media platforms. Understanding having a clear understanding of who you're going after, how they speak, how they describe the issue and the solution can help a lot with almost, like, I would say, your entire how you communicate your entire business.

Brett Johnson [: 00:03:55

And that can change over time. I think people will think they need to jump in and say, this is what I'm going to say, and I'm not gonna change from it. Well, if you don't evolve, you could die from not being able to be oh, and it also could be a stopping point of ever really doing anything with your website or whatever. It's like allow the evolution to happen.

Yasmine Robles [: 00:04:14

Yeah. And I will say that when you're DIY ing your website or when you have a designer you have to give more guidance to, at least focus on that home page to make sure that your messaging is on point on that home page because that is the most visited page, and that is really where people will scan. And if you want to even hone in further, I would hone in on the hero section, which is the first thing that you see when a page loads. That hero section should really tell me, you know, what problem are you solving for me? Who are you? Why should I even hire you? And if it either looks spammy or sounds kinda spammy, I probably will click away.

Brett Johnson [: 00:04:55

Right. Izzy, let's talk about slow load times. Now we're getting into the weeds and that website build. You know, the the images that you have could be a lot of other things, that create a slow load time. Let's talk about we don't want the slow load time, why, and what could be causing it too.

Izzy Dadosky [: 00:05:15

Yeah. So slow load times are the worst thing you probably have on your website. I'm joking. But, basically, it, like, turns a lot of people away. If if that page is not loading in a second, I'm I'm gone. I'm frustrated. And I know I didn't give it much time, but if it's not gonna work, I'm not gonna even, like, mess with it. So,

Brett Johnson [: 00:05:34

We're talking, like, a few seconds, aren't we? Like, it's two seconds or so. And and which is you think it's a lifetime. It's like, oh, five seconds, but it's like, no. It's two, and we move on. Yeah. Wow. Wow.

Izzy Dadosky [: 00:05:46

Yeah. And a lot of people do that, and I know I am one of those people because I'm impatient, but it's like, you have to make sure that those, load times are like good or else you're going to be losing potential people looking at your website. And then another thing that they just need to maybe consider, like, do you have like a lot of pictures on your site that are just large and file that you're putting on there? Is there a different plugin that you're using that's slowing everything down? But there's just a bunch of different things. Sometimes I see that there's videos that they, like, embedded in the website. And then instead of, like, just putting the YouTube link where it can load when they, like, scroll down, it's a bunch of different things that could be causing it, or maybe just, like, your website health is, like, horrible, and it's just, like, declining as time goes on. So That

Brett Johnson [: 00:06:36

sounds like it sounds like a good time for an inventory check. Maybe these images you have aren't worthwhile on there. It could be better images that are, smaller load that's where or the videos too. Yeah. Is it is it worth having the video? Whatever the video is, wherever it is, do you still want it there? Does it serve a purpose? Yeah. Yeah. It seems like we're more and more, accessing websites on mobile. I think that percentage probably changes every year.

Brett Johnson [: 00:07:01

Yasmin, let's talk about that mobile experience, developing a website on, you know, both or and, you know, the desktop and the and the mobile?

Yasmine Robles [: 00:07:11

Yeah. So mobile ex I would say mobile first. Everybody's just it depends on your industry. I think most of our people are on desktop when they go to our site. But for the wide variety of clients that we have, usually, it is mobile first that people will go in there. And I have been guilty of I meet someone at an event, and then I get to the car, and I will type in their name. I'll go on to their website and all from my phone. So you wanna make sure that that experience is great, but you also, need to make sure that there's a way there's a couple of different ways to making that mobile experience.

Yasmine Robles [: 00:07:47

You can either duplicate the content and make it only show up on mobile and only show up on desktop. You can definitely do that. Ideally, though, you want the site to be really fluid so that you're not having that duplicated content. You're actually it's re instead of duplicating it, you're reorganizing. And I don't wanna get too far into the weeds of of how that works, but it's a natural reorganization of the content currently there versus coding it so that something disappears and something reappears. And it you just wanna make sure that mobile experience is great. Things like even simple things. Like, if you have a graphic that has text on it, first of all, please don't do that.

Yasmine Robles [: 00:08:30

That's not friendly at all for screen readers or anything like that. But a graphic that has text, it can't be read by screen readers. And when it's on a mobile device, it might get so small that people can't read it while they're what what's the point of having that? So making sure that it is live text, that it is naturally reorganizing itself, instead of forcing it with code or just having a random graphic is ideal. And then back to what Izzy's point about load times, your mobile experience also, you have to check that load time because it could be that they are on, they're in a parking lot or they're in a large building and everything's just loading a lot slower for them on mobile. It could be that they might not be on the best carrier. Right? Or this is like their work phone and their work phone is not as snazzy as their personal phone. So just making sure that that you're checking the speed for the entire site but also for your mobile experience. I would say industries that need to really ramp up their mobile experience if you're doing any kind of e commerce anywhere that there's some kind of the population that will be on mobile when they check you out.

Yasmine Robles [: 00:09:37

For us, again, most of the people I believe are on desktop when they're checking us out and that is what I've seen for B2B sometimes. B2B, usually it is desktop or government. I also side note, I hate government mobile experience website, like their websites are horrible. But you also don't want people pinching and trying to zoom in. I've experienced that with certain organizations or like calendars of events that I'm trying to sign up for, and you're pinch pinching and trying to zoom in, trying to read things. You don't want people to be doing that because they're gonna leave. Unless they're really gung ho about the mission that you have or something, they're definitely gonna leave and they're not going to follow you.

Brett Johnson [: 00:10:17

Right. Exactly. I think another aspect we our next topic, call those call to actions. Whatever it might be, even if it's as simple as, set up a time and talk with me or whatever it might be, I don't think we put enough thought to call to actions. Izzy, can you talk a little bit more about how to develop that? What, you know, what's the strategy behind a a call to action?

Izzy Dadosky [: 00:10:44

Yeah. So especially on a website, it has to be one of the first things. If they're, like, one, just searching for you and trying to get in contact with you, you can always just put it in the corner of your website, and that's an easy, like, here's a way to get in touch with me. And also make it very visible. Make it very visible. If they don't see it, make a big old button on the side that they can click, and they can immediately get to you. Because then it's like, if they're gonna sit there and wait to find how to get in contact with you, they will probably decide in the next five seconds that they're just gonna go to somebody else where they can click the button. So it's all about just, like, one, putting it in their face, but, two, like, if I'm sending out an email for us, I'll put a call to action at the end, but, like, the verbiage, I try to put in an email because you you're signed up for our emails already.

Izzy Dadosky [: 00:11:34

You know who we are. I, like, try to phrase it a little more where it's not, like, pushing, like, sales y, in the call to action. It's more like we're here if you need us and then the button underneath it. So there's, like, different ways to go about it. And especially, like so the email list, they clearly signed up and they know us and they know what we offer. I'm just gonna say we're here if you need us. And that big button is still there, which is important. The button's still there, but like, it's gonna be versus if I'm meeting somebody for the first time, it's like, I'm clearly going to be explaining what I do.

Izzy Dadosky [: 00:12:11

And, hey. Like, if you need anything, like, here's my card. It's like, that's what your website should be. It's, like, straight to the point of, like, here's what I do, and I'm giving that introduction. And if you want to, the button is there to contact me. But, yep, that's brilliant.

Brett Johnson [: 00:12:28

Yeah. It seems as though the the booking calendars are becoming more and more prevalent of just chopping on, you know, your calendar or whatever and and then setting up a time to talk versus filling out a form and contact me and then you follow-up. You're eventually gonna have to get on a calendar anyway

Yasmine Robles [: 00:12:43

Yeah.

Brett Johnson [: 00:12:43

To to sync it up. So it's that the ease of just investing in a calendar somehow. I think I think the Google Calendar already has it for free. You've got your Google, and then outline the areas of days of the week or the hours of the of the week that you're open to having those conversations. But I'm seeing that more and more too. People just love jumping. Hey. I'll send you a link to my account booking calendar.

Brett Johnson [: 00:13:06

Let's figure out a time through Zoom or whatever the case might be, or it could be personal, however you set it up. But I think, that if you haven't done that already, I'm seeing that more and more. I think that it it it, get rid of the hurdles. Set up times so you can talk. It's just one less email going back and forth, and and the calendars are so slick anymore. They look really good. You can customize them or it's just really easy to use. So yeah.

Brett Johnson [: 00:13:32

Yasmin, let's talk about outdated designs. First of all, yeah, we need to refresh them. But how often? I mean, do designs outdate themselves quickly, or are are or or what are some nuances? Maybe it's just refreshing little bits and pieces of it too.

Yasmine Robles [: 00:13:51

You can refresh little bits and pieces of it. Usually, if your if your site was originally well done or well created, it's I would say go in there every year and just check it out. Now if you have images of, like, somebody speaking on an old flip phone and it's not like a funny image. Right? It's just because that's the stock image you used. Maybe it is time to refresh it unless flip phones are making a comeback, which I don't know if they are. So check check the images. Check if the colors are still consistently being used, and just get even an audit from someone just to or a company just for them to look at it and be honest with you, like, oh, hey. Your site sort of looks like a Myspace page.

Yasmine Robles [: 00:14:34

Maybe we should refresh it. Or hey.

Brett Johnson [: 00:14:37

Unless you're unless you're going for the Myspace blog.

Yasmine Robles [: 00:14:39

Unless you are. I guess, yeah, going back to it all it all starts with your goals. Right?

Brett Johnson [: 00:14:43

Right. Right. Yeah.

Yasmine Robles [: 00:14:45

So if you're like, actually, that was the point, then then, you know, that's that's great for you.

Brett Johnson [: 00:14:50

All

Yasmine Robles [: 00:14:51

run. Yeah. I would also say do not look at your competition. We've gotten clients where they're like, well, this is my competition and I really like their site. That doesn't mean that they're doing it correctly. You know, Izzy spoke about call to actions and we've you know, if the call to action is not on your competitor's site, if it's hidden somehow or they only have the navigation to help people but the rest of the page has no call to action, that doesn't mean it's correct. So making sure that you're looking past just your specific competition, look at indirect competition, look at sites that you really like. So, for example, if you are a b two b if you're a marketing agency, B2B and you're looking at another, let's say an employment office agency and look at how their site is done.

Yasmine Robles [: 00:15:40

If you are a retailer, look at how another retailer's site is done or look at other people's sites and see which ones are doing really well and which ones look pretty, but it's not strategic. So that's my biggest thing right now. It's your competition might be might have a nice site to you, but that doesn't mean it's correct or strategic for their business or that it is SEO friendly. Yeah. I don't and then refreshing it again, it depends on where your starting point is because if you started off with a more timeless design, it could just mean that you are shifting the colors a little bit, maybe darkening the red or lightening up the red. If it is something that does look like a MySpace page, I know that that could potentially be your goal, but maybe you should give us a call.

Brett Johnson [: 00:16:26

Right. Right. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. It's full of the well, that that could allow the flip phone images and such. So, yeah, if that's the thing that you want, that's okay. Exactly.

Brett Johnson [: 00:16:35

Exactly. Before we end, I do wanna talk about you, both have a podcast. Let's talk about the what you're doing with that podcast.

Yasmine Robles [: 00:16:45

Easy. What are we doing with the podcast?

Izzy Dadosky [: 00:16:48

Market like it's hot. We are talking about marketing and social media and and SEO and websites and everything marketing related, and we're also funny, so you should listen to it.

Brett Johnson [: 00:16:59

You got a a a video form of that as well too. Correct? It's not just audio only. Right?

Yasmine Robles [: 00:17:05

Yeah. We put it up on YouTube.

Brett Johnson [: 00:17:06

Okay. Gotcha. I thought so. The so you get to see the visual antics versus the the the the audio antics as well too, so that's good. I just wanna make sure of that. So Yeah. Anybody has any questions about doing a website, you know, avoiding these mistakes, what's the best way to contact you, Yasmine?

Yasmine Robles [: 00:17:23

Just message us on LinkedIn, or you can go to our website, myrebelmarketing.com. You can also if you're not sure yet and you kind of you do want homework for some reason, you can go to myrebelmarketing.com/checklist and download a workbook. It used to be a checklist. That's why the URL is like that. But now it is a workbook and you get more homework. And there are videos that can help guide you a little bit. Fill out the workbook. It goes through everything from SEO.

Yasmine Robles [: 00:17:53

It touches on email marketing and a couple of other items for your website and trying to give you a very holistic view of your marketing. And then once you are frustrated or overwhelmed, you can give us a call.

Brett Johnson [: 00:18:06

Good. And if you have any questions, wanted to us to take a look at your, podcast overall, what you're doing right, wrong, best practice and such, get, onto my booking calendar at mypodcastguy.com, and, it'll ask a couple questions about where you are, what you're looking to, take your podcast, whether you're beginning or you're in the midst of one right now, and we'll have a good conversation in regards to kinda giving you a fresh perspective of of getting a podcast where you want it to be. And, again, that's at mypodcastguy.com. Yasmin and Izzy, thanks again for joining me.

Yasmine Robles [: 00:18:40

Thanks for having us.