BBF143: Why most websites suck with Pete Kvist

Every company needs a good website, but so many sites fail in the most basic areas. Help is at hand this week from Pete Kvist; a straight-talking and highly entertaining expert on the subject, and author of the book “Why Most Websites Suck”. He travels around the world giving speeches on the matter, but we’re lucky to have him on BBF for an hour to help you with your business.

Read on for some of his sage advice:

**  Think about the scare stories of when people get their car serviced but they’ve paid for something that hasn’t been done. Websites can be exactly the same. Do some basic research and watch out.

**  Don’t build your own website. If you have a leak in the house you call a plumber, so you should treat websites in the same way.

**  If you don’t have a website, people are still searching for you online, but the big question is: do you have control of the information that people will find about you? That’s why a good website is vital.

**  Your website is not simply an online brochure. Don’t go in with too hard a sell – you need to build people’s trust.

**  You only need to spend a small amount of time researching websites to protect yourself when working with web developers/designers. A book, one or two blog articles and a podcast like this one should be more than enough.

**  Think about the reasons why you’ve clicked away from a website in the past, and then see if your website does any of the same things.

**  Fully understand what people are most likely to look for on your site and make it as easy as possible for them to find it. Don’t automatically give each of your offerings an equal priority.

 

In this episode of Business Brain Food you will learn:

 

** What you need to know to properly brief a web developer

**  The three things you must have on your homepage

**  What Google Analytics can do for your site

**  How to craft the right opt ins

**  How to use persuasive imagery

**  The theory of Google advertising

**  How to create a persuasive giveaway

**  The importance of a landline phone number

 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

**  Leave a review of BBF on the itunes store and gain access to some members-only training on user experience. This is a great, hour-long video called “The three secrets to making your website convert visitors into customers”. All you have to do is leave a review, copy the text and email it to [e-mail] and you will be given access to the training.

**  Pete’s website: http://www.petekvist.com

**  Pete’s book can be bought here

**  All previous BBF episodes & show notes can be found at http://www.businessbrainfood.com.au

**  Twitter: https://twitter.com/bfewtrell

As Pete said when asked to give a tip on how people can be more efficient… “do something now”! There are so many small an achievable steps that you can follow from this conversation with Peter, so it would be rude not to!

Also, if you are enjoying these Business Brain Food podcasts, then make sure to share them via social media sites or email the links to family and friends. A lot of time and effort goes into producing each of these podcasts with the goal in mind of the more people we can inspire about business the better. You can help us do just that!

Until next time, have a profitable day.

Cheers,
Ben Fewtrell
[phone]