So last night, as I went about my search online (of course) I found myself on a variety of local landscaping companies’ websites. Now there wasn’t anything particularly wrong with their website designs or copy or intentions, but there was still something missing. None of these websites succeeded to do the most important thing—connecting with me (the potential customer) in any meaningful sort of way. So, of course, I went elsewhere in search of savvy weed fighting advice and Mother Earth friendly weed (let’s call them) deterrents.

So what can your small business website take from my story of weed woe?

MarketingProfs.com says it best with their article, Three Things You Need to Know About Web Design, when it suggests designing your site with these questions/points in mind:

Ask yourself first and foremost, “How will your customers will use your site?” Make your site easy to navigate so customers can find the products and information they need. Or bottom line: they will go looking somewhere else.

Think of your site as a crossroads, the by way visitors pass on their way to other social-networking destinations. Develop content that relates to Facebook and Twitter, content that can be spread and shared by social networks across the web. When customers go looking for information, they’re more likely to feel loyal to and purchase products and services later from sites that helped them out for free. Plus, this practice of giving free, useful advice will encourage links back to your site when folks share it across their social networks.

Design your website around your content. After all, an author wouldn’t design a book cover before actually writing the book. However, so many companies do this with their website—designing the visual structure first and pasting the copy in after. It’s backwards! It’s madness!

But what if your customers don’t like what they see on your website? Or worse, what if they don’t trust your website?

Yesterday, Small Business Trends ran an article on the 11 Reasons Customers Don’t Trust Your Website. The reasons included:

Your website reads like a brochure: Its too technical, not engaging and not conversational.

No one likes spelling mistakes: Typos and bad grammar reflect badly on your company as a whole. Mistakes scream not credible and unprofessional.

No updates in over a decade: I’m exaggerating of course, but if your site isn’t up-to-date with your industry expectations, you’ll appear lazy or out of business.

It’s not user-friendly: Visitors will get frustrated if they can’t find what they’re looking for with ease and they’ll look for products and services somewhere else.

Cut the marketing jargon: Have you every heard of ‘business buzzword bingo’ (or what I like to call bullshit bingo)? Well you’re playing it if you’re using terms like “innovative”, “think outside the box” and “credible service organization” to describe your business.  Your product or service should speak for itself and your language should be clear and conversational (as if you were speaking about your business in person).

There’s no ‘About’ page: The easiest way to gain trust is to let your customers see the person behind the curtain. Tell them a bit about yourself (in a professional sense) and why you’re passionate about your work. This puts a face to your company and adds expertise to your business.

These are just the first 6 reasons why customers may not be positively responding to your website. Read on for the full 11 reasons why your website might not be trusted to find out if your site is guilty of these online boo-boos.