Why do we resist change even when we know it is what we need?
If you have the feeling your website is not performing at its best… this short post can help you clarify and overcome this common challenge.
The most common website challenges for cause-driven businesses:
- Our competitors are outperforming us
- We don’t know if our website is performing well because aren’t clear on how to measure website performance
- My gut tells me we could be doing way better but I don’t know where to start
“I wish I had confidence that my website is actively growing my business without me having to worry about it!” – The Business Owner’s Dream
You are probably well aware that this is not just a dream. It is actually possible (and probably easier than you think).
However…
Even though you know there is big opportunity awaiting, you delay taking action…
Why Business Owners Delay Fixing A Broken Website
The reason we delay doing what we know we need to do is Fear.
We are afraid to make a mistake and make things worse instead of better.
Top fears that drive procrastination:
- Fear of wasting time. What actions are really going to make an impact on my bottom line? What is my role in getting things done? If you lack clarity about how a website should perform, these questions will continue to haunt you.
- Fear of wasting money. This fear stems from not being clear about the return on investment for website improvement efforts.
When we fear something we often delay taking action. We may decide to focus only on the problems we know how to solve, ignoring our website.
As a result, you may find yourself thinking about improving your website and never taking action.
Here’s how I work to overcome fear and my personal recommendations to help you overcome fear when it comes to improving your website.
How To Overcome Fear and Make Better Business Decisions
The most effective way for me to overcome fear is through self-education.
My 3 steps to overcoming fear:
Step 1: Get Clarity
You can’t solve a problem before you understand it.
“If I had an hour to solve a problem I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.”
Albert Einstein
I try to focus on solving only the most relevant and important problems that will help me reach my goals. Truly understanding what the problem really is, is my first step.
I will journal and brainstorm with trusted peers to define the problem and its significance to my core goals.
Start with listing the perceived problems, then combing through them 2-3 times to clarify the root cause for each and your desired outcome.
Step 2: Educate Yourself About The Problem
Find peers that have had a similar problem and have overcome it.
Example problem: “I’m only getting low-quality leads from my website“
Do you know another business owner who has had this problem and overcame it? Do you know if any of your competitors are getting high quality leads from their website?
Dig in and further clarify and outline sub-questions or follow up questions.
There is a endless amount of information available through blog posts and YouTube videos to help you get clarity on your problem and potential solutions.
Your goal here is not to fix the problem, but understand more about it so you can prioritize it for action or set it aside for later.
If you have a question you can’t find an answer to, you can send it to me. I’ll send you the best resource available to answer your question.
Step 3: Take Specific Action To Resolve Your Problems
Prioritize your questions by asking yourself how solving these problems will help grow your business.
For the problems that turn out to be a low priority for you, you can sleep better knowing you’ve explored them and ear-marked them for a more appropriate time (next quarter, next year, etc.).
For the high priority problems or problems you still aren’t clear on, dig in with some simple journaling.
These are the prompts I use for myself and with my clients to help flush out what problems you need to solve:
- I’m losing business to my competitors because…
- They are always outranking me in Google search results
- They have a stronger brand (online)
- They do a better job of building trust through their website
- I’m not growing as fast as I’d like because…
- I have low volume of leads/sales from my website
- I have low quality leads/sales from my website
- I am not clear about…
- How my website should perform
- What I’m leaving on the table by not having a high-performing website
- What action is going to give me the growth I’m looking for
- Where to start
Actions to help answer these questions are:
- Research my competitors. Clarify what your competitors are doing better than you and how that’s impacting your business. Take the time to look at their website and see from your client’s perspective what they are doing well. For detailed analysis like website visit trends and keyword research, you can hire a freelancer to help.
- Clarify my growth goals. What does a high-performing website mean to you? How many leads/sales is it driving for you? What’s the gap between where you are now and where you want to be?
- Ask someone who knows. Share your growth goals with an expert you trust and see what opportunity is realistic.
Perfectly fine solutions include:
- Punting the question until next quarter. You’ve learned enough to know that this isn’t where your time needs to go right now. You can only make this decision this if you’ve dug deep enough to clarify your growth opportunity.
- Delegating the questions to your team. Assign it out to someone else on your team or even a freelancer. You should generate the questions, but don’t hesitate to get help answering them.
- Asking someone outside of your organization for help. Chances are that one of your biggest problems is that you aren’t an expert when it comes to your website. Find someone who is and get the help you need! You can lower your fears by making sure any freelancer or agency you work with clarifies the ROI of recommended efforts with you before you start any projects.
Your Next Steps
In summary:
- Risk: 1) You spend 1hr of your time to confirm you don’t need to take action right now. Or, 2) You continue with business as usual, losing ground to your competitors and missing growth opportunities.
- Opportunity: You realize solving your website performance problems are manageable. You get the right team in place to properly execute, and you’re on your way to a website that supports the growth of your business.
To clarify whether the opportunity outweighs the risk, dedicate about 1 hour to this exercise.
Journal on some of the prompts above and clarify the problems you want to solve + how important they are to the success of your mission.
If you get stuck along the way, you can reach out to me for help. Drop me a message, share your growth goals and biggest challenges.