Is managing your SME’s website a constant uphill battle?

According to Tech Report, 33% of small businesses struggle to maintain and optimize their websites.

Many SMEs fall into this trap, focusing on aesthetics while neglecting crucial technical aspects.

A well-known eCommerce Indonesia based company Tokopedia delivered a highly stable and comprehensive experience to its users by democratize their website through technology. The average user time spent is improved by 15% and their average session duration improved by 23%.

However, most of the digital commerce are still ignorant about the technological aspect of their website.

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟓 𝐌𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬:

𝟏. 𝐋𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞

Marketing teams often lack the technical know-how required for website development. This gap can lead to suboptimal choices that hurt website performance, user experience, and scalability.

For instance, a fellow entrepreneur who runs a boutique firm once chose a visually appealing template without considering its loading speed. The result? Higher bounce rates and frustrated users.

𝟐. 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬

Marketers tend to prioritize aesthetics over technical considerations like site speed, mobile responsiveness, and SEO. While design is important, neglecting technical aspects can render your website ineffective as a business tool.

I recall a client who invested heavily in a beautiful website, only to find it performed poorly on mobile devices, alienating a significant portion of their audience.

𝟑. 𝐈𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐔𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬

Without proper research and user testing, marketing teams may create websites that don’t align with user preferences. This misalignment can lead to high bounce rates and low conversions.

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘴, 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 30% 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴.

𝟒. 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐁𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬

Many SMEs operate on tight budgets, often cutting corners on critical technical aspects or relying on cheap, off-the-shelf solutions. These shortcuts can lead to a website that doesn’t fully meet business needs. One SME I know saved money upfront but later faced costly redesigns due to inadequate initial investments.

𝘈𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘗 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦, 61% 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵.

𝟓. 𝐋𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

Leadership in many SMEs sees the website as a mere marketing tool rather than a strategic asset. This mindset leads to underinvestment in the website’s technical foundation. Aligning the website with overall business objectives is crucial.

𝘈 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘣𝘺 𝘏𝘶𝘣𝘚𝘱𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 2-3 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴.

I once advised a tech startup to integrate their website with their CRM and sales processes, resulting in a 20% increase in lead conversions.

𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬

The rapid pace of technological advancements can make it challenging for marketing teams to stay current with the latest trends and best practices. Outdated websites can underperform, leaving businesses behind their competitors.

𝘈𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘎𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳, 56% 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘌𝘖𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘦.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬

Tackling these issues strategically is crucial for the businesses to not only maintain their competence but also optimize their digital asset (website) strategically.

Here are the 5 proven ways in which small and medium sized business can overcome these challenges:

1. Foster collaboration between marketing and IT teams to ensure technical considerations are factored into website decisions.

2. Invest in educating marketing staff on web development basics and best practices.

3. Conduct thorough user research and testing to create user-centric websites.

4. Allocate sufficient budget and resources for website development, maintenance, and continuous improvement.

5. Treat the website as a strategic business asset and align it with overall business objectives.

By addressing these common pitfalls and adopting a holistic, strategic approach to website management, SMEs can create effective online platforms that drive growth and success.