The internet has advanced considerably in the last few years and it is no longer good enough to have a website that looks like it is straight out of the 80s - especially considering that there was no public internet in that decade. Small businesses are often guilty of such crimes against web design, but as always there is much more to the problem than just looks.

According to a survey by Streamline.net, customers are turning away from small business websites because of glaring faults, which affect not only the user experience but also the business's brand. In the research, one in four consumers found many small business websites to be ‘barely usable' and only 47% had a ‘good' experience overall. From internet use in 2009, 83% of consumers found faults on these sites on more than one occasion.

The findings show that there is obviously still a long way to go, but the following statistics from the survey seem like good starting points for change.

48% of sites do not optimise their URLs for search engines
If your URLs are cleanly structured and contain keywords relevant to the page content, your pages are more likely to be picked up by search engines. Having clean URLs also makes it easier for consumers to remember your website address or to link to it from their own sites.

54% of sites have unfinished pages
When a customer visits your website they are likely to be looking for certain information or to browse your products. If your pages are half-finished it becomes a very frustrating experience and your visitor will click away to a competitor site pretty quickly. It also looks unprofessional and damages your brand. The Streamline.net research found that the majority of consumers using SME websites in 2009 experienced usability faults.

52% of sites have broken links
Firstly, customers will be put off by broken links if they are preventing access to key information. If navigating your site is difficult because of this, the consumer is likely to go elsewhere. Secondly, having broken links is bad for your rankings in the search engines. The software that the engines use to navigate through your site will get stuck and won't be able to index the isolated pages.

50% of sites had outdated email addresses
If your email addresses don't work customers may be discouraged from using your services. Having up-to-date contact information is key to providing good customer service - something that consumers value as highly as price. Customers may think they have emailed you with a problem, complaint or question but the email never got through. This can be disastrous for time-sensitive purchases.

30% of users encountered outdated website design
Web design has evolved considerably over the last few years and if your site design remains old fashioned you will get left behind. First impressions are everything and even if you offer a great service, excellent products and your site works perfectly, people will be put off if it is badly designed.

Two sides of the same coin
Part of the problem that this survey highlighted is that business owners look at their websites in a different way to consumers. Even regular web users can find it difficult to realise what needs to be improved on their own website. And while consumers expect to find sites on search engines, businesses do not always understand how to optimise their sites so they appear in the search results.

To avoid turning customers away the first step is to understand the importance of a website to your business, the second is to learn about the various online marketing tactics and the third is to conduct usability testing on your website with real consumers to find out where things are going wrong.

For more information please visit www.simplybusiness.co.uk/insurance