According to an article on SiteImprove, 131 of 135 websites analyzed (97 percent) had broken links and errors on their web page. The websites they focused on were all Fortune 1000 companies, who have the resources (money and staff) to ensure this doesn’t happen. YIKES!
There’s no accurate way of determining what percentage of marketing campaigns go out with broken links, incorrect phone numbers, URL typos, and broken response forms. However, I’d personally estimate that at least one-third of all campaigns sent out have one or more of these response-crushing mistakes.
The Internet is full of examples
Recently, a marketing firm took out a full-page ad in an industry PRINT magazine to promote their new Facebook lead generation program (yes, there IS irony there).
Curious to see what the competition was up to, I went to the URL, only to get a “Site can’t be reached” error. Worse yet, they used a bit.ly URL to track the response, which meant there was no main URL for the reader to go to.
Either way, using bit.ly to track is a huge mistake because it’s A) difficult as hell to type, making user error easy and/or acting as a detriment to response, and B) it doesn’t allow the “curious” prospect to see the main company page FIRST, which stops a lot of people in their tracks.
It is far better to use a simple and unique resource ID off your main URL, which CAN be tracked for visitors and conversion just as easily as the bit.ly URL. (By the way, a resource ID is anything after the first “/”after .com, .net, etc.)
Double-check everything to avoid errors
So, before you send out your next campaign, TEST every link and form. CALL your business and make sure the phone lines work. Ensure that all leads are coming in and going to the right people. I can’t tell you how many MSPs have broken site links, form errors, landing-page malfunctions, and wrong phone numbers listed.
Further, be sure to keep your entire team in the loop on EVERY campaign and offer going out. We’ve recently made this part of our weekly company huddle, because it’s incredibly easy to forget.
Photo: Aysezgicmeli / Shutterstock
