Even if you physically have a sales point, more and more potential customers will make online purchases before they come to the point of sale personally. The good news is that your website can help you reach clients you would never be able to personally get.

Here are 6 common ways that small businesses ruin their site and how to avoid them.

1. YOU DO NOT HAVE YOUR SITE

If you are not online, do not exist for most of your potential clients.

A web site may be your most important point of engagement with a potential client with whom you will not talk face to face. Even then, you can bet that your potential customers check your website before they engage in conversation with you.

By the way, the Facebook page is not a website.

There are many reasons why Facebook is not an adequate replacement for the site, the least important it is for you to think too long and hard about whether you want access to your online presence entirely on the mercy of others (for example, Facebook).

2. YOU DO NOT MAKE IT EASY FOR PEOPLE TO CONNECT WITH YOU

When visitors come to your site, there are several things they are looking for.

They want to know who you are, what you are doing, and probably most importantly - how they can come into contact with you. Make it easier for existing and potential customers to reach you by turning the contact page on the site, allowing them to come in contact with the right person. Many companies use contact forms, which is fine, but you'll be surprised how much you are more accessible when turning on your address, e-mail and/or phone number (especially this latest!).

3. YOU DO NOT REGULARLY UPDATE YOUR SITE

There is nothing worse than a site that is completely outdated. If your blog has not seen a new post for more than a week, visitors are beginning to wonder what happened to you and you are sending a message that you do not care about anyone who comes to the site. Make sure your contact information is current (see # 2), and if you are a retail item, make sure your site contains current business hours. Think like a consumer and make sure that any information that users are trying to find on your site is not obsolete and incorrect.

4. YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOUR TARGET GROUPS ARE

Your web site should serve the purpose.

For most companies, the goal is for potential customers to get to know your business. Think about the things that matter to them and ignore almost everything else. You are not your client. You already understand your product, or your company, or anything else. Do not use a language that makes sense to people who are related to this topic, unless your site is just for them.

Consider each page, graphics, link, and text on your site and make sure it is directed to your product or service. This means that the links and buttons on the site should be clear and relevant to your potential customers. Remember that everything on your site should serve one single purpose: connecting with potential clients.

5. DESIGN A SITE BY YOURSELF

If you are not a web designer, it's a really bad idea to design your own site.

Of course, it's easy - there are literally hundreds of cheap options for creating a site - but that does not mean that it's a good idea for your business. If your site is really a starting point for the vast majority of your clients, it's worthwhile to invest some time, energy and money to do it properly. Find a skilled person who can help you evaluate the message you want to download and help you create the design that it represents - and it strengthens your brand.

Focus on what you do best and find someone who can help you communicate with your target market.

6. THE SITE IS NOT FLEXIBLE WITH MOBILE DEVICES

Over 52 percent of the total traffic on the Internet comes from mobile devices.

If your site's design does not adapt to mobile devices, you miss the opportunity to reach up to half of the potential customers. At the very least, you tell them that you do not care about their business because it was not difficult for you to use one of the millions of mobile themes that are available at the heart of each Content Management Platform.

One of your top goals should be to make it easier for your prospective client to do business with you. Just as it's important to make it easy for them to find the information you want or to contact you, it's the most important thing that both of you can do both with your mobile device.