The temptation to build your own website is something business owners tell us about all the time. Ultimately, fortunately, we normally talk them out of it and they end up working with us.
Maybe it’s something we said. Maybe it’s just that we’re super cool and they want to be our friends. (Don’t laugh – it really could be that, ok?)
If you’ve decided you’re going to build your own website, then that’s a big task. But – we aren’t going to abandon you. We’re going to make sure you’ve got some of the most essential advice we can think of, helping you avoid the most common pitfalls people fall into along the way.
Lack of clear communication or contact options
This all comes back to user experience and the user interface you’re presenting your web visitors with. Can’t find a quick way to contact you? That’s an issue that’s costing you business.
People don’t have the time to hunt around for five minutes looking for a phone number or email contact form. We’d recommend that you have a button that scrolls with the page, allowing for people to call you immediately once they’ve seen you’re providing what they need.
Alternatively, you can also integrate WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger within your website to allow for 24/7 messaging to someone from your company.
No search engine optimisation (SEO)
SEO is a vital part of getting your brand new website found by potential customers. Not got your SEO sorted? You guessed it. You’re missing out on customers.
However, whilst it is difficult to get your SEO tip-top, and there are varying levels of success when it comes to SEO, you can at least lay the groundwork and do the basics yourself. Using the WordPress plugin Yoast will help you optimise your main pages and help build your domain authority, rank for terms you’re relevant for and keep Google happy.
Reaching a page one or two ranking isn’t going to be easy though. Yoast will get you some of the way, but then it might be time to talk to an SEO specialist to help you rise up even higher.
Trusting Wix or GoDaddy
These platforms are not bad at what they do. But they’re pretty limited in their potential. Critically, they’re very difficult to move away from if you want to keep your existing website.
As a new business, it’s not a bad way to go. But eventually, you’re going to want something a bit more bespoke. You’ll have to be prepared to leave that first website behind, as you’ll struggle to get it away from these hosts.
A fresh start is always good though, and we’d encourage you to try these websites out as a new business to see what options are available on the market for you.
Lack of responsiveness
This one is obvious. You probably already knew that making your website look great on mobile was an important part of modern website building, seeing as more people than ever are using their mobile internet to look up your business.
When people are laid in bed at night, blue light from their screen illuminating their face, they may remember about your business. Now they’ve got some downtime, they’ll look you up. If your website doesn’t work properly, you may be losing that customer forever.
Making a website mobile responsive isn’t easy. There are tricks that many website builders such as Wix or Elementor (for WordPress) may be able to help with, but it’s difficult to get it spot on. You have been warned!
Inconsistent branding
Whether you’ve got the best logo in the world or the worst, people will still need to see it.
It should take pride and place on your website, which is why we probably recommend you get some seriously good branding done.
Sticking to your brand colours and fonts will help create more of an identity that extends to your website, your social media and any print materials you create.
The first step to becoming a bigger brand is taking every effort to look like one.
What’s the best tip to avoid all these mistakes?
You should talk to us. Yep, this is the sales-y bit. But it’s honest – we’re really good at building custom websites that are fully bespoke, super-fast and built to last.
We’ve built over 500+ websites for clients all over the globe, giving them the best chance to be found online, as well as impressing their potential customers when they find them.
Want to see some proof? Boom. Check these out for size.
Ready to talk to an expert? Let’s talk about what we can do for you.
