7 Website Mistakes Small Business Owners Make
Nowadays, it has become a necessity that every business has a website. Not because it’s some growing trend or anything alike, it’s because a good website is a crucial part of most of your marketing efforts.
If you sell products or services, you want your brand to be easily recognizable by the audience.
To accomplish this, you need to pick a perfect design for your website. But not only visual design. There are many technical and non-technical aspects of web design you have to pay attention to.
Unfortunately, many businesses don’t approach this with enough seriousness. Which, in the long run, can cost them a lot. However, you can lead your business toward success by avoiding the most common website mistakes small business owners make.
Most common website mistakes that small business owners make
Don’t make a mistake thinking if you have a small and simple business that you might not need a website. On the contrary, if you want to remain competitive with more prominent players out there, a website is a must.
And let’s not forget other small businesses that are also looking for a way to succeed. Of course, social media are good alternatives to advertise your business and increase your online visibility.
But if you want clients to take you seriously, you need an equally serious website.
A professionally looking and functional website is more than just picking a theme, filling it with the content, and sorting out some kind of payment options.
You need to approach it with the same long-term commitment you are approaching other aspects of your business.
To help you decide which steps you need to take, here are some of the most common mistakes small businesses make when it comes to their websites:
- Not understanding your targeted audience
- Not hiring professionals to build a website
- Implementing clumsy navigation
- Using awry Call To Action
- Neglecting SEO for your website
- Ignoring the value of blogs
- Failing to track results
1. Not understanding your targeted audience
The website creation process should start with figuring out who is going to use it the most. If you want your business to cover a specific section of the market, and you certainly do, you need to create your ideal customer profile.
With this in mind, you will use your targeted audience’s needs and wishes and consider them while establishing a basic design.
Of course, you will need a professional designer if you want your website to provide a particular experience. For example, if you are into the toy selling business, you will need a cheerful and colorful design appropriate for children.
On the other side, this is something not so convenient if you are selling the office inventory. Don’t forget that your website speaks to your audience as an ambassador of your brand.
2. Not hiring professionals to build a website
Another common mistake is that many business owners often underestimate websites as business assets. However, it’s equally important, just like everything else.
For this reason, a professional business website needs investments.
You can find someone questionable to build you a website. But the website will, in most cases, probably be inferior.
Therefore, if you want your visitors to have a clear and advanced experience, you need a well-designed and professionally developed website.
Besides that, companies like Digital Dot New York can help you design and create an outstanding website. They can also ensure there are no other cardinal mistakes you may otherwise make.
3. Implementing clumsy navigation
When it comes to website design, you have probably already noticed websites that are hard to navigate. This is one of the common mistakes on business websites.
Bad structure and navigation can easily completely ruin the visitors’ experience and drive them off. Before deciding what kind of navigation you want, ask yourself about what your clients need.
Think about what type of information they want to find on your website. And also, where you want to lead them.
For example, visitors that are looking for products want to be able to search and browse products easily. Be practical because they are not interested so much in news or press information.
Also, make sure your website and its navigation are adaptive to mobile devices as well. It’s rare to see a non-responsive website today, but it happens.
4. Using awry Call To Action
Call To Action (CTA) might seem like a small detail, but it is actually an essential element for every business website. It provides your visitors with the possibility to take concrete action on your website.
Also, it allows you to guide them and commence their response. Moreover, you can use them to efficiently present any special offers, subscription offers, or similar information.
However, a common mistake with CTA is that they can quickly become annoying. There is a thin line between effective and irritating CTA, so you need to be careful there.
5. Neglecting SEO for your website
Another mistake business owners often make is underestimating the importance of SEO. You can invest a lot of money to create a great website, but it will be of no use if no one knows about it.
To ensure that your website will effectively support your business efforts, you should invest in digital marketing as well.
Basically, this will help you rank high on Google and other search engines and significantly increase your brand awareness.
It will result in a considerable increase in web traffic and a large influx of potential clients.
Furthermore, social media and similar channels have the capacity to share and spread valuable information about your business.
6. Ignoring the value of blogs
One of the aspects of digital publicity, often put aside, are blogs. Not only are they helpful in providing your users with quality information, but they are also beneficial for your SEO.
In essence, if you want to stand above other businesses in your industry, blogs are simply too effective to be left out.
7. Failing to track results
Finally, none of the steps and advice are one-time solutions. If you want your business to win the digital battleground, you need to improve and modify your plans constantly.
Maybe some strategies will become less effective; perhaps some new trends will appear. That’s why it’s essential to audit and track the results of your website constantly.
By analyzing the results, you will be able to react quickly and adjust to the newfound terms and conditions that the market might dictate.
Basically, it’s crucial to stay in touch with changes. Metrics and statistics can be of great help here.
No matter the types of businesses, everyone is prone to mistakes. But by identifying website mistakes small business owners make, you can quickly turn the situation to your advantage. It’s necessary to observe, learn, and be ready to implement changes if you want your business to succeed in the long run.
