<p><strong>#1 – NO website.</strong> This internet thing is not just another fad. It is here to stay and is your ticket to the growing global (or local) online marketplace. I still cross paths with businesses large and small with no website. These technological dinosaurs probably still use rotary phones, shun voicemail and cell phones, and store contacts on index card rolodexes. Who wants a dinosaur as a vendor? Anyone?</p>
<p><strong>#2 – Piggybacking</strong> - Almost as bad are companies or people who have a business identity and brand but use gmail or hotmail email and piggyback off somebody else for their website hosting. Nothing undermines brand credibility like bradtheitguy@hotmail.com or www.thecablecompany.com/bradtheitguy. I see this quite a bit on vehicle advertising. For the low cost to reserve a name and setup email and a basic website, why not personalize your brand, especially when your competitors already do?</p>
<p><strong>#3 – Choosing design over function.</strong> You want one of those flashy animated sites with music on the landing page and loads of images and fancy design concepts. OK you can pay big bucks to do all this but don’t expect the site to generate sales and results for you unless you are selling … well … flashy overloaded website designs.</p>
<p>Gimmicky websites distract and are slow to load and awkward to navigate. People come to your site and you only have a few seconds to get your message across to them. The biggest and most successful company websites are not flashy and gimmicky. Think about it.</p>
<p><strong>#4 – Missing the message.</strong> You MUST define your message. People do NOT know how to find you, what you sell, where to click, how to buy, nothing. Even when they can find you they WILL leave your website within seconds if they cannot easily find the information they need. A website needs to at least cover who you are, what you offer, why trust you, what makes you different and better, and absolutely how to buy from and contact you. DO have a phone number on your website. People WILL be frustrated to think the only way to reach you is via email or online contact us form.</p>
<p><strong># 5 – Information overload.</strong> Too much information can be worse than not enough. Making people work for their information by sifting through pages of stuff they are not interested in will drive them away.</p>
<p><strong>#6 – Outbound linking.</strong> Links that take people away from your site defeat the purpose as you push people away to go buy somewhere else. You want a nice big link page so people can see how many clients or vendors you have? You decide to join some affiliate link programs to see if you can make a few bucks linking to other websites from yours? Unless your business is a web portal or online directory leave the links out. Your website is all about your business.</p>
<p><strong># 7 - Spelling mistakes and poor grammar.</strong> If your website is not smarter than a 5th grader then you have a big problem. ALWAYS have someone else proof your site after any changes.</p>
<p><strong>#8 – A site that never changes.</strong> Build it then forget about it. Not so fast ! If your site does not update with new information from time to time your ranking on Google and other search engines is at risk when competing websites who do update get better search ranking. You DO need to stay one step ahead of the competition with fresh content and clear message.</p>
<p>A site that displays page dates that are a few years old or uses a design that was popular before web became a household name or has links that maybe worked when you set it up years ago but something happened since to break them? People will wonder if you are still in business.</p>
<p><strong>#9 – The wrong website designer.</strong> There are three types of people who design websites, graphic designers, web programmers, and SEO and marketing copy writers. For the most part they are exclusive in their focus and talents and I dare say there are ego’s involved.</p>
<p>A graphic designer specializes in brand and visual appeal. Graphic designers are not programmers or copy writers as a rule.</p>
<p>A web programmer can create interactive and dynamic websites and build or link in tools for eCommerce or content management and build databases. A web programmer is not a graphic designer nor are they copy writers. </p>
<p>An SEO and marketing person makes sure people find your website and ensures the written content on the site is effective. SEO/marketing copy writers are not Graphic designers nor are they programmers.</p>
<p>Some people overlap these skills but their strength is generally focused in only one area. Who is the best person for your website depends on what your website will need to do, who you are targeting, your budget, and how involved you want to be in the planning, setup, and ongoing maintenance. Picking the wrong website designer will cost you money and wasted time.</p>
<p><strong>Tip -</strong> Never jump into a project before you have a very clear picture what you need to accomplish and how you are going to accomplish it. Often it is cost effective to enlist the help of a project manager or advisor to lay out the process, offer direction, and even assist in selecting the right person(s) or company to create the website or business solution. That advisor or fellow Biznik members can help prevent you from making expensive mistakes by sharing their own experiences. Biznik is a great site to learn from fellow entrepreneurs.</p>
2009-01-15T22:44:34Z
2009-01-16T00:07:21Z
-12.6396
809
2836
true
15
20208
9-costly-website-design-mistakes
22
2009-01-16T00:07:15Z
2009-01-16T00:07:15Z
So you are considering a new website? Not sure if you need a website? Unsure what to put on the website or where to begin? A few things to avoid.
9 Costly Website Design mistakes
0
2009-02-24T09:48:32Z