10 Common Mistakes Made By Business Owners Made On Their Web Development

It’s apparent that in this new era of information technology, having a website is important to almost all businesses. However, many business owners, usually from small and medium sized companies have completed up their websites and then found them not performing to expectations. This is especially common for business owners setting up website for the first time. Here are 10 common mistakes made by business owners, and how to avoid them.

1. Cutting cost and using freelancers. We all know someone or at least know someone who knows someone else who knows a little about web programming. However, the job of a complete website is not to be handled by just one person. You need a creative designer to handle the aesthetic look and feel, and then an experienced programmer to handle the coding. Overall, you need an experienced coordinator who knows the important elements of websites and to propose the right ones to suit your business.

2. Selecting a web design company based on Price. Despite it being obvious, many business owners starting their website for the first time fail to understand that a lower price quantitatively does not actually equate or work out eventually. Be sure to compare the specifications and not just the price.

3. Writing contents themselves or using own friends or staffs to write the contents. You may swear that you understand your business more than anyone else but if you are not trained in website contents development, you will lose out two benefits that copywriters can provide. Trained website contents development can plan targeted keywords into your contents to increase the chances of others finding your website after it’s launched. Having good copywriters will also increase the chances of you making more sales, as they are able to write better and also incite in your readers an element of trust and invoke the desire to take up your services.

4. Under utilizing the capabilities of their website. As many business owners are not trained in IT (Information Technology) or have sufficient knowledge in the field of web development, they often restrict their website to basic functions, and forgetting that they can achieve higher efficiency by incorporating certain functions required by their business to their website.

5. Losing focus on website’s objectives. It’s quite common for new business owners pointing out that they want a Full Flash website, or a website with exciting and interactive navigation. More often than not, these new business owners forget that their main objectives in developing their website – which in most cases are to increase sales leads.

6. Not knowing what is a Landing Page. A landing page is referred to the page in which your web advertisement will lead your browsers to land upon. It need not be the Home Page, although it’s possible to optimize your Home Page to be a good Landing Page. Most often than not, a sale is done based on the first impression of your clients landing at your website. As such, it’s important to keep in mind in selecting a web design company who understands the importance of a landing page.

7. Not allocating a budget for marketing website. This is especially common for those who are new to website, thinking that their website will automatically have visitors or customers flowing in. Most website design packages these days come with submission to search engines as well as meta keywords. However, these are just basic elements of Search Engine Optimization, and have minimal impact to increase your visitors.

8. Spending time and / or money experimenting on advertising & marketing. Most business owners, especially small and medium sized, tend to think that they can cut cost and handle their own advertising and publicity. However, there are important lessons involved in terms of driving qualified traffic to website, and getting professional help often results in a higher return on investment.

9. Not updating and improving the website. A website is like your best salesman introducing your business to customers walking by. Your best salesman has to be updated with new products or services, as well as be taught on using new slogans to attract more sales. As such, it is paramount to keep your website updated with new contents, especially if you are using your website to generate enquiries for business.

10. Skimping on Images. A nice looking website requires nice looking photographs. Fortunately, these photographs can now be purchased easily through stock banks nowadays. There are usually two practices in the web design industry – one offers a certain amount of free photos, which they already factor a lump sum in their packages, while another practices buying what you like only.