Once upon a time you might have got away with not having your own website for your business. Now, it’s completely unacceptable.
In fact, if you don’t have a website, there’s every chance that your business will even struggle to survive. It’s that serious.
To make matters more complicated, nowadays you also need to have a decent looking website. This is what the basis of today’s article is all about, as we take a look at some of the primary mistakes that are made when it comes to first company websites.
Mistake #1 – It’s not mobile friendly
One of the big reasons why a website is now regarded as such a deal breaker for businesses is partly due to the rise of mobile web browsing. In short, this has fueled tremendous growth of the internet, so if your website doesn’t fit or function on a mobile screen accordingly it’s all for nothing. You will frustrate your visitors, and they will just move onto a competitor.
Fortunately, you are generally well-equipped to create a mobile-friendly website. If you use a free website builder you’ll almost always be given such an option, which is in stark contrast to what the situation might have been like a few years ago.
Mistake #2 – There’s no emphasis on SEO
A common misconception is that you have to pay huge amounts of money to marketing agencies to boost your chances of appearing high in Google. While this might be true in competitive niches, for local firms you are generally fine just performing the basics. Registering for Google My Business can be one of the best steps that you can take in this regard; which will at least increase the chances of someone finding your brand organically on Google.
Mistake #3 – You don’t have a clear navigation
This next point is more about the actual design of your site. Again, if you happen to use a website builder, there’s every chance that you don’t fall into such a trap as generally the templates from these services are very polished.
The basis of this mistake is that it’s just not easy, or sometimes possible, to navigate around a website. Your users want to find where your business is located? They have to search high and low for the relevant page. Let’s not forget that nowadays websites are formed with elements that the general population are completely familiar with. For example, everyone knows what the “burger menu” does, so just sticking to the obvious elements like this can help your users significantly.
Mistake #4 – You pay no attention to calls-to-action
Ask any web design agency; calls-to-action are what makes businesses tick when it comes to their online presence. Even if you do not physically sell products, and you ultimately don’t have those huge “buy” buttons, you are still looking for customers to contact you. In other words, make your phone number, or a clickable button in the case of your mobile website, completely accessible. Sometimes, you might even have to test which colors and styles work best for these call-to-actions, in a bid to find the one which captures the most attention of your website visitors.
