5 Worst Mistakes of DIY Websites
There are plenty of reasons a business might decide to design their own website, especially if they are a new or small business, and budget is a concern. There are any number of companies that say you can have a business website up and running for cheap, in just a couple of hours. One of these cheap, generic websites is definitely better than having nothing at all... at least to start with.
However, it's important not to fall into the trap of thinking one of these low cost, cookie cutter, no frills sites is all your business will ever need. Here are 5 of the worst mistakes you can make for your business when building a DIY website:
1. Not User Friendly
Business owners who are not web designers don't have a lot of experience with how people browse websites. As a result, a self-made website often ends up with a poor user interface that is clunky, difficult to navigate, and not intuitive. If your website is not easy to understand, or it's not easy to find what someone is looking for, they will quickly move on to another site instead of struggling along with yours. If you are designing your own site, try to make the navigation clear, accessible, and simple to use.
2. Not Mobile-Ready
Nowadays, more consumers use their mobile devices to look for products and services online than they do a desktop computer or the phone book - especially if they are on the go and looking for a product, service, or answer right now. Many of the "free" and low-cost website templates out there do not include a mobile version at all, or their designs resize the content without actually making it look good for the screen it's on. This can make your site look tiny or hard to read on a smart phone. Mobile users will click to another site that's more suited to their device if you don't take the necessary steps to accommodate them. It's important that your site looks great no matter what size the screen is.
3. Too Generic or Plain
While it's true that using a website template makes it easier to get started with your design, the problem is that there are literally thousands of other websites out there that look exactly the same, because they were built using the exact same template. It's hard to stand out and get noticed when you look identical to everyone else in your industry. A lot of the value of having a website in the first place is having a place online that is uniquely yours, and catching a potential customer's attention with your look, feel, or message. Using a generic website template, or a free website service that looks cheap and uninteresting completely eliminates this value. If you must use a template to start your design, do everything you can to modify it, infuse the spirit of your business into it, and make it more interesting to look at.
4. Content Not Optimized (SEO)
Much like the user interface, new business owners often have no idea what customers are looking for online. As a result, the content of their website is not optimized to use keywords and search terms potential customers are using to look for products and services. A web designer or online marketer has much more experience reaching customers online, so they can help you to use better phrasing and content to make your business show up in the search results your customers are actually using. There's no way to fake this! Actual research and experience are required, in order to learn what works and what doesn't.
5. No Regular Updates
Most companies think that once the website is published, the work is done, and the customers will come to you. If only it were that simple! Search engines care about more than just keywords, they also care about freshness of content. Customers do, too. Imagine if you were looking at two businesses, and one of them had social media content or special offers posted on their website every single week for the last year. Meanwhile, the second business only has 3 posts on the whole site, and the most recent one is from 9 months ago. Is that business even still open? It sure doesn't look like it. At the very least, having no new content gives a bad impression, and at worst, it makes customers think you don't care or aren't even open anymore. Once your website is up and running, be sure to provide regular content and updates on your site or on social media (with links back to your site), to keep your customers and the search engines coming back.
Conclusion
DIY websites are fine for personal use, or for small businesses just starting out, but they can never take the place of a professional website built with all the knowledge and experience a web designer has to offer. Don't be afraid to try it out yourself - but don't be afraid to ask for help making your site better, either. The cost is well worth the investment in the end.
Need a website for your business? Or help improving your existing site? Whistler IT Solutions can help. Contact us today!
However, it's important not to fall into the trap of thinking one of these low cost, cookie cutter, no frills sites is all your business will ever need. Here are 5 of the worst mistakes you can make for your business when building a DIY website:
1. Not User Friendly
2. Not Mobile-Ready
Nowadays, more consumers use their mobile devices to look for products and services online than they do a desktop computer or the phone book - especially if they are on the go and looking for a product, service, or answer right now. Many of the "free" and low-cost website templates out there do not include a mobile version at all, or their designs resize the content without actually making it look good for the screen it's on. This can make your site look tiny or hard to read on a smart phone. Mobile users will click to another site that's more suited to their device if you don't take the necessary steps to accommodate them. It's important that your site looks great no matter what size the screen is.
3. Too Generic or Plain
While it's true that using a website template makes it easier to get started with your design, the problem is that there are literally thousands of other websites out there that look exactly the same, because they were built using the exact same template. It's hard to stand out and get noticed when you look identical to everyone else in your industry. A lot of the value of having a website in the first place is having a place online that is uniquely yours, and catching a potential customer's attention with your look, feel, or message. Using a generic website template, or a free website service that looks cheap and uninteresting completely eliminates this value. If you must use a template to start your design, do everything you can to modify it, infuse the spirit of your business into it, and make it more interesting to look at.
4. Content Not Optimized (SEO)
5. No Regular Updates
Most companies think that once the website is published, the work is done, and the customers will come to you. If only it were that simple! Search engines care about more than just keywords, they also care about freshness of content. Customers do, too. Imagine if you were looking at two businesses, and one of them had social media content or special offers posted on their website every single week for the last year. Meanwhile, the second business only has 3 posts on the whole site, and the most recent one is from 9 months ago. Is that business even still open? It sure doesn't look like it. At the very least, having no new content gives a bad impression, and at worst, it makes customers think you don't care or aren't even open anymore. Once your website is up and running, be sure to provide regular content and updates on your site or on social media (with links back to your site), to keep your customers and the search engines coming back.
Conclusion
DIY websites are fine for personal use, or for small businesses just starting out, but they can never take the place of a professional website built with all the knowledge and experience a web designer has to offer. Don't be afraid to try it out yourself - but don't be afraid to ask for help making your site better, either. The cost is well worth the investment in the end.
Need a website for your business? Or help improving your existing site? Whistler IT Solutions can help. Contact us today!
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