10 Biggest Mistakes People Make When Creating Their Own Website

10 Biggest Mistakes People Make When Creating Their Own Website

In the world of DIY entrepreneurs, it’s not uncommon for many to consider creating their own website. While it may seem like this can save you a ton of money on the surface, you need to look deeper. Every mistake that you make when constructing your business website will end up costing you, valuable clients.

Non-Functional Web Design

It can be very easy to get caught up in the thousands of different website designs and their individual aspects when designing your own website. While that transitional image may look cool, it can be slowing down your website where viewers hit the back button before they even see it.

Throughout the whole design process, you need to be thinking about functionality and usability. Having a simple website design with clear-cut navigational buttons allows for a functional website. The easier it is for your customers to understand what is on your website and move through it to get to the information they want, the better.

Picking An Ineffective Domain Name

Every website has a unique signifier, known as a domain name, that sets it apart from the plethora of other websites online. The domain name is simply what goes in between the www and the com. For example, www.bigeasy.com has a domain name of Big Easy.

It can be tempting to consider using a funny domain name. However, that’s not a good idea. Rather, your domain name needs to be easy for your customers to remember. In most cases, your best bet is to go with your business name. For example, let’s say your business is Smith’s Autobody. Opting for a domain name of www.smithsautobody.com or even www.smithsauto.com will be easy for potential customers to remember.

Not Being Compatible With All Devices

When the internet was first introduced and websites were initially created, there were no smartphones. There were no tablets. Everyone in those days used a desktop computer to access the internet. However, that has changed a lot, and you need to ensure that you’re keeping up with the changes that technology brings.

A website will be viewed differently depending on what device it’s been connected to. You could open up a website on your smartphone, laptop, and tablet to reveal all different website formats if the website creator made it compatible on all devices. With so many different forms of technology being utilized to access the internet, it’s a given that you’ll need to ensure that your website is compatible with all types of technology.

Not Proofreading

With so much spam on the internet these days, it has people more on guard than ever before. When they land on your website, they expect to be met in a professional manner. One of the worse ways to lose potential clients is to have bad grammar or typos in your website copy.

It’s very easy for the human eye to pick up on typos. This holds especially true when the reader is not the one who penned the copy. Do yourself a favor and ensure that every piece of content that gets posted on your website is proofread. This means throwing it through a grammar checker online and having at least one other person read over it to identify any potential mistakes before publishing.

Not Placing CTAs

If you’ve invested any time in online website design, then you’re likely familiar with the phrase of CTA. This stands for call to action. A CTA is when you tell the customer specifically what you want them to do and how. For example, you may instruct them to fill out the contact form below to get a free copy of a newsletter.

CTAs are an imperative part of any website marketing strategy. Unfortunately, many DIY website designers skip over this website component for fear that it will turn away customers. The truth is that people need instruction to move forward. You can give them all the information that you want, but most won’t act until you tell them how. Therefore, you should place strategic CTAs on all of your website pages so that viewers know what action to take next.

Not Using Whitespace

Whitespace is simply defined as the blank space that surrounds the text, headers, and images of your website. It can be very tempting to try and include a wealth of information for your customers. However, too much text and too little whitespace can discourage customers from ever reading a word of what you’ve written.

Properly placed whitespace works to break up long text to be more manageable. It allows you to steer the viewer’s focus to specific images or headers on your website pages. You should be using whitespace to make each page easy to read and easy on the eyes.

Selecting A Bad Typeface

Most website design tools allow you to select an individual typeface to use throughout all the pages on your website. A typeface is simply defined as the same set of characters, including numbers, letters, symbols, and punctuation marks, that are from the same design. Some examples include Verdana, Times, Helvetica, and Arial.

It can be easy to think that you want to pick a unique typeface that stands out from other websites. However, you need to be thinking about readability. Some typeface has readable letters that can look great. However, the numbers can be difficult to read. Other kinds of typeface may be smooth to read on a desktop but more difficult to read on small devices like a smartphone. Take the time to test out any typeface on all devices to ensure it’s a good one to have.

Irrelevant Images

Images are a very important part of your website. It’s human nature for a reader to instantly look at the pictures on your webpage before reading any of the text. For this reason, you want to make sure that your images are relevant to what you’re talking about.

In addition, images are a strong connector in people’s memories. When you have unique and relevant pictures that are alongside your website text, it makes it much easier for a reader to remember your business as they have an image to recall in their memory.

Lacking Your Contact Info

It’s a general rule of thumb for any website designer to ensure that website visitors can access the company’s contact information from any entry page that they visit the site from. There’s nothing worse than having a visitor interested in getting a hold of your business but not doing so simply because they couldn’t find your contact information. Take the time to include it in the footer or header of each webpage.

Not Having A Search Box

One common mishap that DIY web design hopefuls make is not including a search box on their website. A search box is a saving grace for many visitors as they find it a simple way to get access to the information that they want. No one wants to scan through multiple website pages to find the answers that they’re looking for. Without a search box clearly accessible from any page on your website, it can greatly deter visitors from staying on your website to get the information they’re looking for.

Final Thoughts

In the world of DIY web design tools, it can be very tempting to create a website for your business alone. However, as you’ve discovered, web design isn’t as easy as you may have first thought. Enlisting the help of a professional design firm, like us, can ensure that you don’t lose out on valuable, potential customers visiting your website. If you find that you still want to do it on your own be sure to read our previous posts on Choosing your domain name and DIY Web Design for the person short on time.