Common Website Mistakes - Part One
Part One in a series of articles.
There are a number of areas in which most businesses fail to maximize their websites to the benefit of their companies' bottom line. This is the first part in a series of tips on having and building an effective website.
Web development involves three major areas:
- Design (navigation support, homepage layout, templates, search, accessibility, usability etc.)
- Content (the actual writing on the pages, as well as any other media used to communicate)
- Web Management
It is very common and natural for most small businesses to gravitate to the content area first, mostly because this is the area most people are familiar with, and feel comfortable. In contrast, we have found that the first and third areas are just as important, and unless all three are working together, the "whole picture" is lost.
The first mistake:
#1 - Not Knowing ‘Why’
It is truly surprising how many websites are built simply because someone told you that: "you need a website” without describing what the site should achieve. The fact that everybody else is doing it, is not a legitimate business reason. It is a well established fact that a website is now considered a must for any serious, professional business. Not being on the Web is like not having a phone. Potential customers and other businesses wonder if you are real or going to be gone tomorrow.
Therefore,an initial start might be to make a “brochure site” with a small amount of corporate image building, directions to your facilities, and some information on your services or products. One big danger in doing just a brochure site is that it gets neglected very quickly and becomes out of date. On the whole, this is not the most effective use of the Web, and a site along these lines should only be built with the assumption that you are not going to invest in active use of the Web for business.
The first step in web development should be a determining ways in which you can provide true customer value with your site. Provide your customers with a true benefit from spending time on your site, allow them interact with you, and their business will follow.