5 website mistakes you can and should avoid

I look at a lot of websites when I research competitors while doing positioning work for my clients, and I see a lot of websites that need help. Unfortunately many small businesses make the same mistakes. Are you guilty of any of these listed below?

1. Believing that your website should be under the control of your IT department. Your website is a function of marketing. It is one of the most prominent reflections of your brand and must be protected as a precious asset. I have yet to encounter an IT person who understands branding. Actually, web development is also a different skill set from IT, so it is unlikely that your IT department has the competency to build a website that is up to today's standards. You'll need a good web developer and a strong marketer working together if you want your web presence to be as good as it can be. Your website is your company's primary marketing vehicle. It is a 24/7 representation and usually the first destination when people hear about you. Can you afford to not present the best possible face?


2. Displaying content that is poorly written. Good writing is a skill that not everybody possesses, and web content writing is its own unique animal. Not only does your content developer have to be proficient in the rules of grammar and spelling, and respectful of tense and flow, but web content writers are specialists who know how to incorporate keywords for search engine optimization. They also know how to relax the feel while retaining a professional flair. They know how to cut out the fat and get to the point because they understand and appreciate the short attention spans of your visitors.


3. Allowing multiple departments to have control over web content. This can work sometimes, in the event that everyone has sufficient training and adheres to specific guidelines. But almost invariably, somebody learns a little HTML and decides that this would look pretty in pink, and this would stand out more bolded and in a different font. Then before you know it, people hardly recognize your company when they go to your website because everything looks disjointed. Pages are a mishmash of inappropriate creativity. This damages your brand by breaking the cardinal rule of consistency.


4. Launching a site, then forgetting about it. I'm sure you were very proud of what you accomplished when your site went live, but how long has it been since it was updated and refreshed? The evolution of web design is so fluent that old sites look really dated to anybody's eye. We all go to the same internet every day. We all experience new and exciting technology that constantly looks and works better. When we come to a site that is old, there is an instant discomfort, dislike, or dare I say, distrust. The visitor may feel that if you don't care enough about your own website, you might not care too much about his business either.


5. Building a website that is all about me, me, me. Clients don't care about you. They ONLY care about what they get from you. Read your home page and count how many times you use the words we, us, our, I, me, my, and mine. The actual number of times all of these words should be used is zero. Now look at the rest of your pages. Pretty much the only time you should be talking about yourself is on your about us page because that's the whole point of it. When people go there, they expect to read about you. The rest of the time, people want to know what they get when they hire you. They don't care how great your service is, how long you've been in business, or how wonderful you think you are. Tell them how your service will benefit them and how you can do that better than anybody else if you want to earn their business.

Website development is a specialty best left to the pros. You probably have a lawyer handle your legal work. You probably have an accountant handle your taxes. You probably have a doctor diagnose your illness. So does it make sense to trust your company's primary marketing vehicle to someone who isn't qualified to provide the best possible product on your behalf?

by: Christine Pilch
Christine@GrowMyCo.com
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Image Credit: Microsoft

Comments

[Ron Miller]

Great post, and I agree with most of what you say, but I think it's important to get a lot of voices involved in the web site, perhaps through a company blog that's part of the site. It's simple enough to lock down your design so that you can avoid that pink scenario. You can also usually work with the web site content management system editorial workflow process to provide a simple form for less technical users, and you can force their content through an editorial approval process to ensure people aren't posting anything embarrassing.

[Val Nelson]

Yes! I keep wanting to shout Amen!

Everything you described is so common and is the epitome of the old world of websites. Time to move into the new world where a website is part of a strategic branding and marketing strategy.

I agree with you and Ron that multiple people can be involved with web content only with the proper systems and established procedures. With large institutions, it's simply impossible to restrict it to one department so a good CMS (content management system) that is built with multiple users in mind is essential.

Thanks again Christine.