When it comes to building a business website, you want to make sure your budget is used wisely and achieves maximum return on investment. With that in mind, we take a look at some of the most common website mistakes that SMEs tend to make, and ways to avoid them.
Not having a fit for purpose website
This is the ultimate mistake and typically occurs when insufficient thought is put into the planning stage and the site’s objectives aren’t first established. How can you know if your site is doing the trick if you can’t measure its progress against defined original objectives? Whether you need to drive sales or sign-ups through your website, or share information to different audiences, spend time engaging with your stakeholders to agree with what you are trying to achieve before you begin building.
Prioritizing design over functionality
A beautiful website is a wonderful thing – but only if it supports the underlying site objectives, functionalities and customer journeys. Good design is there to reinforce that customer journey and provide a rewarding experience for the user. A site should never be built entirely for aesthetic’s sake – unless perhaps you are presenting an art portfolio!
Not considering design at all!
Your site needs to look good, both to attract the customer and then to retain them there. Invest in good design support from a local expert agency with the right skillsets for your business.
Not investing in your site’s ongoing maintenance
Don’t forget that the site build is just the start of your digital investment. You need to invest in it going forward, with dedicated resources to update the site with new features and content. This may be an in-house resource or you may want to buy inflexible agency support under a retainer arrangement. Either way, make sure you keep the site alive to ensure that customers have a reason to return and so that search engines are more inclined to index it correctly. As part of your broader digital strategy, you should also link your social media accounts and CRM to your website.
