Your website is one of the first points of contact between your business and potential customers so it’s important to get it right. However, the process of creating a new website can be fraught with mistakes and pitfalls. With over 20 years of experience in branding, graphic design, and digital creative, we’ve seen a tonne of website mistakes that businesses make when embarking on a new website project. In this article, we’ll explore the top five and provide some practical advice on how to avoid them.
Website Mistake 1. Lack of Clear Objectives
Problem
One of the most fundamental website mistakes when starting a website project is starting without a clear objective of what you want to achieve. Many businesses jump into the website design process without defining what their goals are for the website or what they need the website to achieve. This leads to a lack of direction and ultimately, ineffective results.
Solution
- Define Specific Goals: Before starting, clearly define what the website should achieve. Whether it’s generating leads, selling products, or simply providing information about your business, having a clear purpose will help guide the entire project. It allows your designer to self-critique their work by asking how a specific design meets the brief, answers a question, or helps to reach a goal.
- Involve Key Stakeholders: Ensure that all relevant parties, including marketing, sales, and IT, are involved in setting these objectives. This will save a lot of time and potential re-briefs when the project is shared with the wider group only to find that your goals are misaligned internally.
Website Mistake 2. Underestimating the importance of user experience and good design
Problem
Often, businesses underestimate the importance of ux and design in website development. User experience encompasses every interaction a visitor has with a website, including its usability, accessibility, aesthetics, language, and overall satisfaction. A poorly designed website can deter potential customers and negatively impact brand perception.
Solution
- Hire Professional Designers: Invest in experienced designers who understand your brand and audience. Good design is not just about aesthetics; it’s about creating a user-friendly experience that speaks to your customers.
- Get involved: Take the time to sit down with the design team to discuss the above-mentioned goals and also any relevant design insights that you can share, be it about your customers, your competitors, or your personal opinions.
- Know your audience: Consider spending some time discussing your existing and desired customers. A good designer will use this information to put together proto-personas that act as an audience guidepost to reference when creating their design.
- Focus on User Experience (UX): Ensure the website is intuitive, easy to navigate, and accessible. Good UX is proven to increase user engagement and satisfaction.
Website Mistake 3. Ignoring Mobile Responsiveness
Problem
This should go without saying but in today’s world, a significant portion, ahem read “most”, web traffic comes from mobile devices. Ignoring mobile responsiveness is madness. Ignoring the customer touch point they have in their pocket at all times can will lead to a frustrating user experience for a large the largest segment of your audience.
Solution
- Mobile-First Design: Design the website with mobile users in mind from the start. This approach ensures compatibility across all devices.
- Scale up: Use scalable typography and dimensions where possible to ensure that your website looks awesome on a big-screen TV or an iPhone mini.
- Regular Testing on Different Devices: Test the website on various mobile devices to ensure consistent performance and appearance.
Website Mistake 4. Overlooking SEO and Content Strategy
Problem
SEO and content strategy are often afterthoughts in website projects. However, without them, even the most beautifully designed website will fail to attract and engage the intended audience.
Solution
- Integrate SEO from the Start: Incorporate SEO strategies during the design phase. This includes keyword research, meta tags, and SEO-friendly URLs.
- Develop a Content Strategy: Plan and create content that is valuable to your audience. Consistent, high-quality content improves engagement and search rankings.
- Use your Headings Effectively: Breaking up your content into digestible chunks is not only good for usability, and accessibility, but it also provides the opportunity to add additional helpful information to your page that will not only help your users but also help search engines.
Website Mistake 5. Poor Project Management
Problem
Poor project management leads to delays, budget overruns, and a final product that doesn’t meet expectations and frustration for everyone involved.
Solution
- Set Realistic Timelines and Budgets: Establish clear timelines and budgets at the project’s outset and stick to them.
- Regular Communication: Maintain regular communication among all team members. This ensures that everyone is aligned and any issues are addressed promptly.
- Deadlines apply to clients as well as agencies: One of the most common delays in web projects is often client-provided content or approvals. A realistic project timeline with feedback and amends cycles built in will help everyone work together to deliver a quality project on time and on budget.
Conclusion
Creating a new website is a significant undertaking that can greatly impact a business’s success. By being aware of these common mistakes and actively taking steps to avoid them, businesses can ensure a smoother process and a more effective, engaging website. Remember, a website is not just a project but an ongoing asset that requires continuous improvement and updates to meet the evolving needs of your audience and business.
We love doing this stuff and would love to help you realise your next website project’s goals. Let us know a little bit about your business and objectives on our contact page and we can arrange a call to see what we can do.