5 Web Design Mistakes Small Businesses Often Make

Your website is a crucial piece of your online marketing and branding efforts so that is why getting it right from the start so is important. Unfortunately, many small businesses don’t get the right website or content up when they start out.

Here are the 5 most common mistakes you can avoid when starting out and creating your website:

1. Know Your Target Audience

You’ve decided to start your own business, so you hurry up and purchase a domain name and set up an easy (or free) website. If you don’t take the time to research who your target audience is and what their pain points are, any efforts you make can be in vain.

What information should you know before you start building your website? Ask yourself some questions about your target audience. For example, are your customers older? Then you may want to use a larger font size on your website.

Know their pain points. What problems are they coming to you to solve.

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     2. Keep Your Website Easy to Navigate and Read

A flashy or busy website will turn off visitors. When someone lands on your home page, they want to easily and quickly see what you do and how you can help them. It’s that simple!

3.  Make Your Website Mobile-friendly

With Google’s new (started in April 2015) search algorithm, if you want your site to rank high on search pages, your site must be mobile-friendly. Think about it…many people search for websites from their smart phones and tables every day. Your site must look good, be easy to read and simple to navigate on these smaller screens.

4. Keep Your Content Current

Many small businesses fail to update the content on their websites on a regular basis. If your product information and pricing have changed, your website should reflect those changes. Also, a site that has consistently new information will rank higher in searches.

There is nothing worse than going to a website and not seeing any new information or only seeing outdated information. Visitors will think you are out of business.

5. Doing Everything Yourself

Yes, you can build your own website and you can update your site yourself. But do you have the time to do this? Many ‘build-it-yourself’ websites don’t look professional and won’t impress your visitors. Also, updating your site can take time away from running your business.

An experienced marketing company, such as Blue Dog Marketing, can help you create a custom website that will help you stand out from your competition. We can also update your site for you. Remember, you never get a second chance to make a great first impression!

Use these tips to reach your target audience and establish a strong online presence for your small business.