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13 Mar

Biggest Mistakes of DIY Websites

Nowadays, setting up a website is easier than ever. Not only are resources, tutorials and services  more easily available these days, but we’ve been Internet users for so long that we have a clue of how to do things by ourselves. That’s great, isn’t it?

Technology should empower us and make us feel confident enough to try to do new things by ourselves. While that’s good in general, say when you want to set up a personal website to publish a blog, it might not be a good idea when you’re thinking about creating a website for your business. Here’s why:

Navigating a Website without a Site Map

Business-related websites tend to have a lot of information about all the different services your venture provides. You want to fill your site with examples, client testimonials, pictures or samples of your work; but you also want to make sure there’s a contact form and several other resources. However, this might not be a good idea.

Websites should be designed with a structure in mind; we call that a site map. We want to make navigation as intuitive and logical as possible: if you’re running a tea shop, for example, you want to consider how to best present your tea catalog: is it by region of origin? By type of tea? By price range?  These are decisions that need to be made before the actual design takes place. A site map indicates the way visitors should find things on your website. And it can be tricky if you decide to go DIY on this project: what’s intuitive for you might not work so well for others.

Focusing On Looks Instead Of Content

We all like pretty things, don’t we? Websites are no exception. Tidy, elegant websites are visually appealing and may drive to visitors spending longer times checking out the actual content. However, writing the material for a website has its own logic and needs.

On the other hand, whenever content is drafted for a website, you need to keep in mind that your main goal is being one of the first results Google displays whenever people search for information on your area of business. The words you use should match those that are mostly used when looking for that kind of information.

Forgetting about Mobility

Everyone’s got a smartphone now, don’t they? We use them for everything, including looking things up on the internet. Is the website you’ve created ready to be displayed on a phone’s small, narrow screen?

That doesn’t happen immediately: the whole design of your site needs to be created in a way that it will not only load fast, but that it will fit on a smartphone screen, however small. Most DIY tools for websites don’t have this in mind.

DIY projects are exciting. Trying new things is fun and you should definitely try to build your own website, but keep in mind that setting one up for your business means you’re trying to get people to learn about what you do and hopefully will bring their business your way. A website that’s not been crafted for your particular needs while keeping visitors’ experience in mind will not bring as many visitors as you would hope.

Here at Clicks & Mortar Websites we create relationships with our clients. We take your input and turn it into websites. Why not use those ideas you have and let us get to work so they can come through?

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