Professional Web Studio

Web Development - Search Engine Optimization
Online Marketing

2010 Aug06

Avoid These Small Business Website Mistakes!

Written by: Darlene

small business websiteYou no doubt know about the benefit of having a website for your small business.

However, there is a right way to create a small business website and several wrong ways.

The design, content and feel of your small business website can make or break your business.

Unfortunately, there are several areas that new website owners miss when they are having their website created.

In order to create a website that will get you new business time and time again, you need to pay attention to the following common mistakes.

1. Hastily Choosing a Domain Name.

Your domain name is the address at which your potential customers will find your website. If people hear about your website locally, they will likely type the domain name directly into their Internet browser. This may also happen if they see your website listed somewhere online.

It's important that you make your domain name easy to remember and easy to type. If at all possible, choose your company's name as your exact domain name. This is the best way to get the traffic that is related to your company name. Another great choice is to try to include keywords that are specific to your business in your domain name.

Avoid acronyms because they are difficult to remember online. Plan ahead and get the .com, .org and.net versions of your domain name to avoid competitors snatching up one of those versions.

2. Going for Style over Substance.

Flash animation and amazingly complicated graphics may seem like the most exciting thing you've ever seen on a webpage. However, your small business website is there to market your business and not to bowl over your customers visually.

This doesn't mean that your website shouldn’t be appealing. It should be nice to look at and encourage the visitor to stick around and learn more about what you do. However flashing banners, huge graphics and lots of bells and whistles can create confusion and cause your visitor to click away.

3. Old Content on Your Website or Blog.

Old content refers to any written or visual content on your website that is outdated or out of place.

People will judge your website based on the freshness of your content. For example if you have a blog and the last post was over three months ago, the visitor might assume that you're either out of business or that your business is struggling.

The same goes for any permanent on-site content that refers to sales that are already over or holidays that have passed by months ago. Since search engines prefer fresh content it's a good idea to make a habit of consistently updating your website.

4. Not Appealing to Your Target Market.

Your small business has a target market. Your small business website needs to have the same. Your website should be more than a digital brochure. It has the potential to persuade and motivate your online audience just as if you were right in front of them telling them passionately about your product or service.

Make sure that you know who you are speaking to with your website, and what their needs are.

Your small business website design team can help you market directly to your target market with design choices and original content.


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