It’s not easy trying to get your small business off the ground. Even once it’s all finished, it can take time to move up the search engine rankings and build a loyal following. But that’s when you’ve got everything right with your website, which is far from guaranteed when you’re a small business, and especially so if it’s the first site you’ve built. Indeed, many small businesses end up making a few errors that compromise the quality of their website, and thus the potential of it succeeding. Below, we take a look at four of the most common errors. Make sure you’re not making any of them!
Aiming too high
You should strive to have the best website possible, but it’s important that you don’t confuse ‘the best’ with ‘the most advanced.’ A common error from new businesses is trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to their website. A website that’s over complicated will be liable to suffer from a few issues. First: it’ll make the webpage too difficult to navigate. Second, unless you have a lot of power behind the scenes, the website could load too slowly for your users, which is a surefire way to ensure they hit the ‘X’ button.
Too pushy
There are plenty of tips and tricks to get your customers on your side, but some websites go too far, and integrate all of them into their site. Things like autoplay videos, pop-ups, and email address requests do have their place on a website, but only in moderation. If you add too many of them, then you’ll come across as too pushy — and unless you have something that your customers can’t live without it, all you’ll do is drive them away.
Low-quality content
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that it’s your products or services that really count toward making a successful website. But really, it’s the whole package — everything, from your images to text and contact information, feeds into the perception of your company.
If you’ve got low-quality images and text riddled with spelling and grammatical errors, then your website visitors will not have a favourable impression of your business. As such, take steps to make sure your content is watertight. You can get professional-standard writing from a company such as FAT JOE, while there are also plenty of websites that offer high-quality, royalty free images you can use on your site. Without them, you’ll only be creating an unfavourable perception of your business.
Limited payment options
You’ll have set up a payment option for your website, but is it enough? You might like the system for the ease of use, low charges, and so on, but it’s important to keep in mind that it’s not really about what you like: it’s what your customers like that’s important. Offer a range of payment options, and you’ll be giving your website visitors no reason to abandon their shopping cart. The key is to make it as easy as possible for them to check out.