What Entrepreneurs Forget When Creating a Website
The success of your business hinges on how well you can market your products and services. Reaching the right audience is important, which is why you should consider creating a website for your company.
A website is a digital home for your business. It’s an online presence that makes your services accessible to customers, partners, suppliers, and anyone interested in learning more about your company.
Hundreds of website builders and eCommerce platforms like WordPress, Shopify, or Wix exist. These tools come with plenty of features and functionalities to help you build a website for your business from scratch. However, designing and setting up a website isn’t always easy – especially if it’s the first time you’ve done so. Here are six things many entrepreneurs forget when creating a website:
1. Forgetting to Choose an SEO-Friendly Domain Name
When you create a website, you need to decide on a name for your website. It’s important to choose a name that will help customers and visitors find your site and also help them understand what you do. Think about the content you want to provide for your website, and then think about which domain name will best suit the purpose of your website.
A better option for Creating a Website would be using a domain name that comes from another company or company that is related to the business. As you know, you can purchase an already existing domain name or come up with a creative one that captures – in a word or two – the essence of your business.
Let’s say you want to create betting website. First, you need to choose a domain name related to your business. Moreover, your domain name should be SEO-friendly to be found via search. However, mind the keywords you want to include (and which will help your site rank) because online casinos and betting websites need to follow specific SEO rules and overcome certain challenges.
Nevertheless, when you build a website, you should always have SEO in mind, whether you pick a domain name, add content, tailor call to action, choose images, etc.
2. Forgetting to Test and Customize for Mobile Responsivity
Whether you choose a website builder for Creating your company’s website or you hire a designer to build your website from scratch, mobile friendliness should be your top priority.
Responsive web design is important for several reasons. First, it is crucial because it makes your website accessible to a wider audience. Unlike a standard website, responsive websites change width according to a device. They also use one URL for multiple devices, making them flexible and perfect for desktop/PC, laptop, tablet, and mobile device users. This type of website can also be optimized for search engines, making it more likely to be found and ranked.
Mobile-first design is a good way to maximize your audience’s viewing experience. This method follows the progressive advancement principle, where the first version is designed for mobile devices. The design prioritizes the most important elements, such as text and navigation, and only expands to the larger screen when needed. This strategy is also better for search engine optimization because it has a high chance of increasing website traffic.
The main purpose of responsive web design is to ensure that the content and layout are compatible with different devices. A good website must be responsive to various screen sizes and use a flexible grid for images and text. The mobile site should automatically switch to the appropriate resolution and image size without blocking the page. Ultimately, responsive web design helps you save money. It takes less time to set up and is easier to maintain than a standard website.
3. Forgetting to Test the Website before Launch
Before launching your website, there are a few things you should test. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs forget that testing is crucial before launch; and before and after any major change, such as adding a new feature (for instance, a payment button).
Browser compatibility is also crucial, as how your website displays and functions on different browsers can affect how it looks and functions. Therefore, browser compatibility testing is essential for ensuring that your site is accessible from any device and includes ensuring your HTML version is cross-browser compatible. This also applies to any animated GIFs that may be on your site.
Also, you must ensure that your site will load quickly and easily on different operating systems, including mobiles. Then, you should test whether your buttons and other elements are large enough to be easily clicked with a large finger.
Aside from checking whether the design looks good across browsers and your website follows all UX/UI rules and mobile responsivity, you should also test if the page layout is readable and usable.
Check whether the font size is right, whether the fields are properly aligned; and if you need to disable special characters or numbers for people to access your website. Ensure the website works properly and doesn’t crash or freeze during testing.
In addition, you should test your website’s readability. In other words, you want to ensure that your website is readable in many browsers and operating systems. Finally, don’t forget about performing a final SEO audit before launching your website.
Bottom Line
Novice entrepreneurs don’t know or forget many things about building and managing websites. For this reason, it is best to work with a team that knows what is doing at all stages of the project. From choosing a website builder to hitting the “publish” button; you have many things to consider and many mistakes to avoid.