Home
>
Web Development
>
Eight Deadly Web Site Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Eight Deadly Web Site Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Creating and maintaining an effective presence on the Web has become increasingly complex and challenging as the power of the Internet as a marketing tool becomes more and more necessary to entrepreneurs and emerging businesses.

The good news is that technologies that were only available to the big guys just a couple of years ago - audio, video, ecommerce, e-mail database management applications - are now affordable for almost everybody. The bad news is that the number of choices and opportunities can be confusing and overwhelming.

Here are my eight favorite tips to help you steer clear of some of the biggest mistakes I've seen people make when designing or re-designing their Web projects.

1. You begin without a marketing strategy.

Web sites, like brochures, newsletters, business cards, post cards and the like, are simply part of your marketing mix, not just something you build so you can say you have one.

Before you begin, you need to ask yourself important questions about your Web site strategy beginning with why you want a Web site in the first place.

a. What are your objectives? To educate? Motivate? Inform? Attract new business? Serve existing clients? Be perceived a certain way, such as compassionate or trendy?

b. Who is your target audience?

c. What do you want your visitors to discover and/or do when they log on to your site?

As the Cheshire cat explained to Alice - if you don't know where you're going, I can't tell you how to get there. So before you do anything else, make an Internet marketing plan for your site.

2. You have no Internet branding or inappropriate branding.

Once you know what your objectives are and have identified your target audience, your site needs to reflect that knowledge. A music site selling hip-hop to teens needs to look and feel a lot different from a health care site for seniors or a motorcycle site for guys that ride Harley Fat Boys.

A good brand should repel as strongly as it attracts. Once you get the positioning and Internet branding right, your site will sort out your potential clients from the online crowd.

3. You buy the wrong technology for your goals and objectives.

There are two big, broad categories of Web sites - one that you own and one that you rent. The "rental" model is a site offered by what is called an Application Service Provider or ASP. You usually will pay a set up fee and a monthly fee ranging from $59 way up to hundreds of dollars depending on the sophistication of the Web site application.

At the low end, you may see an ad for a "FREE WEB SITE." The company offers to build your site and then you "just pay" $59 per month- forever! With this

model the site itself never belongs to you, only your content. If you leave the provider, you can't take the site with you.

With the ownership model, you will hire a Web site designer, or do the work yourself, then pay an annual or monthly hosting fee - usually much smaller comparatively - and you own both the site and the content, which you can move to a different service provider if you wish.

4. You have no Internet marketing plan.

"We will build it and they will come," has not worked for a long, long time. Budget the money necessary to promote your site and meet your objectives, or wait until you can. It doesn't have to be a very expensive plan. But do something! There are way too many "secret Web sites" out there in cyberspace.

Start building your email database as soon as possible. Consider an eZine to keep you in front of your prospects on a regular basis. Offer a free report on your site. Put the offer on the back of your business card.

If you want to do more, work with a Search Engine Optimizer (SEO), who will make your site attractive to Google and Yahoo and other top search engines. You may also want to consider pay-per-click (PPC) advertising to get you to the top of the search engine listings.

5. You have no way to measure your site's effectiveness.

Remember that old saying: "If it's not broken; don't fix it?" Well you will need a way to know if your site is working for you or not. Make sure that your service provider offers site statistics, to let you know who is visiting, how often and if your traffic is growing.

Use an email sign-up form to build your database, and keep an eye on your progress. Track what works and what doesn't, and make changes as you get feedback.

6. Your technology doesn't match the target audience.

We've all had the experience of landing on a Web site, only to get a message saying that we don't have the right plug-in to view it. Sometimes the site designer has a link letting you know that since you are among the "great unwashed" without the "right" browser of technology, you must go download it to view the site. Don't expect that potential visitor to stick around!

Research your target audience to make sure your site considers their technology level. Don't use images that are too large to load in a reasonable amount of time if your users don't have a broadband connection, for example.

7. You let your users get lost in Cyberspace.

Your navigation system needs to be clear, and intuitive. Links should be in the same position on each page. There should always be a "home" button. Confusing navigation drives potential clients and users away.

8. You play hard to get.

Don't make it hard for your clients and prospects to communicate with you. Make sure your contact information is on every page and is easy to access. Let your visitors know what you want them to do, like: "Call me!" or "Sign Up for My E-EZine."

Marcia Torrey-Jay is the owner of Vision Quest Multimedia in Los Angeles, CA. Her company offers affordable, custom Web site design, Internet branding and online marketing services to small business owners, professionals, healers, artists, and other entrepreneurs.

Visit http://www.visionquest.tv to sign up for her free Web site development tips and tools eZine, Envision It!

weekly home cleaning Highland Park ..

In The News:

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

OpenTable now uses AI to track your dining habits and share insights with restaurants. Learn what data they collect and how to protect your privacy.

Google's discontinued Nest thermostats still secretly upload home data to company servers despite losing smart features, raising serious privacy concerns.

New Android malware NGate steals NFC payment codes in real-time, allowing criminals to withdraw cash from ATMs without your card. Learn protection tips.

DoorDash confirms data breach exposing customer names, emails, addresses after social engineering attack. Learn how to protect yourself from scams.

Concerned about Google's AI scanning your Gmail? Learn how to disable Gemini features that access your emails, Drive files and Chat messages for privacy.

Google warns Android users about dangerous fake VPN apps hiding malware that steals passwords, banking details and personal data from phones and tablets.

Apple's digital passport feature lets iPhone users breeze through TSA checkpoints this holiday season using Digital ID technology at 250+ airports.

A new phishing scam targets family photos with fake "Cloud Storage Full" alerts. Criminals steal credit card information through fake sites. Learn protection tips.

South Korean scientists create ultra-thin fabric muscles that turn clothes into robotic assistants, lifting 33 pounds while weighing under half an ounce.

Archer Aviation has acquired Hawthorne Airport for $126M to launch an LA air taxi network ahead of the 2028 Olympics, featuring AI-powered eVTOL operations and next-gen aviation tech.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Fake AI apps disguised as "ChatGPT" and "DALL·E" are flooding app stores with dangerous malware that steals data and monitors users without detection.

Fake buyers demand specific vehicle reports from unknown sites to steal credit card information from car sellers, but warning signs can help identify these scams before paying.

Android users can now manage apps across multiple devices more easily with Google Play Store's updated remote uninstall button in the latest update.

NASA's Perseverance rover discovers shiny metallic rock on Mars that could be a meteorite from an ancient asteroid, containing high levels of iron and nickel.

Eight Deadly Web Site Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Web Development