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> 5 Website Myths
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If you don't have a website yet, you can save yourself some major headaches -- and money -- by making sure you know the right questions to ask.
If you have a solid plan for your business and a good understanding of your clients your website should reflect that. Don't just get a website because you "should" have one. Otherwise it's an expense, not an investment.

Have specific marketing goals in mind and discuss them with your design company. That said, here are some of the major reasons websites go wrong and what you can do to prevent them.
Common Mistakes
1.) Inefficient Marketing.
2.) Text that Isn’t Designed for Internet Communication.
3.) Weak Call-to-Action.
4.) Difficult to Load and/or Navigate
5.) Style Over Substance
Ways to Make Sure You Don’t Commit These Errors
1.) Talk to your web design company about marketing from the start. If they only do design, you can find many that also provide internet marketing services. Get a sense of the different marketing options available to you and budget accordingly. The most common methods are inclusion on search engines, Search Engine Optimization, Pay-per-Click Advertising, business blogging, developing informational pages, and directory listings.
2.) Hire an Experienced Online Copywriter. What works on the web and what works in print ads are totally different things. The web is more colloquial and the rules of syntax more flexible. Hard sells aren’t as efficient. It’s important to get your copywriter to think like your customers, address their needs and provide the right information.
3.) Develop a clear business goal with your web design team. If you are hoping for ten inquiries about your services a week, tell them that. Then have them develop a call-to-action that will steer site visitors towards inquiries. If you want fifty people a month to sign up for a newsletter, make sure that your site’s architecture gears them towards that. Likewise, although hard sells don’t always work, don’t be afraid to ask for the sale at the right time.

4.) Talk to your design company about usability. A good design company will always test your site for what’s called “cross-browser comparability.” That means that whether someone is using Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator or Mozilla, your site will load easily.

Avoid clip art or distracting images. Images and Flash Animation should be kept to a minimum so that your sites load quickly. Tell your design team that “fast load time” is important to you.

Navigation is a trickier issue. Basically, it is whether or not your site aids the visitor in going where you want them to go. Navigability is an integral part of developing a strong call-to-action. This should be tested before your website goes up and after you see the results it produces.

Finally, have your friends and colleagues look at the site to make sure the purpose is clear and the usability high.
5.) Get your business goals set first, and then ask yourself how each design element plays into that. It might not be natural at first if you don’t have an advertising or marketing background. Do you need spinning seals or a decadent Flash introduction? Probably not.
And whether the bells and whistles really help you achieve your goal: boosting business. Don’t ask your company to build anything that doesn't truly help you improve business.
 
© big blue whale 2005