1) Not Testing Your Websites Customer Experience

Does it effectively convey your message? Is it convincing? Is the information easy to find? You may be asking yourself these questions, however, you are not the right person to evaluate your own site. You know your company too well. You need to find someone who is not familiar with your products and services that will view your website from a different viewpoint.

Finding four or five family members, or friends, is often all it takes. Sit them down in front of your computer and let them explore your site. 

Don’t make the mistake of taking control of the situation – let them browse on their own. As they cruise throughout your site, ask them to describe what they are thinking. Ask open-ended questions, (e.g.,"What is the main advantage of our product?”), rather than closed-ended questions (e.g., "Is it clear that the main advantage is X?"). You will get very valuable information for site improvements.

2) Writing your content in BOLD or Crazy Colours

This is a mistake that is easy to avoid. Too often we feel compelled to make our message stand out by BOLDING or using colours and larger font sizes. While our intention may be good, the outcome is often hard to look at. This compromised the design integrity of your site and can really make a mess of things. Keep your site clean and professional. Stick to 3-5 consistent font styles and use them with tact. 

Follow these rules:

• Use graphics to back up a message, it adds interest to your message.
• Shorter is often better. Remove useless words, be informative, but to the point.
• Use subheadings and bullet lists. That makes it easier to read.
• Spell check.

3) Losing Focus and Adding Junk

Remember when years ago some websites played background music?

Don't you find it annoying when you visit a site that forces sound or video, interrupting the music you have already playing, or the breaking the silence that you want in your workspace? For some reason we lose sight of how we feel, and think that our site will be the exception. Don't force video or audio. Make playing available and invite your visitors to make the choice to activate rich content.

4) Negleting to Promote Your Website

The best website in the world is useless if no one visits it. Promotion should, therefore, be planned from the start. Consider search engines, social media, and offline, traditional advertising, and consider these website budgeting plans.

Your website budget is, therefore, stable year to year, similar to your rent or other fixed expenses. But, don’t look at it as a cost, it’s an investment. Promoting your website is one of the biggest components in growing your sales. Your accountant will congratulate you!