Building a new website can be a confusing and exhausting process, especially if you’re not super familiar with the world of online marketing. We wanted to debunk some common myths customers have when we work with them to build a new website. And if you’ve fallen for one of these, don’t worry, you’re not alone.
1. A website is a thing.
When people first consider building a website, they usually visualize a pretty corner of the internet where people go to buy things or learn about your business. In reality, your website is so much more. It’s the outer shell for a complex inner working of tools that work together to drive your business.
2. Website design and development is easy.
Unless you’re going with a completely out of the box template, building a website is an art. It takes time to understand the unique needs for each project and create a masterpiece that will achieve those goals. From there, the design and development process is a blend of art and science that takes time to create!
3. Any content is good content.
While content is king, not all content is king. Building out a strong foundation for your website’s content infrastructure is huge for your website. Different areas of your website need certain types of copy in order to convert and keyword utilization is also key in order to optimize the site’s search ranking.
4. Good design is big, bright and flashing.
A designer’s goal is to create an experience that appeals to the user and guides them to ultimately convert. How to best achieve this varies depending on who you work with, but very rarely is just making the logo bigger, the colors brighter or the graphics louder the right way to achieve that. Listen to your designer!
5. We could build that ourselves!
There are lots of different ways to build a website. Some platforms like Shopify or Squarespace are made for the DIY type, but they come with lots of limitations. If you want to high quality website built to achieve your business objectives, it may make sense to invest in a team that specializes in web development.
6. It should be jam packed with features.
Very much like the idea behind #3, adding features for the sake of adding features won’t make your website better. Overwhelming the user with too many things will distract them from your ultimate conversion goal. Focus on the features that convert to make the most of your website.
7. It needs to be perfect in order to launch.
Pulling the trigger and finally launching your website can be unnerving, especially the first time around. There tends to be a feeling that it needs to be “perfect” before launching. The reality is that the time spent nit-picking is time you could be attracting customers to your site. Adopt the minimum viable product (MVP) approach, and pull the trigger sooner than later.
8. Building a website will automatically create more sales.
Just because you launch a new website doesn’t mean you will immediately have an influx of visitors and sales for your business. A website is just tool, part of your overall marketing strategy. To maximize the impact of your website, it’s important to create a holistic marketing plan to attract and convert customers.
9. It’s done once it goes live.
Because a website is not a thing, rather a container filled with complex tools that work together to achieve your goals, it can’t just be abandoned. After you pull the trigger and launch your new website, it’s critical to maintain the website and everything it contains in order to continue to maximize the return on your time and investment.
