5 Common DIY Website Mistakes

It’s a bit shocking, I know, but a pretty website isn’t where it’s all at.

Kickass websites are created with strategy from start to finish. The pretty details, like flowers or marble backgrounds are just the finishing touch.

Here’s a quick list to help you see whether your site might be causing you to lose potential clients.

Keep the domain name simple but try adding keywords.

The domain name is the address of your website. Imagine that your dream client heard your web address at a conference and is trying to google it to find you. Perhaps someone lost the business card they grabbed and is unsure of the unique spelling.

I’m going to get personal here: it’s happened to me. Robles, while I’m fiercely proud of it, isn’t a common last name and some have trouble spelling it. I did add the word Designs to it! Yay for a keyword!

Someone who did it well? My previous client: My Wellness Love who not only has common words (for English speakers) but also has a keyword - wellness. It’s also nice and short. Something like wellnesslovecollectivemedicine.com would have been hard for clients to remember.

Bonus tip: purchase alternatives to your web address. This would be something like wellnesslove.com because people might forget the “my” in the beginning.

Don’t slow down your user.

Not only will Google ding you for having a slow website, your dream client will go somewhere else. Nobody wants to wait for content to load on a site. Make sure your site loads within 3 seconds.

Adding a little trust.

Would you buy something from someone in a dark hooded cloak? Um, no because that shit is creepy and my mom would tell us it’s La Muerte coming to get ya’.

Same thing with your site. If a user sees that there’s no contact phone number, email address or even a picture of the owner - why should they trust that they won’t get ripped off? Are you going to rip someone off? No. So add a phone number (even if it’s via Google Voice) and add your headshot on the about page.

Use a professional email.

Get rid of the @gmail, @yahoo and all the others out there. Instead, purchase the email using your domain name. Mine is yasmine@roblesdesigns.com This makes you legit and here to stay.

Build your site on a platform where YOU’RE in control.

Make sure you can, if you wanted to, log into your site and update anything from the bio on the about page to the products on your home page. Make sure you’re comfortable on that platform, that your designer offered training or that you can Google how-tos for the particular CMS. You don’t want to be left out in the cold when your website provider decides to shut its doors.

Start collecting emails, now.

You might have a big following on Instagram and Facebook but as soon as they change their rules – your followers might not even see the awesome content your working hard on - well, without you forking over lots and lots of money. Get something like MailChimp with their free account while you get started. Give a benefit in exchange for an email submission and start sending them useful content that makes them want to buy from you.

Questions? Put them in the comments.