What Not to Do With Your Website

There are numerous mistakes you can make when first setting up a website. All too often, they’re easy to overlook, but any one of these can quickly and immediately lose you both customers and traffic.

Counters

Don’t use a visitor counter. They can backfire easily, especially if they display low numbers and a visitor decides they do not trust your product due to a low audience. If you absolutely must have a counter on your website, use an invisible one that visitors cannot see. Better yet, sign up for a good statistics program. Google offers basic services for free.

Construction Signs

Don’t put up construction signs on your website. If you are not ready to share your website with the world, leave it offline. It should be live as soon as you activate it with some form of content that will entice visitors. Anything less will only create permanent non-visitors.

Keep it Simple

Don’t over utilize snazzy looking features. They are distracting and largely a waste of space. You want your visitors to see your products and your message, not your cool widgets. Not only that, but the heavier technology can slow down sites on older computers and there’s nothing less enticing to a visitor than a slow, unresponsive website.

Update Dates and Times

Don’t leave any old, outdated copyright notices or dates on your page. The first thing anyone looks for on a website is relevance and the best way to display relevance is through constant updates. If it appears you do not take the time to update and work on your site, then no one will care to look at it.

Keep it Short

Don’t get too wordy. People have short attention spans, especially online where they’re likely surfing during work or on a short break. You want to offer short, single topic sentences and paragraphs that they can digest quickly. If you do it right, they’ll keep reading. Use bullet points and headlines as most people merely scan online copy and you want them to at least see the most important parts of you page.

Proper Grammar

The most obnoxious thing anyone can do when writing a website is not take the time to write it properly. Poor grammar, misspelled words and passive verbs are a killer. Using active sentences not only makes you appear more confident in what you’re saying, it spices up your copy. And nothing kills copy quicker than poor grammar.

Sell Your Product

Don’t merely show information. Throw out the best details you can muster about your product. What does it do well? Why do your visitors need you or your product more than anyone else’s. Be proactive and sell yourself. Finish with a call to action that gives your readers a clear directive to contact you, purchase something, or return at a later time.

Keep At It

These are all great tips that will help to create a productive, successful website, but you have to keep with it as well. Don’t give up or stop as soon as you website is built and no on visits. Be active and attract visitors with fresh content, new articles, and active link building.