Three Deadly Website Sins

If you’re serious about building a website that will attract your ideal clients, here are three “deadly sins” you need to be careful to avoid.

1. Allowing Your Ego to Make the Decisions

Is your website focused on YOU or on your customers?  Are you obsessed with “shiny objects” or bells and whistles? Is something not working but you don’t want to admit defeat and change it? OH NO!! Ego alert! Yeah, mine does that, too. Sometimes we’ve just got to tell that ego to sit down and shut up so we can make whatever changes we need to so that our websites can be effective.

Don’t fall in love with lime green text on a black background, that huge header image you had designed or the crazy busy background that looks like it’s jumping off the page.

Remember that it’s all about the client and what makes them perceive your site (and by extension YOU) as someone they want to visit, learn from, and purchase from or work with.

Don’t add every “new” thing you hear about to your website – focus on a good, usable design with compelling copy and then build slowly from there.  It’s okay to have some of those bells and whistles but don’t focus on that and neglect the basics of easy navigation and good, helpful content.

We’ve all seen badly designed websites.  They hurt our eyes to look at.  They’re confusing to navigate.  Chances are that they’re that way because of someone’s ego.  It’s okay to design your own site if you’re on a tight budget getting started (I recommend using WordPress and a nice theme), but don’t allow yourself to become so attached to what you’ve created that you aren’t willing to make it better.  And when you get that sneaking suspicion that you might need help, call in reinforcements and get help!

Always think of your website as a work in progress that can be improved and make the decisions to make it easier for clients instead of what your ego likes or wants.

2. Confusion Everywhere

If clients get confused at any point during the buying or hiring process they’ll probably leave and look elsewhere for the products or services they want.

Is your site easy to navigate? Do you have a consistent navigation setup in the same place on every page of your site?

Are your policies clear and easy to find (payment methods and shipping)? Many carts are abandoned during the final steps of checkout when a customer realizes shipping was way more than they expected, or when they can’t find a return policy listed.

Do you have contact information on every page?  Make it super-easy to find so if someone is confused during the buying process they can get in touch with you easily, while they’re still thinking about purchasing.

3. Hiding Your Brilliance

Are you hiding all your knowledge and brilliance, or sharing it freely?

It can feel like a fine line to walk when your business is coaching, consulting or something else that includes your knowledge as part of the services you sell.  But to attract clients you need to be willing to share what you know so they can see how you can help them.

Don’t let worry about who might see your ideas or copy something stop you from sharing details about why your products or services are awesome.

In Wednesday’s post I shared three ways you can share your brilliance without “giving away the farm” – whether you offer physical products for sale, or your brain and creativity.