The 7 most common mistakes when building your own website
What I often see with a lot of cliënts of mine, is that they tried to build their own website before they come and ask for help. Because they try to make this happen without some knowledge or skill, I see them making common mistakes when building their own website that could have been prevented with some easy adjustments. That is why this blog post is so important for all you self-builders out there, so you won’t make these 7 common mistakes.
The reason people would like to build their own website is probably that they are starting a new business. And there might not be enough budget to have some fancy website designed fully for you. No worries, I have totally been there. And it is very doable if you have the right information. Having the right information will save you tons of time and money in the long run.
Mistake 1: Making the website all about you
This is probably one of the most common mistakes and definitely not one that only non-experienced builders make. There was a time when a website was about you. A place where people could come to find out more information about you. But these times are long gone. Nowadays people are in a hurry. There is so much more information out there, that people tend to get overwhelmed. Researchers claim that a visitor on your website decides in like 3 seconds whether they are going to stay or go. If you haven’t shown them in these seconds what it is that you can do for them, they will leave your page and never come back.
Mistake 2: Paying for things they don't need
If you have no experience in web building, you are more likely to believe you need the most extraordinary fonts, colors, and themes to even be successful. Nothing is further from the truth. If you decide to build your website in WordPress, you can use a theme that gives the page a certain look. But most themes can only do so much when you are not paying for them. So to make your website look like anything you had in mind, you would have to spend hundreds of dollars to even start. And then, it still might not be what you like.
What we use at Creating your Biz is a page builder called Elementor. That is so simple to use and you can make almost everything with it. We use it for even our most advanced websites. And the best thing is, you only pay $ 49,- a year for it. That is a big difference with hundreds of dollars for something that doesn’t work. You can see it here.
Mistake 3: Saving on the costs
This might be a little weird topic after the previous one, but it definitely belongs to the most common mistakes when building your own website. Because often self-builders would like to save on costs and the most logical thing to do is try to build something for free. Please, whatever you do. Do not do this! You can build a website for free, but you won’t get your own link, it doesn’t look professional and you’ll never be found on Google. A big no-no in my opinion.
What is the minimum you require for a website that will make you money? Your own domain name and hosting, that is the place where your website lives. We use the hosting company NameHero and we are very pleased with it. You can get your hosting and domain name for as little as $ 55,- a year. See it here.
Mistake 4: Only deciding your websites purpose after you have finished
Not knowing what it actually is that you would like your website to do, takes up a lot of your time. Because when you finally do come to that conclusion, you’ll probably realize you’ll have to do things all over again. So be wise and think about your customer journey before you start.
Mistake 5: What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization is what gets you found on search engines like Google and Bing. And if this is really important for your business, you should hire some help. The technical side of this has become a real study by itself. But there are different ways that you can improve it yourself. A good example is adding the right words in the right places. Consider this before you even start. Fixing this afterward costs you a lot of time and effort.
Mistake 6: Not having a brand
What fonts are you using? What is the image you would like to send to people? What colors are you using? What is the overall experience you offer? All these things are part of your brand. And if you haven’t thought about any of it before you start building your website, you might just as well take a drawing for a 2-year-old and stick it on there. When making this mistake even building is going to be an issue. And when your website ends up like a total miss-match of colors and styles, do you think people are going to buy from you? Probably not.
Is this an area you can use some help with? Be sure to check out our branding templates. They can make starting so much more easier.
Mistake 7: It all takes up a lot of time
That brings us to our 7th mistake. Not realizing how much time it takes to build a website and figuring stuff out as you go. I know I am grateful that I haven’t built my first website myself. Someone had set up the technique for me and all the rest of it, I learned on the way. But it takes a lot of time and effort to get where you would like to go. And looking back, there was so much I had to learn back then. Something that might have been prevented if I would have been provided with the right tools.
If you would like to create some clarity for your website before you start so you can avoid all the mistakes, you might like to check out my FREE Build a successful website Roadmap. It provides you with an easy start-up for your website.
Note: this page contains some affiliate links. Which means I receive a small commission when you decide to make a purchase. There are no extra costs for you.