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The top 10 website mistakes businesses make- and what to do about them

1. Set and Forget It. – sometimes for years. In this ever changing world of the internet, a website can become stale in a short period of time.  Solution: Review your website and your competitor’s website on a regular schedule of at least once every 90 days. What is new about your business this quarter? New product? New service? New promotion?  Ask your resident expert at Local Biz Solutions.net.
   
2. Spending too much time and not enough money, or Spending too much time AND too much money.  Are you getting what you are paying for?  Inexpensive sometimes means cheap and not done right. Do not cheapen your business with a cheap website.  Along with that, don’t keep paying your web designer when you are not getting timely results. Solution: Using a web marketing expert is your best decision, otherwise, hire on time-delivery basis.
   
3. Confusing a web designer with a web marketing expert. A web designer does computer coding, a web marketing expert integrates the design and content of your website as part of your marketing efforts. Solution: Find a web marketing person that understands you business, let them contract web designers that will do a good job based on your marketing needs and their instructions.
   
4. A lot of pretty pictures and no content. A beautiful website does not mean that your customers will FIND your website. Content is king. Do you have key words?Solution: Content is what keeps people on your site and starting to fall in love with you, wanting to visit you and call you. Content is how Google and all the other search engines find your website.  Hire a good writer or LocalBizSolutions.net that will know the key words that best describe your business and make you easier to find online.
   
5. Not offering a product online.  People search the internet to shop or gather information 24/7, and people like knowing they could buy something from you.Solution: Offer something, even if it’s for free. Many times it doesn’t even have to be a product or service you provide, just a free newsletter or a coupon in exchange for their email address. Which brings us to #6
   
6. Not collecting email addresses. An email address is like money in the bank and you want as many email addresses that you can get. Solution: Giveaway something of value in exchange for an email address. Be sure to provide a notice of what you do with those email addresses. Do you have your privacy statement posted?
   
7. Thinking of not linking – linking is like magic. Links bring customers to your website and give you greater exposure. Solution: Link to other websites, and have them link to your website.  Mapclicks.com provides links to all of its client businesses websites. If you don’t have a website for MapClicks.com to link to, you are doing yourself a disservice and losing free advertising in the process. There are link exchange services available, call or email us for LocalBizSolutions.net recommendations.
   
8. Too long of a domain name or using a sub-domain – typing is an acquired skill and some people are lousy spellers. Too long of a domain name or using a sub-domain leads to people going to the wrong site and you miss out on a good customer. Solution: Keep it short and simple.
   
9. Falling in love with artistry or technology – Hard to read text, colored text on colored background, too much Flash, intrusive animation, confusing navigation, and looooong load times. A website is there for the purpose of supporting your business, either by generating money or generating clients that will bring you money. If it’s not doing that, you are wasting YOUR money.  Solution: Keep your home page easy to use and as fast loading as possible. Save the fancy technology and artistry for sub-pages, which provides “stick”. Your business website should be clean, bright, informative, and easy for your customer to use. A website is more than computer coding and flashy gimmicks, and way more than just an advertising tool.
   
10. Not Having a website. That is the same as not having a storefront sign. Nowadays, it seems like if you don’t have a website you don’t exist. Customers like to find you on the web, even if it’s only to look up your phone number and hours. At worst, without a website, customers will go to a competitor that does have a website that shows up on the search engines. At best your credibility as a viable business drops dramatically and puts doubt to your long-term viability in a potential customers mind. Solution: Have at least a one page website, it’s better than the yellow pages and less expensive. If you do not have the time to sort out all your website choices and costs, find a web marketing expert that can help you. Most offer a free consultation.

Got Questions?

Wanting to know more about websites and how to make them work for you? Call recommended web solutions provider, LocalBizSolutions.net at (503) 922-2731 to arrange your FREE consultation with a Web Marketing Expert. Mapclicks.com is sponsoring a  FREE Web Marketing tele-conference,