The time has come for me to spread my wisdom, after many years of being in Website Design and SEO I have built up a good ‘memory bank’ of the worst things I have heard and seen, let me share these with you. This will be an evolving list of thing we see and hear and find out from talking to, visiting and discovering what new business owners do and how they act:
1, Create a Facebook page then get all your friends to review you with a 5 Star ranking (Saw 155 ‘Likes’ and ten lots of 5 star reviews including one by the business owner within one day, all done before the business even existed!).
2, Tell the website designer that you don’t want to spend over £100 until the ‘money starts coming in’. You need to spend money to make money normally and the attitude that you will only invest in your business when it starts producing capital is normally a flawed one.
3, Tell the website designer that you don’t need a website as you have got ‘many friends and contacts’. It’s true that a new business venture can grow organically from friends and contacts but a website can potentially reach the world and will enhance any marketing you do as you can’t help but be curious to see your products / services online.
4, Create a website by yourself from a DIY or ‘free’ package. First impressions count and if your website looks terrible and doesn’t work on all browsers / devices the first impression you leave as a business will be a poor one.
5, Trust a friend or an inexperienced amateur to create your website for you. You will regret it as the good feeling that you will ‘save money’ by getting an amateur to do your website will soon leave you when you realise that after 1-2 years you are not getting any phone calls or emails due to your website now working / not ranking highly for your key search terms or not ‘converting’ website visitors into clients / customers.
6, Having the early attitude of ‘saving money’, meaning you don’t want to spend much to invest into or launch your business, if done incorrectly this will cost you the ‘saving’ many times over – the saying ‘if you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, just wait until you hire an amateur’ springs to mind here. Saving money is great but understand the concept of what you are paying for and what you are getting in return is key. I have had people ask me ‘to do a deal’ before they have told me anything about what they want or need.
7, Personally purchase 42 websites before the initial meeting with us! 42 is the record but there has been at least 5 business owners that have bought 10 website domains, before knowing what to do with them. In most cases initially sticking with one domain and building that is the way to go.
8, Concentrating on designing and printing hundreds of business cards and flyers before you have a credible business idea (or website).
9, Deciding that you need an expensive / professional logo designed / printed before knowing the direction you really want to take and the image you want to give to prospective clients.
10, Repeatedly asking your friends to ‘like my page and share it’ – it’s a good way to lose friends.
11, Joining Facebook groups then ‘spamming’ them with your website, you will be removed and may have lost the chance to use a really valuable / relevant / local resource.
12, Have your first message state ‘we are cheaper’ and can offer you ‘a massive saving’ without explaining your service, you should concentrate on your ISPs and the quality of your goods / services before trying to say they are ‘cheaper’ and ‘a bargain’.
13, Choose a website name that doesn’t instantly tell someone what you do. There is also SEO advantages to having your main function or service in your website name.
14, Once your website is build you don’t keep it current with your ‘News’ and testimonials
15, Company formation – don’t automatically assume you have to be a Limited company from day one, why not start as a sole trader to ‘test the water’ as its free and you can easily do the accounts yourself. Once you start turning over a healthy amount you can have a meeting with some local accountants to see what they advise going forward.
16, Quite a common one is to have the desire to start a website business as you think someone is doing well but have zero experience of that business sector, I have commonly seen people ask for a website and say I want it ‘exactly like that one’ not realising what is involved technically and on a functional level.
17, Underestimating the cost of setting up a website. Some people expect you to be able to create fully functioning bespoke ecommerce websites for a couple of hundred pounds! Be realistic with your expectations.
