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A brand’s website is not only a place customers and potential customers can always go to request for information or make a purchase, but it is also an important extension of the brand. And as an important, significant extension of the brand, it should be taken care as one would do to a physical office.
Doing that is very important because whatsoever happens on the website has a way of rubbing off on the brand. At every time, you must make sure that a user’s experience of your website is not compromised in any way. However, there are some very negative myths that most people still hold about a website which become a big snag on their brand. These myths often foreclose us from getting the real truths about having and running a website that gives users a good experience. Most of these myths are just what they are – myths; they are a façade stopping you from the real truths. Always try as much as possible to avoid these:
This is the greatest myth of them of all. People think website developers should do all the work when it comes to giving your website a good user’s experience. While it may be true that web developers are experts in their field and know so much about building and running a website, they are not the be-all and know-all as you make them out to be. A developer may sure know how to get you an excellent website for your business; it is what you paid them for. However, they may not know what is peculiar to your business to make the website great by giving the website the right components it deserves. Never leave everything to your web developer, they do not have the proverbial magical wand to make everything go well when it comes to your niche. Make them understand the things they do not know. As the business owner/website owner, you are the product manager who needs to provide clear requirements for workflow, graphics, etc., to the developer so that you represent your brand effectively.
It may seem like a lot of effort at the beginning, but be assures that doing so really pays. Also, the more planning you do in the beginning, the faster the development portion of the site will go. Just like you wouldn’t leave everything to the task of a house builder, you should not too when dealing with your website developer. Collaborate with them about your business, bore them off with details even. Set up regular checkpoints. The first rule of building an excellent website is letting the development know everything that makes your website speak to the customer. In fact, a good web developer should ask you some relevant questions that should they want to know about the business you run before they begin building. This is how you know a good web developer from the inferior lots that are out there. If you hire a web developer and they do not show any interest in your business details, you know you must keep looking. You would be wasting time and financial resources dealing with them.
Even after the website is finished, tell them you want to take it for a test run before you conclude on the overall design and delivery of the website. During this period, you ask your friends to be a beta user of the website, access it on their gadget and tell you how it runs and if it seems like a website that speaks to them about what you do. Testing your website this way will give you a clear clue about how your website will be received by your final users and those who patronize your business. It is necessary though that you tell your beta user to be candid with you. Let them know that what they are doing is very significant to creating an effective website that stimulates growth for your business.
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This is the greatest myth of them of all. People think website developers should do all the work when it comes to giving your website a good user’s experience. While it may be true that web developers are experts in their field and know so much about building and running a website, they are not the be-all and know-all as you make them out to be. A developer may sure know how to get you an excellent website for your business; it is what you paid them for. However, they may not know what is peculiar to your business to make the website great by giving the website the right components it deserves. Never leave everything to your web developer, they do not have the proverbial magical wand to make everything go well when it comes to your niche. Make them understand the things they do not know. As the business owner/website owner, you are the product manager who needs to provide clear requirements for workflow, graphics, etc., to the developer so that you represent your brand effectively.
It may seem like a lot of effort at the beginning, but be assures that doing so really pays. Also, the more planning you do in the beginning, the faster the development portion of the site will go. Just like you wouldn’t leave everything to the task of a house builder, you should not too when dealing with your website developer. Collaborate with them about your business, bore them off with details even. Set up regular checkpoints. The first rule of building an excellent website is letting the development know everything that makes your website speak to the customer. In fact, a good web developer should ask you some relevant questions that should they want to know about the business you run before they begin building. This is how you know a good web developer from the inferior lots that are out there. If you hire a web developer and they do not show any interest in your business details, you know you must keep looking. You would be wasting time and financial resources dealing with them.
Even after the website is finished, tell them you want to take it for a test run before you conclude on the overall design and delivery of the website. During this period, you ask your friends to be a beta user of the website, access it on their gadget and tell you how it runs and if it seems like a website that speaks to them about what you do. Testing your website this way will give you a clear clue about how your website will be received by your final users and those who patronize your business. It is necessary though that you tell your beta user to be candid with you. Let them know that what they are doing is very significant to creating an effective website that stimulates growth for your business.
Are you kidding me! Mobile views of websites have been greater than desktop since 2014. In some countries like Mexico and India, mobile surpasses desktop by 4X. This is the greatest mistake any business owner can make with their website before even starting out. The number of mobile users has since surpassed those who use the traditional PC. And you think that does not count for something? It greatly does. If your website is not optimized for mobile gadgets users, then your business is greatly done for. Forget about how great and innovative your business may be, you will be losing tons of users than you can handle, and your website would fall short of achieving what is meant for. Do not ever make the mistake of not making your website mobile=compatible for an excellent mobile experience. It is indeed very bad for your business growth.
Be so invested in making your website mobile compatible as you would be interested in making your product or service turn out great. It is vital. One good way to spot a very good website developer from a bad one is how they make your website run on mobile gadgets. Any developer that does not talk about how it is important that your website run well on a mobile device is a bad developer you should never consider hiring. In making your website mobile compatible, ask that they are also compatible with all mobile browsers and mobile platforms. These are the best ways to making your website mobile compatible and good. Asking your web developer to make your website compatible across all platforms is ensuring no mobile user is left out in the building your website. There are tons of browsers out there, make your website unique for all of them. You may not know the significance of this now until your website starts meeting the user engagement target you had in mind.
Never make the mistake of thinking your website developer is done on your site before making sure it would benefit your mobile users. Optimizing your website for mobile users is a different world entirely. You have to understand what mobile users want when accessing a website.
– Mobile users want the convenience of access. They want a website they can quickly access on their phone without hassles and fast. This convenience of access also means they do not want your page to lag when surfing it on the net.
– Mobile users want to access information quickly on your website. So in making your website mobile compatible, be sure the mobile form of your website is not cluttered with too much info. Make the user interface appear simple and yet more informative. That is very important as mobile users want to get to whatever they have come for on your website fast.
– Also, on your mobile platform, always make your check-out button visible enough for your mobile users. Most mobile web users are all about making quick purchases, so you should make that easier for them on your website.
This is a very debilitating myth you cannot afford to fall for. It is a trap! Cramming so many things on your website does not give your website’s user a great experience, rather it puts them off. You do not want to put your customers and potential customers in this mess. KISS-Keep It Simple Stupid is the phrase that comes to mind. It is a messy situation to find oneself in when you are visiting a business webpage to get some quick info or make a swift purchase, and all you are confronted with on the webpage are a web of info that you cannot easily navigate. People generally do not read a website, they browse. Business owners have got to know one basic truth though: if you don’t capture a user’s attention in 3 seconds, you lose that person as a potential customer.
Do not get too carried away with your webpage arrangement that you forget the things that matter. These things are your CTA (call to action) and your contact button. They are very important. After giving a user a compelling message, ask them to act and give them a reason to act now. Maybe a discount for a limited time only. The contact button should present a user with a form where they can easily send a quick message should they have questions about your product or service.
While it is good that you write your web content yourself, you may be too snowed with other parts of running your business that you rarely have the time to dedicate to that. This is where the power of outsourcing comes in. You should get the work of doing that off your neck and let freelancers take care of it for you. There are other areas you should focus on rather than spending all your time writing and curating content. Get a content creator expert in this area to help you with your expenses as you waddle through sorting other businesses that demand your attention. Don’t have one? Try Fiverr.com. This is one of the best places to find any kind of outsourcing with prices starting at $5.
The wisdom in this is simply that you cannot do it all. You need helpers to make your website run well and get your customers the best user experiences. A great benefit of making people write your web content for you is that your website gets to look more professional. Professional content writers are skilled in creating SEO content that help website rank on search engines.
Never sink into the website myth that you can do it all when it comes to your website management. Let professional content creator take the load off. However, in outsourcing your website contents, take adequate time in explaining your ideas with your content creator so that you can have a great content delivery. Do not assume your web content creator should know what they should do by just looking at your website. They are experts in making your vision come true.
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References:
6 Crazy Myths About Website Development You Need To Stop Believing
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