From Jurveston on Flickr
One of my favorite projects is writing and editing website content. I love putting together messaging that clearly introduces a company, explains what they do, and successfully states why they’re better than the competition. For me, it’s a really fun challenge. Plus, I get to meet a lot of interesting people and learn about new industries.
Lately I’ve been working on several websites. Whether the company is big or small, new or well-established, selling a product or a service, I have been running into the same simple mistakes over and over and over again. These mistakes can turn out to be costly in a major way. After all, the purpose of your website is to be informational, yes, but more importantly, it should be a lead generator. If people cannot quickly and easily find the information they are looking for on your website, not only will visits to your site be short, but they will not result in new customers. As I am so fond of saying, not good.
Here is my list of the top six most common website mistakes and how to fix them.
So…what do you do again? Ever been to a company’s website and couldn’t figure out what they did? Not clearly stating your company’s mission statement front and center on your home page is the number one mistake I run into. If I don’t see it, I am not going to search for it. Instead, I am going to go back to my search engine results page and click on the next company that is listed. If your mission statement is on your About Us or Company Profile page, move it to the home page pronto.
Watch your language! If your company is of a more technical nature and has its own language, make sure your website is written in plain English so that both industry insiders and outsiders can easily understand what it is you do.
Less is more. I am begging you, dear readers, please remember that less is more. I am known for editing entire pages down to two paragraphs, as I firmly believe there is no reason to continually repeat the same information using ever larger SAT words. No one is going to read it! Also—and this is worth repeating—be sure to have someone edit the content before it is posted. It must be free from grammatical mistakes, run-on sentences, spelling mistakes, and punctuation errors.
Bread crumbs. It should be really easy to move around on your website. If you have multiple sections with multiple sub-pages, make sure it is easy to get back to that section’s main page and to jump from one page to another within that section. Keep a navigation bar for the section, as well as for the entire website, clearly visible at all times. (By entire website, I also mean the home page.)
Graphics. Use graphics that are of high-quality, professional, and relevant to your industry and your company. This should be obvious, but, well, to some people it is not.
News should be new. If you have a News page, and you should, keep it updated. Even if you don’t, be sure all the information on your website is current. You should not be referencing the holiday 2009 season, upcoming fall specials, or have a press release from August 2009 prominently featured. Visit your website at least once a month to update it. If your content management system is difficult to use, find someone within or outside the company who is comfortable with it.
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