Three Common Mistakes in Web Management
Designing and developing a successful website involves three levels of action:
- Web management
- Interaction design – this means your homepage layout, navigation support and templates for product pages, as well as search options
- Content design – the thing (text, videos, or images) that your visitors are there to see
A good website depends on all of these aspects to become successful. Today, websites are an integral part of just about any business foundation. Not only do they allow the company to reach out to a wider audience, but they also provide a medium for organizations to communicate with their market, educate them, and keep track of what they need.
Your website is the front page of your business. It acts as your online billboard and the business card that advertises you far beyond the restrictions of your local market, into the world of E-commerce. The right website speaks volumes about the company behind it, prompting prospective customers to decide within seconds whether yours is the right site for them. Because of this, making even the smallest mistake can have huge repercussions on your business. With that in mind, here are three of the most common mistakes when it comes to web management, and how to avoid them.
1. Not Knowing What Your Website Should Achieve
The number one problem that most people have with web management, is that they jump straight into building a site, with no idea why they’re doing it. Most of the time, companies build websites for the simple reason that either an executive individual told them to do it, or just because everyone else is doing it.
Today, you need to have a website just so that you can be considered a professional organization, which means that it is all right for you to construct something that’s little more than a business card, with a small amount of information and contact details. However, doing this is not the best way to make use of the web for your marketing efforts. Begin your website design by researching ways that you, and your company can provide some real value to your customers in an online format. Perhaps the best thing that you can do for your online presence is to ensure that your users actually benefit from spending time on your site.
1. Neglecting to Create a Budget for Maintenance
The annual maintenance budget for the average website should be approximately the same as the initial cost for building your site. At an absolute minimum, you can reduce your budget down to about 50% of this total, but bear in mind that ongoing costs are likely to be more expensive for projects that require regular real-time updates, such as news sites.
Spending money on a glamorous website design is all well and good, but if you do not keep that website updated, then your investment is going to hit the floor very quickly. The online universe is in such a state of rapid expansion that even the smallest website is likely to need a major redesign every year, simply so that it can avoid looking completed outdated. You need to keep on track with the expectations of your users if you want to keep getting their business. Furthermore, extra maintenance will be needed throughout the year to reorganize and revise old pages, bring out fresh content, and avoid rotting links.
1. Wasting Opportunities for Links
The World Wide Web is a network based on links. Hypertext links tie the various corners of the internet together, allowing users to discover consistently new and useful websites for their needs. Most companies have begun using links in all manner of advertising efforts, from press releases to TV commercials, and sometimes woven into the very fabric of the product itself.
When you’re linking to your website, one fantastic tip to keep in mind is that you shouldn’t use an advertisement to link to your home page. Instead, link the advertisement directly to the product page for the item that is in the ad. Try seeding press releases that have specific URLs relevant to your theme, as reporters may choose to follow these links for additional details. If you’re a running a campaign that utilizes a particular theme, include an URL to a page that is relevant to that theme.
