4 Mistakes to Avoid When Integrating a Web Site to your Business

Many of us can remember the dot.com disaster of the 1990’s. The web was going to change everything. All you had to do is build a web site and customers will shop and we'll all get rich off internet web sites. Americans weren’t going to shop at malls: they would stay at home and order everything off the web. They would buy groceries from home and have them delivered. They would use the web to do anything and everything they could. “If I just build a web site and put products on it” many told themselves “then I can have a successful business.”

We all know how that turned out. Over 80% of web based businesses lasted less than a year because they made critical error number one: My whole Business
relies on my web site alone. This is a critical error that some people are still discovering the hard way. In some industries web sites do most of the heavy lifting for your business, but a successful B2B or BtoC business has many other strategies and marketing tools. Telephone follow ups, email response teams, and direct phone marketing all can be linked to the web site and enhance end user satisfaction and drive sales. Remember, most people still want to talk to or correspond with the company by phone before doing business.

The second error that a lot of sites still make is information overload on the front page. The front page is the forest, leading to various trees of information or products that you want your customers to see. You want to convey the general outline of what your company does. Then have links to various products or services that your customers can choose from. Keep it simple, with a main window, and then side links to other areas. Always have your companies email address and 800 Number on the front page so you can assist with any additional information a customer might need.

Too many pop up ads kills a web site. You’ll notice serious business web sites don’t have very many if any pop up ads. This is important because 1) it opens more windows on the page and can become confusing: “how do I get back to the page I was on….?” Also, remember, any ad that is clicked draws attention away from your site to a different site. Is the money you are being paid by that ad company worth losing a customers’ attention?

Bad imagery can ruin a web site: good imagery can build your web traffic.
The first impression that a customer gets of your business is front page. This image should grab their attention. It is critical to have solid, attractive pictures, frames and links on the front page. Many will look at a front page and decide from there whether they want to continue onto the rest of the website.
Choose a web designer that has a proven reputation and ask them for references. If you are building the site yourself, remember, this will take time away from your business and means you will have to spend future time as well.

A web site can enhance a business’ sales substantially if used properly. Remember to plan out well what exactly what you want your web site to do, integrate that into your business plan, and create a site that suits your needs. Having a web designer working with you is the best option the majority of the time.
Don’t be afraid to ask your designer questions or tell them when you think changes are in order, or something doesn’t look right. The site has to be functional 99.9% of or customers can get a bad impression of your business.