While there are plenty of normal tips for budding website owners to read about, there are still a lot of mistakes happening. Putting a website together is a learning experience that requires careful attention. There are people who will just slap anything up for a quick buck, but in the end, it bites them in the ass.
Here are some tips to avoid when creating a website for the first time:
Your Brand
Do not put any old name and logo together. Be creative, but remember this is something you are putting together that may become something people will remember you by. Even if you do not know what you want right away, at least use something simple and tasteful. You can later change your brand as your business grows.
Your Design
Avoid choosing the easiest route for your site’s design. Even if it is free or really cheap… it might not work for you later on when you are needing to make changes and… 1, you are not able to make those changes, or 2, you do not want to spend money to pay someone to make those changes. Find something you can use, but will aesthetically pleasing for your brand.
Do not design with one browser in mind. Even if you might prefer one browser versus another, your visitors may be using something else. Be accessible.
Do not clutter up your site. While you do not want things looking like they are floating miles apart, you definitely do not want to blast people with content so smashed together that it is hard to discern where one thing ends and another begins.
Avoid using a font that is either too tiny to read or a font that is hard to read because of its design. A lot of 12 pixels tall will suffice for normal reading. Anything smaller may have vision impaired visitors squinting or giving up on your site.
Your Content
Do not write like you are trying to write for a newspaper. It is silly and may not even encourage people to leave feedback.
Do not forget to have some type of contact form. Leaving your email address is risky. A nice and secure contact form is great to bring in potential leads.
If you are selling a product, keep the copy clear and concise – avoid unnecessary words. People want to get to the point quickly. If you cannot convince people in less than 500 words to buy your product, you need to tweak your pitch.
These are just a few tips.
What tips do you recommend people to avoid if they are putting together a website for the first time?
Thanks for your recommendations. I'm from another country. And I'm not young. It's not easy for me to do my site. But I like it and I try to read interesting and useful posts of bloggers. Thanks.
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Excellent article.This will help every web designer to develop search engine friendly web site. I wish to add one more point to this article that is keywords in url. A keyword rich url will help to rank good in search engines.
It's probably worth mentioning that most blog and site owners don't pay attention to keeping
the image sizes to a minimum which results in the pages taking ages to load and frustrating the
visitor.
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Totally agree about the design. I wonder how many blogs get fewer readers than they deserve because they are using a standard design.
Sad really, it only takes a few minutes to find another template and still there are lots of bloggers who doesn't do it.
"Avoid using a font that is either too tiny to read or a font that is hard to read because of its design. … Anything smaller may have vision impaired visitors squinting or giving up on your site." I agree with this. Font size and style is a very important factor in creating a website. Though it may seem to irrelevant, truth is that if you have a bad choice on font size and style, and oh the font color, visitors might not continue exploring your site. And speaking of navigation, your site should be user-friendly. I hate websites in which login button seem so hard to find. HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) is one of the most important thing a web developer should be aware of before creating a website.
Clark Stinson
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Thanks for the tips- I also agree with your points about the design, particularly when you advise to keep the design uncluttered. It's always a mistake to overcomplicate a blog; visitors are more likely to contribute if they feel that they can do so with ease. Many people will simply be put off by an unnecessarily cluttered site, even if it offers impressive features. It's definitely important to target your market specifically and determine what exactly it is that they are looking for from a blogsite. Doing this will ensure that visitors to your site feel properly valued and increases the likelihood that they will return.
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Thanks for sharing these tips. But for me, the most important thing here is creativity. Without it, it will be meaningless.
Great post! This article explains in depth how to construct a successful website that are helpful to new bloggers like me. Being creative deciding what to and what not to include in the website is what it’s really all about.