Mistakes business owners make when building websites

Yes, it’s a bit of a cliché. A bad one at that. However, some of our clients, like many other businesses, started their business believing they could go it alone. Even if you are a brilliant entrepreneur with expertise in copywriting, online design, and web development, doing it all alone is a bad idea.

Why? because objectivity is required. Subjectivity would result in a website that largely appeals to you. You need feedback from people who are not emotionally invested in your business. People who can tell you the harsh reality.

‍You need to ask yourself. Why does my business require a website? It goes without saying that you are trying to reach a specific demographic. Then, should your business website be designed to appeal to you or that demographic?

Many of our clients were comfortably knee-deep in this pitfall. One would think that coming to us meant they had figured out why their websites weren’t delivering the desired results. But no, most of them came with the same budget that funded the mess they were in. It was like doing the same thing over and over again; expecting a better result each time.

Okay, let’s face it. When you see a cheap website versus one built with value in mind, you just know it. There’s no debating that. I'm not saying you should throw all your money at copywriters, designers, and developers—um, hello, please throw your money at Pagesence

It all depends on what you want to achieve with your business website, and whether your resources can accommodate that goal. In other words, go for cost-effective.Yes, there’s a big difference between “cheap” and "cost-effective.” The latter has value written all over it. And that’s my recommendation. That and the saying, “When you want to do something, do it well.”

When building a website for your business, vision and strategy should be at the core of everything. They address the question, “What do I want to achieve with this business website?

” and “How is this website going to help me achieve those goals?” If these two questions are answered correctly, they will define what goes into the copy, design, and development of your business’ website.Unfortunately, some of our clients arrive with unclear goals. Fortunately for them, we at Pagesence are meticulous. So we usually begin by having clients dwell on their visions. Then we collaborate to create a workable strategy.

I have to say, there's a lot of satisfaction in knowing that we helped a client overcome a difficult challenge.

I'm not referring to making your business website responsive, though that’s also highly important. I'm referring to being a responsive client. Consider how aggravating it is to view an unresponsive mobile website on your smartphone. That's how it feels to work with an unresponsive client. It effectively halts the project's progress. If this text has inspired you to become a responsive client seeking a responsive website, then I have done my job. Now it's time to reward me with a cup of coffee.

So my fellow businesspeople. When you hire a professional—Pagesence, of course—to build your company website, remember that talking about your business is a good thing for the project. Every business is unique. While there are similar businesses online from which professionals can source information and inspiration, the last thing you want is to make your website generic, or worse, a replica. Certainly, you want the content, design, and other features to zero in on pertinent aspects of your business that you want to convey to your audience.

The bottom line is: if you want Pagesence to build your website? You must be prepared to set aside time to seriously discuss, your business.

At Pagesence, we have what we call a handover document. Basically, this is a comprehensive documentation of all tasks completed under a particular project, all login details, and a linked Dropbox folder containing all files and data generated throughout the project development process. As soon as the client has approved the completed project, we close the contract by passing the handover document to them.

The unfortunate truth is that most clients we worked with in the past didn’t ask for, much less expect, a handover document. They typically imagined that all they needed was the finished product—that is, the link to their website, thus forgetting that:

‍They would need to take control of their hosting, domain, and other accounts, change their login details, and they’ll update their payment details so that their subscriptions can renew automatically.

They need access to the raw assets that make up their branding identity.

By leaving their assets behind, they are leaving themselves open to extortion. This is how some developers hold people’s websites hostage.

The list goes on and on. Please, if you are a business owner, never leave your assets behind, no matter what the project might be.However, the advantage of working with Pagesence is that we never let you leave your brand assets behind.