Have you heard this phase "You don't know what you don't know"? I sure have and I've said that many times to the point that I lost count. For the most parts, I really feel that making mistakes here or there can actually be a good thing. But for some mistakes, it's better to be aware what they are and how to avoid them so you can save yourself time, frustrations, tears and money.
1) Select the platform that doesn't fit with your technical background, learning ability and patient level:
I'm staritng my business but wait!!! What platform should I choose to diy my website???? Helppppppppppp!!!!
"Mary and her friends told me that XXXXX is the BEST website platform to build, everything else sucks!"
"Don't pick that drag-and-drop website builder! Oh my lord, its SEO is bad, you won't be able to move it anywhere else in the future, the cost is ridiculous, it's so limiting. NO, NO, NO. Pick this xxxxxx instead."
For most of us, our go-to source for advice could be your family, friends or strangers in your favorite FB groups. Honestly, there is nothing wrong when you ask other people for their experience but keep in mind that there is no one perfect solution that will fit everyone's needs/background. Just like skincare product, asking people with oily skin about what product they use will not suite your skin type.
Check this out if you haven't seen this video about "What important factros to consider before selecting your DIY website platform?"
Everyone is different. Some people do well and have fun learning new technologies while some don't. Some people have more patient than others. Some people have more time to learn and experiment while others are on time crunch and want something simple.
To successfully build your DIY website, it's important to ask yourself how patient you are, do you enjoy learning technologies and are you easily frustrated with tech stuff. Then select a platform.
This one mistake I've seen over and over again is when peole listen to others and choose what they think is best, but does not neccessarily suit their tech/skill level. What happens next is that they get frustrated and overwhlemed with a much bigger learning curve than they had anticipated. The joy and excitement in building your website is quickly diminishing. In short, do your research, understand the pros and cons of each platform, when possible, sign up for a free trial to test out their user interface and play with it.
2) Overthink on how to make your website pretty and perfect:
Most of us get caught up in that "perfecting" phase where we design, we revise, we make changes, then more changes, go back and change some more. Does that sound familiar? Been there, done that.
That cycle never seems to stop for some which delays the launch of your website. At some point, you have to see it as "done is better than perfect". You will never know whether your website is working or not until it goes live. Until your targeted customers/clients see it.
Remember that you can always tweak. Nothing is written in stone. You can make changes and update as you go. Most of all, don't get hung up with your website and forget to focus on the more important areas of your business.
3) Lack an action plan:
What? Buildng a website needs an action plan?? Absolutely! Having a plan or a structure will help you stay on track.
When you build your webite on the fly, it's easy to get carried away and overwhlemed with many different ideas that can take you offtrack. Start with a site map, think about a book. Create your table of content. Think about main topics and pages. Websites like photography and arts are pretty much self-explanatory and will not need long copy writing/content but other website will benefit from having high quality/well-thought content/marketing strategies to get people to take action. Some people experience a brain freeze when creating content for their sites.
Colors: if you don't have your branding colors down yet. This may take a bit extra time to fiddle with the idea. Look up Pinterest for some inspirations or search "color pallete".
Now, let me know which one of these mistakes you have experienced when diyed your website.
Comments