How to Avoid Mistakes Small Businesses Make in Website Development There is no avoiding website development for small businesses; the modern business/consumer ecosystem is simply too web-oriented and the benefits of a website are too great to ignore. Luckily the cost of quality web development won’t break the bank these days, so any small business can take advantage of the web. If you are updating an old website for the modern web or creating your company’s first website, here are a few things to remember if you want to avoid making any rookie mistakes. Simplify Your Messages You don’t have a lot of time get the customer’s attention. Walls of text that intricately explain the ins and out of your solution are not what people are looking for when they visit your site—at least not initially. Save the in-depth stuff for specific inner pages, or better yet downloadable whitepapers and eBooks. When it comes to home pages, landing pages, and most other content on your website, short text content, intelligent graphics, and a clean layout are your best bets for communicating effectively. Modern web development favors simplicity and clarity, and that’s what users expect to be served. Complex and cluttered websites are quick turn-offs for modern consumers. Connect with Social Media No website is an island! Your website needs to be connected, and the best place to start is with social media. Your business should have—at a minimum—regular activity on Facebook and Twitter and an up-to-date LinkedIn page. There are more benefits to be gained from focused marketing/community-building efforts on those platforms and elsewhere (Google+, Pinterest, YouTube, etc.). For the results, you are looking for connecting your website to your social media pages to get some cross-pollination and drive traffic through your different social media assets. Embed a Twitter feed, put quick links to your social media pages, make sure people know how to connect with your small business. Go Mobile from the Start Use responsive web design to bring a user-friendly experience to all visitors—with mobile browsing representing a huge portion of web traffic (and only growing) businesses simply can’t afford to ignore mobile-friendly design. Many small businesses make the mistake of settling for non-mobile, thinking they will simply upgrade later, but this is not a viable strategy. You sacrifice too much traffic by ignoring mobile users, and opening a new project with a website developer later on just to bring it up to modern standards will just be an added cost and complication; better to design responsive from the ground up. Focus on a Call to Action (CTA) Without a clear CTA, converting visitors is going to be difficult. Don’t make the mistake of assuming visitors will know how to proceed, there’s absolutely no reason to be vague. Your CTA should be enticing and actionable—something that the reader can do right now while their interest is high. It should also be specific because you don’t want to risk losing a conversion if the visitor is at all confused. Start Soon! There’s no time like the present! Software Developers India offers high quality website development from our Silicon Valley headquarters. We love working with small businesses to modernize their web presence. Our combined mobile & web expertise provides us with valuable insights and expertise that we can pass on to our clients. Get in touch and we can provide a free consultation and quote for your website development project—reach us at 408.805.0495 or team@sdi.la to get started.