Mistakes to avoid when creating a website

My first article looked at common mistakes to avoid when creating a website. Here I explore the idea further by looking at the benefits of keeping your website simple, how to pick a web developer and the importance of compatibility.

Be sure to check out part one before reading on.

5. Keep it simple

When creating a website, pay attention to some of the more successful websites on the Internet and you will find a theme of simplicity. Think Google, YouTube, eBay and even Flying Solo. You will notice that all of these sites focus carefully on their core message and purpose. They do not get distracted by fancy flash movies, graphic intensive layouts and unnecessary distractions. You have to decide: is your website a fancy piece of art or is it a tool for your business? Of course this does not mean that you can’t have a successful website that also looks great. But the core purpose of your website should remain your focus.

6. Sites which look awful in very new or very old browsers.

Before selecting a website vendor ask them about website compatibility. Do not let them tell you that “only” 10% of users have that type of browser, or only 15% of users have that operating system. The reality is only a fraction of website users will have the latest operating system, the latest browser and the highest screen resolution. Ignore the minorities at your peril! There is no reason why you can have a fantastic and effective website presence that is viewable and useable by well over 95% of internet users. Ensure that your website looks great and functions correctly :

• On both PCs and Macs
• Using Firefox, Explorer (versions 5 and up) and Safari
• On monitors starting at a resolution of 1024 x 768. While there are still 800 x 600 resolution monitors out there, building a site for that size screen will limit the effectiveness of your site for the vast majority of users.
• When measuring up to W3C compliance.
  

7. Choose the right web developer

It is absolutely vital that you have a good relationship with your web developer. Your website needs will evolve over time so you need a developer you can rely on. With literally thousands of developers across Australia, finding the right one for your business can be a challenge. I would strongly advise that you probe any potential developer with a range of questions, including:

• Can you supply me with a list of the last ten websites you built?
• Can you supply me with the contact details of five happy customers?
• How long have you been in operation and how many websites have you built?
• What makes your websites search engine friendly?
• Can you show me examples of your customers’ websites ranking well in Google?
• Who owns your company?
• How many staff members do you employ?
• Who owns my website once it is built?
• If you go out of business what happens to the code that runs my website?
• How much will website changes cost after my initial website is built and how quickly will you work on them?
• Who is responsible for repairing bugs in my website?

The answers that are supplied to these questions will give you a good feel for your potential web developer. You need a company that has a strong track record and one that you feel will be around in a few years time. If your web developer goes out of business it can be disastrous for your business. You also need a web developer that builds sites that have the potential to rank well in Google.

Next time, we’ll explored some of the limitations of creating a website.

• Published 11 April 08
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18 comments | Add your own 1 2 3 | Next» View all»

• The biggest killer with websites, no matter how impressive otherwise?? Incoreect speling! Why is it so common? Grant Hyman - salescentral from Sydney

• "What makes your websites search engine friendly?" I agree with that (semantic standard code etc).
  But "Can you show me examples of your customers’ websites ranking well in Google?", what does this have to do with the web developer? This is the Search Engine Optimization expert's job. Sabin from Oradea

• I think the biggest problem with web developers is that they don't want to spend the time understanding 'what' the customer wants; rather they just go ahead doing what they want.
  And flash! Goodness, how good it looks but how limited you are.
  Having just redone our website ourselves, we tried to account for the things you listed; most importantly that it works in every browser. We work on macs and there are so many sites that don't look good in Safari...
  -Jess, www.zulugraphics.com.au Jess from Zulu Graphics, Newcastle

• Hi Everyone, and thanks for your comments!
  Sabin, I agree that there is a big difference between the roles of a web developer and a search engine expert. The reality though, is that unless a site is built with search engines in mind there will be a real limit to how well that site can perform. This is regardless of how good the search engine expert is, and especially true in very competitive industries.
  Of course the fewer the number of sites you are competing with, the easier it is to perform well in search engines. We have seen plenty of customers sites appear on the first page of Google in relatively competitive industries without having a search engine expert work on their site. This is generally the case where the industry is not highly competitive and the site has been developed in a search engine friendly manner.
  In general a web developer should make use of the following features:
  • Search Engine Friendly URL’s
  • The appearance of different meta titles on different pages
  • Complete META descriptions and keywords on each page
  • The ability for ALT Tags to appear with images
  • The use of H1, H2, H3 tags to highlight important text
  • Internal linking
  • Inclusion of search engine friendly navigation (i.e. not using a lot of JavaScript to move around the site)
  • A site map
  • Standards compliant coding
  These are the absolute basics. The rest then comes down to great copy and all the other strategies employed by search engine experts as part of their job - David David Lawrence from Sydney | Read my articles

• I think also it's very important to structure your information. When the visitor arrives your site, what do you want them to do? Just telling them about your business is not enough. dinah from sydney

• I find it quite ironic that on a 'flying solo' website we should find a rhetorical question that implies only developers with multitudes of staff are worth employing for your website project. Many website developers (myself included) are soloists and quite proud of that fact. Bruce Chapman from www.ifinity.com.au

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