Website Design

common website mistakes business owners make

3 Common Mistakes Business Owners Make When Launching Their Website

Small business owners will spend between $2,000 and $10,000 to build a new website. 

Many business owners understand it takes a little time to pick up traffic, but what if you don’t see any improvement?

You’re getting no new leads, no phone calls, nothing is in your inbox, and you’re starting to get worried. 

You’ve just spent a lot of time and money to get your new website up and running. 

What now?

Don’t panic! Take a step back and reevaluate your website to see if you’re making one of the 3 common mistakes business owners make when launching their website.

Is your website not conveying the right message? Let’s talk!

Top 3 Most Common Digital Marketing Mistakes Business Owners Make Before A Website Launch

It’s easy to get caught up in the design of your website and pay less attention to its content. But your website’s content is much more than simply talking about your company and its services or products.

Yes, you want to ensure that your website is free of spelling and grammatical errors. However, if you’re doing any of the following things, they could be turning potential customers away.

Mistake #1: There’s More Focus On The Design Than The Words

As mentioned above, a website’s design can easily take center stage as you’re moving through your website’s development. And you’re not completely wrong to focus on it! But according to research by the Nielsen Norman Group, most internet users only skim or scan a webpage – which means you have a limited amount of time and text to get your message across with clarity.

Headlines, subheadings, bullet points, and call-to-action buttons (CTAs) are what your audience is looking for when browsing your site. They may notice a cool feature or two, but they won’t be nearly as interested in your website’s design as you are. If your website doesn’t understand what you do and how you can help them immediately, then they’re much more likely to move on to another website.

Be sure you use powerful copy to explain how you better serve your potential customers. Try not to be too wordy and make your process easy to follow. For example, when explaining how you like to do business together, break it down into 3 steps like:

1. Get In Touch!

Give us a call at 123.456.7890 to schedule a complimentary 30-minute consultation.

2. Evaluate Your Needs

We’ll discuss which services are right for you, your desired timeline, and pricing.

3. Let’s Shake On It

As soon as we receive your deposit, we’ll get started right away!

There’s no need to give up all of your strategies right away. Let your audience reach out to you with a few simple steps.

Do you have a killer design with uncoordinated copy? FocusCopy fixes misaligned content.

Mistake #2: Business Owners Forget Who The Website Is For

Take a look at your website. Is there a ton of “we” language? This type of language typically includes words and phrases that keep the message company-focused rather than customer-focused.

Some company-focused copy is okay. But don’t go overboard. 

Your website isn’t really about you, remember? 

You already know who you are! Your website’s job is to explain your company to others and how you make their lives easier or better.

If users can’t make a connection to your message or quickly find information on your product or service benefits, then they’ll move on. It’s nice to feature your years of experience, certifications, volunteer experience, and so on. But keep in mind that the only information they truly need is what you’re offering and how it helps them.

A few items you should consider adding to your copy:

  • Customer pain points
  • Customer benefits
  • Special offerings
  • Limited-time deals or pricing
  • Engaging CTAs
  • Contact information
  • FAQs

All of these are a great way to convey the value your company has while offering easy-to-find contact information for when they’re ready to move forward.

Make that offering loud and clear, and cut out anything that simply fills the space.

Mistake #3: There’s No Celebration Of The Launch

Did you perform a soft launch without letting your customers know about your new website? 

Yikes!

You’ve invested time and money in your new website. 

Shouldn’t the people you care about see it?

One of the best ways to launch your new website is to create an email campaign to build up the excitement for its launch. At the very least, your new website will be on the minds of your customers if they’ve skimmed through an announcement email or two.

Don’t forget to throw some confetti for yourself, too. You’ve done an amazing job advancing your business’s growth with fresh digital marketing. It’s no small feat, and you should give yourself and your team a huge pat on the back. You can:

  • Host a countdown pizza party 
  • Make t-shirts
  • Congratulate your team for all of their hard work
  • Share your excitement on social media

Doing any or all of these will let your customers know that enhancing their experience is important to you – no one can argue with that!

Want To Launch Your Website This Year?

You have an amazing design already, but you aren’t completely sure your copy is where you want it to be. 

Don’t slow your momentum now. You’re onto something incredible. We can feel it! It’s time to put that plan in motion with a website that will convert your audience into paying customers. 

Our content remains customer-focused because we continue to ask one of our favorite questions of all time…Who cares? If there isn’t a clear answer to our writing, it’s time to rework what’s written.

We’ll use ourselves as an example…

Why Does FocusCopy exist? ⟶ To write for small and medium-sized businesses

Why does it matter? ⟶ Because business owners hate writing, don’t have time to write, and/or don’t know how to write for their business

So what? ⟶ We are an affordable and efficient solution when you need a professional copywriter for your business

Does the idea of writing your own website copy leave you feeling…a little queasy?

Talk to the team at FocusCopy and avoid these and other common website mistakes business owners make.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words
Top Problems Website Designers Experience

Website Designers: There’s A Better Way For Copy

You didn’t become a website designer to…

Write copy.

Analyze word choice. 

Get words out of your client’s mouths. 

Wait on copy. 

No. You became a website designer to bring an idea to life and generate a platform for businesses to grow. 

After talking to dozens of website designers and developers across the United States, we’ve learned they all struggle with one thing. And that one thing can tank a project’s success or delay project timelines. 

So before we reveal the big struggle, what are the top problems website designers face? 

Top Problems Website Designers Experience In Their Business

There are many moving parts when it comes to website design: the branding, the copy, the design, the development, and the client themselves. But there are top problems website designers experience that rise to the top. 

Lack of Client Vision 

“I want a website.” But what do you want the website to do? 

One of the most frustrating things website designers experience is when their clients lack clarity. They don’t know what they want their website to do, how they want their prospects to navigate through, or what this website can do for their business.

When clients lack vision, expectations often go unmet. That usually ends in leaving a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. And you definitely don’t want that!

Prolonged Timelines 

You might layout a perfect timeline for your clients with ample feedback windows; however, the timeline extends for several weeks (or even months) in reality. 

For example, one website designer in our network shared how they had one client whose project timeline was 3 months (a pretty standard timeline). However, two big issues extended the timeline up to 9 months – 3 times the original estimate. What happened? They let their clients write the copy themselves (even though they weren’t copywriters or experienced in writing website copy), and they were relaxed with their feedback windows. 

Unspoken Expectations

Expectations. The e-word. When there is no clear communication based on either party’s expectations for the project or relationship, it’s bound to end up in disaster. Unmet expectations usually end in a frayed relationship and poor feedback. 

If you’ve already passed the kick-off meeting and suspect that there are unspoken expectations, schedule a call with your client to understand what success looks like for them. Then you can either readjust to meet those expectations or share how you are already working towards those expectations. 

The Website Copy

We wouldn’t be writing this article if the website copy wasn’t the biggest problem website designers experience in their business. After meeting with dozens of designers across the United States, we’ve learned that there are two models: 

  1. The designer relies on their clients to provide the copy. There is no contractual agreement for the client to hire a copywriter. Usually, they write the copy themselves. It isn’t optimized for search engines and is typically way longer than needed. 
  2. The designer writes the copy themselves (and they usually hate themselves for doing that). It creates an unnecessary bottleneck in the business because copywriting isn’t your first or even second favorite part of the job. 

Instead of relying on your clients to write their copy or writing the copy yourselves, let’s connect how we can build directly into your process to create copy that reflects your client’s brand voice and resonates with their target audience. 

Schedule a discovery call with FocusCopy today to explore how we can support you. 

Options For Website Designers To Avoid Their Copy Problems

Now, we know the top problems website designers experience. But what are the options for website designers to avoid their copy problems? 

Ask The Right Questions

To find the best answers, you need to ask the right questions. Here are a couple of questions to assess whether the client can provide the copy or whether you need to enforce they use your copywriting skills (hopefully, provided by FocusCopy).

  • As for your website copy, are you writing your own copy, or are you hiring a professional copywriter
  • What does success look like for this website? 
  • Do you want to create meaningful engagement with your target audience on your website? 
  • How much time can you commit in [insert timeframe you want to copy] to write, edit, and deliver your copy to us? 

Stand By Your Timelines

If you’ve included it in your contracts, enforce your timelines. One thing we’ve seen help many website designers and marketers is to put into place a revision or feedback period. This not only makes this website project your client’s priority, but it allows you to better plan your resources. 

Find A Solution For Website Copy

Usually, investing in a website redesign and redevelopment is a big deal for companies. Emphasize that you wouldn’t make a big investment without actually doing it right. We have created a couple of options to help you improve your service offerings. 

Send Website Copy Templates

A blank page is your worst enemy. We’ve created a whole host of website copy templates that you can download directly from our website to help your clients fill out their copy. 

Click here to access (go to resources page).

Make Copy Completed By Professional Writers A Requirement For Your Clients

Another way to avoid the copy situation altogether is to require it as part of your website package. If you don’t have a copywriter on your team to supply the copy, you can partner with a company like FocusCopy to outsource the copy development. 

Interested in chatting with us? Schedule a call with us today to explore a potential partnership. 

Partner With The Website Copywriting Experts

As a preferred partner for website designers all across the nation, we work closely with your process to add value to your clients and streamline the most frustrating part of the design process – the copy.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words