3 mistakes to avoid when building a website (2/3)

Mistake 1: Not breaking it down to manageable pieces

Building a website is a large project. Besides learning a lot of completely new techy stuff, you also have to learn how to write a copy that makes your visitors hang on the edge of their seats (ideally!).

For many of you, all of this is a brand-new area. Nobody teaches you the technical part in school, and the way we learned to write content was the “proper way” (with that I mean language that is used in the corporate world). Writing for the web is much more personal and informal.

TIP: Make a time-plan, and do a bit every day!

Mistake 2: Trying to build your website all on your own

Ask an expert when you’re stuck! And do it before spending 5 hours (or days!) trying to figure something out, only to find out you don’t really like the result (Even I’ve been there…). An expert might be able to show you, or do it for you, in 10 minutes, so it doesn’t always need to be expensive. A good place to start to ask questions is my Facebook group Web Design for Coaches. It’s the place for some free advice if your problem is not complex 🙂

You might be familiar with this:

• Wasting hours and days playing with settings and new weird code language
• Spending non-quality time with Google to try to find answers and searching numerous forums for help
• Trying to learn tech vocabulary that seems only to be explained by even more tech vocabulary

Free resource: Website vocabulary for the clueless

TIP: Ask! Take action. You can do it!

Mistake 3: Make it perfect before launch

This is a challenge, especially for us ladies. We tend to over-prepare and never feel ready. It can be hard to get around, but one strategy is to prioritize preparing the parts of your website that matter most to your potential clients:

• A Homepage that grabs their attention
• An About page that makes them like you, and feels that you are the person to help them
• A way to contact you

Since the attention span online is rather scattered these days, most website visitors don’t read through every piece of content you have, so the remaining bits and pieces, like the task of adding the smaller details of your services, your blog, your perfect design and images you can prepare in parallel with the more important task of looking for clients.

The truth is that you might want to change some of this information later anyway. As you get your first clients and learn first-hand what is most important to them, and what they need, you will most probably keep tweaking your content to adapt to “real-life client” (vs. the “imaginary client” before you get started).

TIP: Get over it! Yes, you can start looking for clients without a perfectionist perfect website.