Nowadays, it seems everyone is selling that idea that building a website will make you a millionaire. It can be easy to get caught up in the dream of financial freedom, especially when it looks so easy.
But before you start buying domains and hosting plans, you need to be aware of a few myths that a lot of people fall victim to. If you know what to look for, you can avoid some major pitfalls and/or setbacks. Going in blind, there is a good chance that you will spend too much money and/or lose a lot of customers.
So, here are three of the biggest myths about starting a website you must know.
All You Need Is a Website
This theory is based on the “if you build it, they will come” quote from the movie Field of Dreams. The premise is that if you have a website with products that people are searching for, you will make money. However, there is so much more to building a successful website.
Websites gain traffic when they have products, content, business listings, backlinks, social shares, and so much more. While most of the traffic will be organic, there are times where you will need to invest in sponsored/paid-for traffic by using Facebook Ads or Google AdWords.
If you expect a website that you created last month to be profitable just because you put in some products, you will be in for a rude awakening. A website is just one part of the success equation.
You Can Build It
With so many WYSIWYG (“what you see is what you get”) platforms available right now, it can be easy to fall into the myth that you can build a highly-competitive website on your own. Technically, you can build a nifty website with a few cool features without any programming knowledge, but what are you forgetting?
There is a lot more to a conversion-friendly website than a pretty interface. Here are a few questions you should consider:
- Have you optimized the text for user-readability?
- Do you have a strong funnel/call-to-action?
- Have you followed all of the proper SEO standards (not myths)?
- Do you have a good internal linking ratio?
- What about images? Did you make sure to use the ALT and TITLE tags?
- Have you checked to see how fast your page is loading using Google PageSpeed Insights?
- Is your page loading properly for both desktop and mobile devices?
- Have you included the proper schemas?
- What about voice optimization? Have you included speakable schemas?
As you can see, a pretty website is just one part of a fairly complicated equation. Having a professional developer help you with your website can save you tons of time and money. While they can be expensive, they are worth it in the end.
Again, you can technically build a website using a lot of free WYSIWYG builders, but what are you leaving out that makes you a non-factor in your market?
There Is No Need to Focus on Mobile Optimization
And finally, some people still think that a mobile-optimized website is not necessary. They believe that the majority of online searches and transactions happen on a computer instead of a mobile device. Unfortunately, that is not true.
Mobile transactions are on the rise. In fact, mobile searches and purchases are quickly overtaking the desktop market at a blistering pace. Research has shown that websites that take longer than five seconds to load for a mobile user will result in a high bounce rate. People rely on their mobile devices to provide them with near-instant answers; if you cannot do this, you will not succeed.
Mobile users are one of the best audiences to work with as they are looking for an immediate solution. If you can provide an answer to their need/question, there is a good chance that you will complete a sale and create a customer for life (with good customer service). Under no circumstance should you ever ignore the mobile side of your website.
These are the three biggest myths surrounding website creation right now. A lot of these ideas are outdated and based on old information. If you want to start a website, then do it. But, make sure you know what to expect beforehand.