When having a new website created, it can be easy to get carried away with the design and structure. However, during and after the design and build process, small mistakes can be made that will undo all the hard work you and your agency would have put into the site's creation. Here are four areas you should check to help prevent your site making you look dumb:
1: Your Grammar
This may seem obvious but so many websites have poor grammar. However, many people who read websites have good grammar – for them at least it can be annoying to read the wrong 'its' or 'it's' or sometimes the wrong 'their' and 'there'. Some people however have strong views about grammar and you honestly risk losing potential customers simply from a few dumb spelling or grammatical errors.
If you know your grammar is not up to scratch, at the very least ask someone you know to proof read the content – ideally use a professional copywriter who will be able to create dynamic content as well as being able to structure the sentences in the right way.
2: Browser Compatibility
A good quality website agency 'should' check that your website presents itself properly on all browsers. However, it can be the aspect that is overlooked at the end of a website build as both customer and agency alike are keen to get the site live.
There are quite a few browsers these days – including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Safari. In addition to these options, each of these browsers has previous versions which may or may not upset your website. The classic example is Internet Explorer 6. This browser can ruin a very well designed site even if the site looks fine on versions 7, 8 or 9. Test your site before and after it goes live so you know it looks and works as it should .
3: Poorly Chosen Images
Some pictures simply shout 'stock images'! Stock images are those that can be purchased for only a few dollars each, but in some cases can look bland, stereotypical and unprofessional. That is not to say that stock image is a bad idea. However, whatever source of images you (or your agency) choose they should be chosen based on them fitting together as a family of images that layout the right look for your business. Buy your images all together so you know that they all compliment each other and all add a sense of quality or professionalism to your website.
4: Your Contact Form
Firstly, you must ensure your website contact forms are working and that they work on each of the browsers previously mentioned. Then you must remind yourself to test your contact forms on a regular basis – eg once a week. In some cases, it only takes one small website change or server change for your forms to stop working – and it could be months before you realize unless you test them regularly.