Colorado Springs Website Designer
So, you’ve found a website designer who makes pretty pictures and she promises to create a beautiful website for your business. You’re thrilled that you may end up with the most gorgeous website in your business that you’re just sure will have customers just begging to buy from you! The bad news? Chances are that your new website will contain at least 3 of the most common website designer mistakes in the industry.
It just so happens that your new website designer has over 20 years graphic design experience and she tells you that your website will look great!
Fantastic – right?
Well, maybe not. Will you be disappointed when that sweet new site turns out to be a dud that does practically nothing for your business because your website designer missed the boat on some very critical items that 95% of website designers forget?
Build It And They Will Come – Not
You remember the message in the famous Kevin Costner movie “Field Of Dreams?” “Build it and they will come.” Unfortunately, that may make nice copy for movies, but in real life, nothing could be further from the truth. You may just be assuming that beautiful websites with “edgy”designs and nice pictures just have to be customer magnets – right?
Let me introduce you to the reality that a website’s looks have nothing to do with the ability to get your business “found” on the internet – and attract customers to your business.
Here are 3 critical mistakes that most web designers make.
1. No keyword research.
If you’re looking to get a fence built in Colorado Springs, chances are you’ll open up a browser on your computer and “Google” fencing Colorado Springs. Or, Colorado Springs fence builder.
Sounds logical – right?
Then you’ll see the top advertisements, top 3 Google My Business listings, then the top-ranked websites on the first page. You’ll get a really nice selection of fencing contractors, some with reviews, that you can choose from. What do most of those pages have in common? They’re all optimized for the keyword phrase that you searched for!
And that was no accident. The folks who put those ads and pages together did some keyword research to determine the best keywords to use for
When we are evaluating clients’ websites we often see no keywords targeted at all!
It’s no wonder that they fail to rank in local searches. Many times these clients have paid thousands of dollars over the years and STILL fail because their so-called web people don’t have a clue how search engines work.
The good news? It’s an easy fix although you’ll probably have plenty of competitors who have used keywords ahead of you.
2. No Meta Description tags used (or uses the same one for each page)
What is a Meta Description Tag? Here’s the description from moz.com :
Meta description tags, while not important to search engine rankings, are extremely important in gaining user click-through from SERPs. These short paragraphs are a webmaster’s opportunity to advertise content to searchers and to let them know exactly whether the given page contains the information they’re looking for.
Many web designers are just too lazy to go the extra mile and add the meta description to each and every page. For WordPress websites, there’s a REALLY easy way to do this – just use the Yoast SEO plugin & fill it out. That’s it.
I would disagree with moz.com on their thought that the meta descriptions don’t help with SEO. In my experience, local search engines LOVE to see more detailed descriptions of local products and descriptions. You can also bet that a large percentage of your competitors don’t add meta descriptions to their posts and pages.
If your website has been designed by a non-pro, often the meta tag will be copied for every page and post throughout the entire website. Yet another lazy website designer mistake, repeated meta tags WILL get your pages penalized in Google (check your webmaster tools report if you don’t believe me!) and does nothing to showcase your individual products and services on their respective pages.
One more thing – you WILL get penalized by Google for having the same meta description for every page. Count on it.
3. Many web designers forget to add alt text to ALL photos!
Search engines have a difficult time figuring our what an image is about. So they use a little bit of text called an “alt text” tag. The alt text, or alternative text, is a few words that describes what the image is about.
The alt text is a GREAT place to add some really good keywords to your pages and posts. If you are getting your website redone, INSIST that your designer fill in each and every image with alt text.
This is such an easy trick but most web designers must be in such a hurry to get your website done and move on to the next that they space out the alt text. Probably one of the great website designer mistakes of all time!
Experience Shows Us The Right Way To Design Your Website
Let’s face it, there are lots of web designers out there these days. The barriers to entry are low and, if you’re a good salesperson, the upside can be very good. The downside is resting almost 100% on the business that the website is designed for.
Most of the website designers we’ve seen come and go through the years don’t have the experience or dedication to take great care of their clients. You, as our client, are putting your business in our hands, hoping that we will treat you right and will help your business prosper. That’s our job, and frankly we just don’t see that level of commitment and longevity in the web design business.
So, be very careful who you entrust your business website to. Now you know that there are many hidden parts beneath the pretty pictures and flashy graphics. These “parts” can go a long way to helping your business succeed – or fail.
If you’d like to have your questions answered or would like a second opinion if we’ve raised some doubts, give us a call at (719) 761-4862.
