Ten Ways NOT to Waste Money on a Website

Note: In this article, I have encapsulated the coaching I give to staff as they create and manage the company's website. The "voice" of the article is that of a coach.

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I have chosen ten very common wastes in website execution. The people running businesses are not design experts, but they must be the best at knowing what they want and what they are trying to accomplish. If you can navigate these chosen wastes, you will be much closer to having an efficient, successful web presence that will support the success of your organization.

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Waste #1:

?Being unable to define your website to yourself or anyone else. Muddling the goals and message.

Money Saver #1

Make three columns on a blank paper and title them Audience, Audience Needs, and Message.

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Make a list of the audiences you want to reach.

What are they searching for that brings them to your website? What is their primary goal?

What is your answer to their need? Your message.

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Waste #2:

?Not speaking directly to your audience's needs. Anything else is waste.

Money Saver #2:

You want a cheerful, accurate, concise, precise, and quick message delivery using your chosen website design. It is all about the answers delivered to your audience with your website, not wasting one cent on yours or the company's ego. Please ensure you speak to those needs; anything else is expensive noise. When you have multiple audiences, you are answering very different needs, so it is best to employ proper individual design so that each audience can find their answers quickly. Menus on the home page can be an effective way to deliver quick answers. Please make sure the menus' positioning, contents, and style are evident, speak to the audience, and are quick to navigate.

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Waste #3:

You rely too much on web design professionals rather than beta testing with your audiences.

Money Saver #3

Direct your designers and avoid acquiescing responsibility for website effectiveness. Have your audience test the website, not the designers. What is intuitive to a designer is not intuitive to your audience.

Waste #4

Answering the question proposed by web professionals, "What is your budget?"

Money Saver #4

That is the wrong question and a question you should never answer. The right questions from web design specialists should seek the information encapsulated on your three-column sheet of paper. When you are going to take a group of 4 to the airport and your primary goals are efficiency, on-time service, and a safe ride, paying for a stretch limo or helicopter is a waste. But suppose your provider asks what your budget is, and they deliver a helicopter using your total budget. In that case, you have experienced waste (but probably a more thrilling ride to the airport).

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Waste #5

You buy designer jeans for $800 to work in your rose garden.

Money Saver #5

Please excuse the analogy, but more often than not, website design and professional services go uncontrolled, and even within expectations, the possibility of large amounts of waste will result when you buy designer jeans (the high-end photographer) when a $50 pair satisfies the need. Using an advocate who knows where to shop and what is appropriate (good value) to your needs is money well spent. Conversely, please don't be tempted to hire someone in India for cheap and hope for the best.

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Waste #6

Allowing your website to go stale is a bad idea. Your audience will buy stale information. How often have you visited a website and found the information outdated? When I see the copyright date at the bottom of the home page, as in prior years, it is clear that the company needs to care more to maintain a proper image.

Money Saver #6

Websites are not a "once and done" project. Some require little maintenance, and others require near-daily freshening. Make it someone's job to keep the website vibrant and fresh. This priority is as important as making payroll.

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Waste #7

Recently, I have had experience with three medium—and small-sized companies where inquiries were directed to an email. I sent them clear, ready-to-buy signals, but I have never heard from any of them. Not monitoring your emails is the equivalent of ignoring someone at the front counter wanting to buy.

Money Saver #7

Make it someone's job to answer every email in 4 business hours daily. Never make answering emails a "when I get around to it" task.

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Waste #8

Your location is a secret. Why are you hiding? Very suspicious.

Money Saver #8

After finishing the above and spending all the funds wisely, please remember to put your physical location or phone number on your website.

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Waste #9

Putting up a great-designed website and not exposing it to your audience is akin to having the best-designed billboard and placing it inside a darkened warehouse.

Money Saver #9

There are many ways to get your billboard out of the darkened warehouse. Use your 3-column sheet to work with professional service providers on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and social media exposure.

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Waste #10

You are cutting your hair without a mirror.

Money Saver #10

If you build your website alone or acquiesce to designers, you will get a haircut (website) that might only give you less hair (money). For a nominal fee, hire an advocate.

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Finding a web advocate who will work for a small fee to navigate and create a valuable website will pay dividends in the cost and functionality of your website. They can be the most beneficial independent source that is not conflicted by doing the work. We have all seen the Fisher Investments ads where they tout how they do not sell anything or where they earn a sales fee. Same with a Web Advocate. How do you find a trustworthy and effective Web Advocate? Many advisors can appear to be Web Advocates when they are not because they are conflicted by a sales commission mentality. If you contact [email protected] and tell them I sent you, they will guide you on the next steps at no charge and as a favor to me.

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David Lawrence is past President and CEO of various Private Equity portfolio and privately held companies in the USA, Canada, and Mexico. Contact: [email protected]