12 Jan The three biggest mistakes I made with my own website

When I started freelancing, I decided that I needed to have a website. A fairly sensible and necessary choice in today’s business world, no? But there were three key mistakes that I made with my website and probably set back my business growth substantially. In the interests of being helpful to other emerging small businesses (and maybe even some established businesses too), here’s my confessions!

Website Mistake 1 – Not understanding SEO

Yep, I made the rookie mistake of thinking “If I build it, they will come.” Ah, nope. And this is as a fairly experienced marketing professional. I know how important an online presence is, yet I was so scared by the world of SEO that I ignored that part of digital marketing and hoped it wouldn’t matter.

Well, the truth is that SEO does matter – but also that it’s not that scary! Late last year I did the free Recipe for SEO Success 10-Day Challenge, and then stumped up the cash for the full 8-week eCourse. Quite honestly, this is probably the best investment I have made in my business to date. Not only have I learnt how to improve my website so that the Google gods can find me, but it’s also helped to make me a better copywriter. I now know how to effectively help my clients target the right keywords and integrate them into their websites to get found by their ideal customers. Awesome investment and highly recommended!

Website Mistake 2 – No social media presence

In my personal life, I’m quite the social media junkie. As a mum of young kids who also works at home, it’s a great way of feeling connected to the world. So you’d think I’d have been ALL OVER social media for my business. Ah, no. No business Facebook page, a sadly neglected Twitter account and no indication of how to connect with me on social media on my website. This has now been corrected and you can also even share my posts on social media through the snazzy buttons I’ve installed. I also didn’t have commenting functions set up so that people could share their thoughts on my blog posts.

Website Mistake 3 – No idea of metrics

I didn’t set up Google Analytics or Google Search Console to get to grips with where my traffic was coming from, how many visitors I was getting, or any search issues. Basically, I was flying blind and had no idea if my site was getting any traffic and which pages were working for me!
And just so I don’t feel like a complete failure, here’s the things I got right:

• Website built on WordPress
• Mobile responsive theme
• Regular, automated backups
• I wrote the copy with my customers in mind
• I let the copy reflect my personality and my own voice

What mistakes did you make when starting out in business? Are there any fundamental mistakes on my website that I’ve not fixed yet? Share your thoughts in the comments!