Did you know that even if you are not a web developer, you still have to pay attention to all the technical stages of website development? If not, here’s a simple fact: your website reflects your brand and company. It extends your business identity and how customers will interact with it and perceive your brand.
According to a Forbes article, your website is your 24×7 salesperson. It can always be up and can help you find new potential leads. Therefore, you must focus on producing high-quality websites while hiring professional web developers.
However, your web developer might be making blunders that can harm your company. Here are some common blunders you must look for.
Slow Page Loading Speed
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According to an analysis by Tooltester, the average web page loading time is 2.5 seconds on a desktop. It is above 8 seconds on a mobile device. However, if your website is taking longer than average, know that the bounce rates start increasing with each added second in web page loading time.
If you’re a web developer and want to ensure that your site is loading quickly, there are a few tools you can use. One of the most popular is Google PageSpeed Insights. This tool allows you to input your URL and see how well it scores on their metrics for performance, accessibility, and best practices.
It also provides some recommendations for ways in which you can improve those scores. If your score isn’t high enough or there are any issues with how content loads on mobile devices, things need fixing before launch day arrives.
Lack of Communication Among Team
The first step in communicating effectively with your web developer is establishing clear communication lines. This means having a regular meeting schedule, which you can use to discuss the progress of the project and any issues that may arise.
This is especially important for large projects, but even smaller ones will benefit from regular check-ins. If you’re working with a team of developers, everyone must know what everyone else is doing so that no one gets left behind or confused by another person’s work.
However, some web developers are simply not dependable enough. They may not communicate effectively, and the web development process can keep stretching. Hence, you must always look to hire a web developer or an agency that understands the importance of communication. The ones that understand this are dependable website development service providers who can cater to your requirements effectively.
Not Mobile Friendly
If you are a business owner, it is essential to have a mobile-friendly website. A mobile-friendly website can help you increase your sales and make the user experience better for your customers.
Many people use their phones to search for businesses on Google and other search engines, so they must have an easy time navigating through your site when they visit it from their phone or tablet.
If someone visits your site on their phone and cannot easily read what they are looking at because it is too small or hard to navigate around the page, then chances are they will leave without buying anything from you or even visiting again in the future.
To check if your website is mobile friendly, head to a browser, go into Settings > Advanced Settings > Developer Tools > Web Inspector Toolbar > User Agent String. You should see something like this:
- Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone X) AppleWebKit/605
- CPU iPhone OS 12_2 like Mac OS X
A site’s mobile-friendliness is vital for its efficiency. Since the number of people accessing the internet using mobile has increased significantly, it only makes sense to keep your website mobile friendly, too. In fact, a HubSpot report shows that 32% of marketers believe that a site’s mobile-friendliness is a crucial factor in website marketing.
Slow Turnaround Time
Slow turnaround time is one of the biggest mistakes that web developers can make when it comes to online business. If you are slow to respond to customer queries, they will go elsewhere, and so will their business. The same goes for providing project updates, which should be done promptly.
How long should it take? Ideally, your developer should have an average turnaround time of fewer than 24 hours. A good rule of thumb is that if something takes longer than one day from when you first ask about it until their response arrives in your inbox or mailbox, this person may not be right for the job after all.
Poor URL Structure
One of the most important aspects of a website’s structure is its URL or Uniform Resource Locator. This is what you see as a web address in your browser bar, and it tells you where on the internet you are going when clicking on a link.
A good URL has several characteristics:
- It should be easy for users to find what they’re looking for
- It should be short and readable
- Avoid using special characters such as underscores (_) or hyphens (-) since these can break links in some browsers.
No Sitemap
A sitemap is a list of all the pages on your website. Search engines and other visitors can use it to find what they’re looking for, meaning it’s essential to create one if you want people to navigate your site easily.
A good sitemap should include every page on your site, and each entry should have complete information about its content, including keywords and meta descriptions. If a user searches for something specific, it will help them quickly find what they need.
Not Using Social Media Buttons
Social media buttons are essential for any website. They let your visitors connect with you and share content, which is good for SEO, traffic, and engagement. More and more people are using social media platforms daily. According to Insider Intelligence’s data, social media users spend an average of 1 hour and 35 minutes on various platforms.
Buttons should be placed in a prominent location on the page, making them easy to find. You can also use them as a call-to-action button. For example, if someone clicks “like” or “follow,” ask them why they did so by asking them a question in return. This way, people will see what others think of your brand and may be more likely to buy something from you based on those reviews.
Conclusion
The web development industry is booming, and thousands of talented developers are out there. But now and then, even the best web developer can make a mistake that leaves you disappointed or ripped off. You don’t want your website to be one of those mistakes. So before you hire someone new or rehire an old one, make sure they know what not to do when building websites.
