7 Most Common Website Building Stumbling Blocks for Entrepreneurs

For startups and small businesses, website building can be a daunting task. Here are 7 examples of some of its challenges, with solutions to help your business avoid them.

For startups and small businesses, website building can be a daunting task. The process comes with little-known challenges and stumbling blocks, many of which business owners are unaware of.

Here are 7 examples of these challenges, with solutions to help your business avoid them. 

1. Underestimating Custom Website Building Timeframes

When it comes to custom website building, many entrepreneurs and small businesses underestimate how long the process takes. Launching an effective website could take a couple of weeks or months, depending on the goals you have for your business website. The most basic, template-based site from template generators like Wix or Squarespace can take at least 2 weeks to build.  If you are looking to create one, we recommend starting that process as soon as possible.

2. Not Seeing a Major Need for a Custom Website 

An experienced, well-trained web developer and designer can help you build a custom website that matches your goals so you don’t have to use a generic template. While generic websites that act like online brochures can be great for some businesses, many startups need more – like a website that allows them to capture leads and turn those leads into paying customers. In cases like that, a custom website is the way to go.

3. Forgetting to Index a Domain Name 

Deciding on and claiming the name of your domain can take a while. This is especially true if someone else owns the dot com name that you want for your brand. Once you secure your domain name, the process of getting Google to index your dispensary website is relatively simple and involves creating a Google Search Console account for your website. However, it can take a few weeks for your website to appear on organic Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), which are Google’s response to a user’s search query.

Once you’ve secured your domain, here’s how to index your website:

1. Create a Google Search Console account for your website.
2. Navigate to the Google Search Console aka the URL inspection tool.
3. In the search bar, paste the URL that you want Google to index.
4. Hit ‘Submit’ and Google should tell you that it has added your website to the crawl queue. 
5. Check back in a few days and you should see that Google has successfully found your sitemap, has crawled all available URLs, and will index your website in Google results.

This process often takes weeks, so get your site in the crawl queue and index your domain early, before you continue your website-building process. 

4. Poor Sitemap Health Upon Launch

Another challenge of website-building is maintaining good sitemap health upon launch and from then onwards. A healthy sitemap is one way to tell Google’s algorithm how your site is structured and that it is trustworthy. Google tends to shun sites with broken links, internal server errors, and especially spam. To avoid getting sidelined, it is important that you simplify your sitemap and optimise it for effective communication with search engines. 

5. Failing to Optimise for Mobile-Based SEO

Often when people think of building their websites, they tend to forget to make it mobile-friendly too. But did you know that about 60% of all internet access occurs on mobile devices? This figure will continue to increase with the widespread use of smartphones. Optimising your site for mobile SEO is becoming more and more reliant on what digital marketers call Search Intent.

Search intent is the term used to describe the purpose of an online search. What was the customer looking for when they searched a given keyphrase and arrived at your site? Does your content address a precise need, or answer a specific question that Google users are searching for? Now more than ever, Google rankings rely heavily on search intent, so you must be mindful to tailor your content to what potential customers may be searching for on their phones.

6. Cloudy Definitions of Your Target Audience

One of the biggest mistakes that brands in all industries make when building their website is that they are directionless when it comes to their target audience — the ideal customer they’d like to attract to their website. Identifying your target audience is one of the most important things you can do for your website-building process. Your entire online strategy should align with the goals and personality of your brand and always keep in mind the specific group of consumers who would want your product or service. A laser-focused target audience, not just an arbitrary one, is important because the purchasing decision is ultimately the choice of the customer. When building your website, it’s worth knowing exactly who that is. 

7. Publishing Generic Content Irregularly

Another underrated aspect of website building is regularly publishing engaging content that your target audience finds value in. Well-branded and consistent copy that relays your brand identity and focuses on your target audience can take time to develop and publish. Excellent copywriting to achieve this is a highly specialised field; even the best companies take the time and spend the money to invest in their brand copy. When you post regular blog posts or make routine updates, Google tends to trust your website over those that do not do this. As a result, your website can rank higher on SERPs.

Feeling Overwhelmed by the Website Building Process? The Right Web Developer Can Help  

A professional web developer can take charge of the challenges that arise during website building and turn the process into a walk in the park. They will save you the hassle of having to learn which tools and best practices to employ, and give you confidence in your website’s design and functionality in the end.

If you’re ready to see what top web developer talent can do for your small business, visit The ROOM to access a pool of highly-skilled tech talent that can guarantee that you launch a quality website. Take the burden off of yourself and let your web developer do the website building work required to help grow your business.

The ROOM is home to a highly specialised community of agile digital talent, connecting individuals and companies across the globe with the skills and resources they need to thrive in the new world of work.