The websites you design take countless hours to create but can be ruined in a matter of minutes by inexperienced clients
As a web designer, you are well aware of the many elements that must come together to form a successful site. Unfortunately, most inexperienced clients do not have this same knowledge. There is nothing worse than working for countless hours on a site, only to have a client go in and completely ruin what you have accomplished.
Most of the clients you work for will not have experience in the web design field, which is why they hired you to build their site in the first place. Your clients may assume the biggest threat is their competitors’ online marketing strategy or poor online reviews when in actuality they could be their own biggest enemy by self-sabotaging their own site.
Let’s take a look at nine ways business owners can accidentally (or intentionally) kill their own websites.
1. Copying Content
Google and other search engines like to show users unique and original content, so if your clients copy content from other sites on the Internet and place it on their own site they could be penalized.
Duplicate content can cause your clients to lose traffic and decrease their rankings on search engines. Make sure you stress the importance of original content to your clients before you grant them access to make changes on their website.
2. Using Low-Quality Images
As a web designer, you know the importance of using high quality and high-resolution photos. Your clients do not always share this same knowledge. The images on a website should help build brand credibility and differentiate your clients from the competition.
If your clients use low-quality images, they will detract from the beautiful design you created.
3. Adding Too Many Plugins
Too often, clients get what we call “Open Buffet Syndrome” when they see the thousands of free plugins available for their site. They will add and add and add additional plugins to their websites without first checking with their website designer or developer.
Little do they know doing this could cause issues with layouts loading properly, performance issues, as well as programming issues and various security threats. Plugins can be great things, but they should be added with caution.
4. Adding Music To The Site
Most visitors consider music on a website a nuisance and something that is very annoying. Some clients may think they are adding flare to their website or being hip, but they are sorely mistaken.
If your client asks about adding music to his or her website, try to sway them in the opposite direction.
5. Adding Large Images
Large, full-size images are no doubt beautiful but can cause major problems with a website’s load time. Slow load times can not only cause problems with the search engines but also result in visitors abandoning your site. What good do amazing images do if nobody stays around long enough to look at them?
Adding images that are too large is an easy mistake your clients can make since most programs allow you to upload images of any size.
Also, many of your clients do not have the knowledge of what a large image is. So before you let a client go crazy with their website, consider providing them with a cheat sheet on proper images sizes.
6. Adding Too Many Menu Items
Nothing leads to higher abandonment than a site layout that does not make sense. Clients tend to think that every link in their site is equally important, so they’ll add tons of links to their primary navigation. Ouch.
You, as a website designer understand the importance easy navigation. Make sure your clients also understand this.
If visitors are not able to find the pages they are looking for within the first few seconds of being on the site, they will most likely leave and end up on a competitor’s site.
Adding pages in the menu where they do not make sense is one of the most common things a client can do to kill their website.
7. Being Inconsistent With Design Elements
You worked hard to create an amazing website and unfortunately, your clients can ruin it in a matter of minutes if they do not know what they are doing.
Since the majority of your clients will not have experience in web design, it may be easy for them to ignore important design elements that help bring the entire site together. Your beautiful websites could go from gorgeous to looking like a poorly self-dressed child in a matter of minutes.
A simple way to avoid this is to stress the importance of cohesive design in a way your clients can understand. Make sure you keep open communication with your clients so they feel comfortable coming to you if they need assistance or have messed something up. Open communication could be the difference between your design projects remaining a work of art, or becoming a disaster.
8. Too Much On One Page
Research has shown that too much content can actually scare visitors away. As a designer, you are well aware of what goes into successful web page design, but your clients do not have this same vision. Often clients will add mounds of content to every page in an attempt to inform visitors, but it can actually have a negative effect on page visits and abandonment rate.
Clients may be tempted to put anything and everything on their websites since there is essentially unlimited space. Make sure your clients understand that doing this could result in frustrated visitors, which could actually result in handing business over to their competitors.
9. Adding Elements That Aren’t Mobile Friendly
We live in a mobile first world, so adding elements that do not look good, or do not load properly on mobile could be detrimental to one’s business. Make sure your clients understand the importance of providing visitors with a seamless experience regardless of the device visitors are using.
Encourage your clients to view their website from a mobile device after they have made changes to ensure everything looks legible. Above all, keep communication open so your clients can come to you should they make a change that does not view or function well on mobile.
Again, you want to be approachable so your client feels comfortable admitting when they make a design mistake.
The Takeaway
The websites you design take countless hours to create but can be ruined in a matter of minutes by inexperienced clients. Things as simple as adding images could cause complete havoc on a website. Your clients do not have the same knowledge of web design that you do, which could be detrimental to their bottom line.
The best way to avoid clients killing their own sites (aside from forcing them into maintenance contracts) is to inform them on what not to do. Educate them on these nine items, and you will be able to avoid many of the major headaches associated with client website takeover.
Have a story about a client killing your design? Please share it in the comments!
To learn more visit: https://www.2440media.com
