3 Nifty Ways To Delay A New Website
Ever wondered how to lose money and never get anything done? Probably not. We’re all really good at those things already. In fact, delay comes so naturally that it takes a determined effort to overcome it. Ever done a home renovation? Keep that plastic sheeting and sawdust around forever just by looking at it, and doing nothing else. If you want to finish, you have to do something and maybe pay someone to do something for you.
A new website is no different. There are three mistakes small business owners make when getting a new web design. These errors are easy to make and entirely avoidable, but each one requires a commitment to overcome it if you ever want to move forward.
Pretend the Internet Is Made of Cement
Stop thinking of your site as a precious statue.
The biggest obstacle to small business web design is a misconception: What you post online is not permanent. If your written content is a little wobbly on launch day, it’s okay. You can change it the day after, and the day after that, or any time in the future you want. In fact, the whole Internet is under construction constantly.
Stop thinking of your site as a precious statue. By inflating the consequences of a design or writing change, you paralyze yourself. When it comes to your web design, just do it. If you like the change, keep it. If you hate it, roll back the change. A good content management system (CMS) makes that easy. Try thinking of your website as a hub of new information to help your customers. Frequent updates are normal in that context. When you understand that customers expect your site to change sometimes, trying new things is easier.
Say You’ll Write the Website Yourself, Then Do Nothing
I am convinced that the best way to save time and money on web design is to pay someone else to write the words. We give web design clients the option of providing their own website copy, which can save a chunk of change up front. However, writing your own copy means taking responsibility for the biggest bottleneck. The longer you take to complete the written portion, the longer the web design process goes.
How precious is your time? How much would you pay yourself for the same hours? Bet it adds up to more than the copywriting fee. Why not work with someone whose job is to write quickly? You’ll get stronger results than if you wrote it all yourself. And the whole thing happens faster, which is better.
Cross Your Fingers and Hope Email Works In The Morning
Do you understand how your email is set up? Believe it or not, your new web design can be delayed if you don’t have that mapped out. Email and websites are often hosted by the same company and a new web design often means moving website hosts. So getting your new web design can mean moving email hosts, which means your web designer needs to talk to your IT guy, oh and also maybe everyone with a work email needs to set aside time for a meeting and it’s all just a terrible mess sometimes.
Before starting any new web design, work with IT to determine who hosts your email. Map out the configuration so you can include email in the website launch plan. Your web designer may not have to touch the email setup at all, but this map will help him or her launch your site with minimal disruption to other services.
Looking for more mistakes to make? Check out the list below for a few things you can do today to make sure your website is finished never.
How to Delay Any Project For Months
- Maintain all your records with sticky notes.
- Don’t sign a contract.
- Avoid all calendars, schedules, budgets or plans.
- Make “get a website” your whole strategy
- Keep your options open, forever.
- Ask for a last-minute second opinion.
- Sweat the small stuff.
- Shrug at the big stuff.
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