118 Mistakes To Avoid When Building A Website Or Blog

Like many things in life there are good ways of doing things and bad ways of doing things. This is particularly true when aiming to build an on-line presence – get it right and the experience can be very rewarding but get it wrong and you will be left wondering why no one ever visits your site.

The aim of this list is to offer food for thought, and considerations, when reviewing, or planning, your Blog, website, or other internet based project.

These tips are listed in no particular order and may be added to as time goes by – if you have a tip you would like to share please add it in comments.

Mistakes to avoid when building a website, from 1 to 10

• Starting for the wrong reasons
  Be sure of what you really want from your site before you start, perhaps start with a hosted or managed site to test the water and see if it is right for you. Building a successful website is hard work
• Starting a site for profit and not for passion
  To maintain momentum and build a popular site you need a passion for the content in your site. Sites that are setup just as cash earners are often easily spotted, and avoided
• Updating your site irregularly
  Keep your content fresh and update it regularly. Let visitors know what sorts of topics you intend to write about and upcoming areas of interest
• Ignoring the value of web metrics
  But do not get caught up with them. Metrics are a tool, they are useful when planning your site but do not let them drive your site development
• Forgetting to include a comment or feedback system
  Encourage visitors to your site to get involved, comments are a handy way to start a discussion. Often new ideas, or different and refreshing points of view can emerge from open discussion
• Forgetting to ask people for feedback
  Ask family, friends, and site visitors what they think of your site. All feedback is positive feedback so take it constructively
• Not including a web feed or subscription service
  Such as RSS
  Visitors may not always be able to get to your site frequently and others may prefer reading site feeds – so do not miss out on potential visitors
• Failing to network with other, similar, sites
  Keep a look around for similar sites that share your interests and talk to them – you may find useful contacts this way
• Not thinking through your hosting
  Once you really get going you really do not want to be changing your hosting too often, think it through before you start
• Wondering if your site is actually working
  You may have the greatest content in the world – but is your site up? Try a service like ServiceUptime which will let you know when your site is not available