How to Avoid the 4 Biggest Website Struggles for Entrepreneurs

By Michelle Pontvert.

Done right, your website can be your business's best marketing asset.

You probably already know that you "should" have a website for your business, but if you're like most business owners, you're likely more than a little overwhelmed with all things website. And while there is a LOT that goes into creating a powerhouse website, it really doesn't have to be so overwhelming!

So, let's dive into the four biggest website struggles and how you can avoid them.

Avoid tech overwhelm with strategically simple systems.

The most common complaint I hear as a web designer is that tech is too hard/complicated /overwhelming. And to be honest, tech gets the best of all of us! But, in reality, keeping things - and especially your tech systems & tools - strategically simple in your business is the key to success.

Being choosy about what you bring into your business will be vital to making sure you're using those tools correctly and to their fullest potential to support your business. Remember, these systems and software are ultimately just tools, and there are things designed to help you achieve an end result. So picking the right tool for the problem at hand will reduce a lot of the overwhelm! Don't waste your energy trying to fit a square peg into a round hole!

It can be very easy to get stuck in the Google rabbit hole trying to figure out how to make the tech you've already signed up for or even paid for actually work, and that's rarely a good use of your time, energy, or mental space. Be careful and, dare I say it, even picky, about what resources (both paid and free) you bring into your business.

I encourage my clients to spend their energy picking the right tool in the first place. I ask them to consider their specific needs and circumstances instead of spending more time and money on resources to make whatever they've already got set up working when it's just not designed to do what they need. That investment of your energy up front will pay off ten-fold in the long run!

The other way to avoid tech overwhelm is to lean on other people's expertise. Hiring out things that aren't your strength, taking way too much of your time, or sucking your energy dry is a fantastic investment in your business. You'll rest easy knowing everything's set up correctly the first time, and if you do ever need to tweak things, it won't be your problem to solve!

What if outsourcing your entire website is a little out of the budget for now? Booking even an hour of an expert's time, like my Strategy Sessions, to get your brain on your business and map out your website and the tech you'll need to achieve everything is a super affordable way to get this kind of support. You will save HOURS and a whole ton of frustration by simply asking an expert to tell you what they know like the back of their hand, but that would take you years to learn for yourself.

There's no shame in taking shortcuts in our businesses and getting your website, and tech sorted out is undoubtedly a shortcut worth taking!

Don't make your website hard to use

The next biggest struggle that my clients constantly face is that they're inadvertently making their websites hard to use and, even worse, hard for their clients to use!

Maybe you've felt this way too? That your website is a challenge to use or update, and I'll bet because it's frustrating you avoid working on it.

If your website isn't easy for your potential clients to use, you'll have customers struggling to figure out how to work with you, book a call, or even purchase your offers. Nobody wants that! A fundamental way to avoid a lot of these frustrations is to pick the right tools for you, like I laid out in the section above, and then lean into the pre-established website best practices that experts have already figured out for you. There's no need to reinvent the wheel here. Your website needs to behave the way people expect it to, and honestly, shouldn't pull focus away from your offers and message anyway.

Additionally, there are legal requirements you should be abiding by as someone hosting a website. You'll make your life a whole lot easier by leaning into these pre-existing, pre-established expectations of what people have for their website and the legal requirements that exist to ensure your website is trustworthy and accessible for all.

Make your buttons look like buttons.

Make links look like links.

Make your text large enough for everyone to read it and with enough contrast to see it, even those with poor eyesight.

It's pretty logical, really; if someone has to think about how to use your website, they are less likely to keep trying to use it.

So leaning into these pre-existing design rules and making your website as streamlined and easy to use as possible will not only serve your clients better but, in turn, it helps your business!

If this sounds overwhelming, a great shortcut to make sure your website is formatted correctly and fulfills these requirements is to use a pre-designed template created by a trusted designer.

Stop spending so much time messing around with your website!

I know this is a bit of tough love, but I want you to get the most out of your website, so please do stick around!

It can be tempting if you do enjoy the process of building your website to get sucked in and spend way too much time tweaking this and that when what you need to be doing is marketing.

Simply hitting publish on your site won't magically bring you clients. You have to find ways to get those eyeballs to your site to do its job of converting the right-fit people into leads. Remember, your website is a business tool, and you need this business tool to work for your business.

You probably also want to get a return on the investment of your time and energy, and money you've poured into your website. And the only way to do that is to market it. There are thousands of different ways to get your website out there, but I see many people get stuck in this perfectionist or procrastinating cycle of spending hours messing around with their perfectly good website instead of doing the hard work of marketing their business.

Hopefully, this is a liberating idea that your website is a living entity that can and should evolve with your business. So it will never be perfect, but it can be done! And it can be out there, working for your business!

Free yourself from thinking about your website as a cost

When you're still in the early stages of business, it can seem like every little thing you buy for your business is an expense.

When you're signing up for that website hosting plan, or picking up resources to help you DIY your site, or even when you're taking a leap to work with a designer, it can feel like you're just pouring money into your website. But those costs indeed are investments in your business.

Your website is essentially your online storefront. It is the first impression that many people will have of your business, and it's one of the few parts of your online presence that you can own and control. And it is by far the best investment to create a reliable, long-term way to connect with and convert people for your business.

So rather than thinking of your website as another line in your expenses, think of it as essentially paying rent for having your business online and an investment in making it easier for the right-fit people to find you.

To Recap

• Keep your systems strategically simple by picking the right tools for your business and being thoughtful about any new tech you bring into your life.
• Make sure your website is easy for you to maintain and, perhaps even more importantly, for your potential clients to use. People have limited patience, so keep things simple and easy to use so your offer and unique messaging have the space to shine.
• Once you've got your website working, stop messing with it! Your website can only work for you if you're bringing people to it - so you're far better off spending your time and energy marketing your website than constantly tweaking it!
• And finally, shift your perspective about the investment you're making into your website, so you're laying the right foundations for your business and making your online home as inviting as possible for those right-fit clients.

Looking for more tips on creating a website that wows your future clients? Check out my free Websites That Convert training that dives into the key elements your website needs to move those website visitors into clients.

Michelle Pontvert is a website design Queen who helps her clients to create strategically designed websites that help them grow their coaching, consulting, and service-based businesses without burning out or missing more time with their families.

If you're ready to connect with and convert your dream clients through your website so you can finally enjoy the life/work balance that inspired you to start your business in the first place, you can meet Michelle here.