Well I finally did it. This week, I released my new website. Months of thinking, procrastinating, creative thinking and fine tuning – it’s over and finished.

Now as a business coach and mentor, I should not really admit to all being hassled. Yet, that is just the point. It needs to be stated outright – setting up a website may sound simple, but it is not…..and especially for a small business with limited manpower.

Let me explain. Many of my clients are located in the Jerusalem area. Several can be described as small or medium sized enterprises, where everyone has over 25% too much to do every day. Yet,  a second common factor is they often have 50% too little to invest in strengthening the corporate structure.

So, regardless, a decision is taken to create a website by themselves. After all, Wix and WordPress are so easy to learn, aren’t they? And here is where it all goes wrong, very quickly.

Today, when my clients ask me about starting up a new site, I point out three critical issues that need to be considered in advance, and at length. (I would like to add that I bounced off some of these ideas with Nadine Wildman from Meeple Communications, whose excellent skills resulted in the innovative design of my own site).

First, the setting up of a website does not just take up a lot of time. Content writing, finding pictures, editing, etc – all of these tasks requires days and yet even more days, usually from more than one person. I constantly challenge business owners if they do not anything better to do, such as recruiting new clients to secure revenue. Leave the ‘dirty’ work, where you are not a specialist, to others.

Second, consider your message very carefully. What are you trying to say? What is it that you are selling? Have you looked at how your competitors have set up their sites and why? What trick are they missing that will make you stand out from the crowd?

Finally, discuss in detail who is your audience. For example, what is the age group of the target population and will they react positively to the style of your copy writer?

Nadine added a fourth factor. In her experience, she has seen several ‘home made’ websites, where templates have been used. Unfortunately, these usually include standard pictures and content that slip into the ‘new’ site. The results can be embarrassing, and that means loads of time has been wasted.

Launching a new website should be a fun and creative experience. Make sure it is, by outsourcing the pain. Meanwhile, I urge you to check out   https://michaelhoresh.com/.