One of the most common things we see in startup marketing is that the small business–trying to save a little money–would prefer to take their graphic design or website design to a friend or relative, or even do it themselves as opposed to spending the money to have it accomplished by a professional. 

While this may seem be a viable option, typically it’s one of the biggest marketing mistakes a business can make in the beginning. The DIY “graphic designer” who has no formal instruction or years of experience in the field makes some serious mistakes that can cost you plenty in your marketing and SEO.

The most common problems that we see in DIY marketing and SEO include bad or poor graphic design which can bring a heavy penalty in terms of ranking. In many cases the DIY designer is not aware of the newer methods that allow compression and the sites load slowly. Additionally we see a broad range of mistakes in navigation that make it more difficult for the site user to be able to navigate the website easily and well. Additionally, the design looks amateur – and people take notice of this. Your business needs to look professional and trustworthy to earn a good reputation.

These mistakes can cost the company who is doing startup marketing a lot because the site visitor or user will become frustrated with tedious navigation and simply click off the site, finding another one that they can more easily use. In addition, the search engines are beginning to penalize sites which have speed problems and lower their ranking.

When you are just starting in business, why begin on the wrong foot by making marketing mistakes that can prevent your site from ranking and lower your business visibility? In that startup phase, it is important to consider your target audience and how you present your business. Consider a solid website design built by a professional rather than the DIY route. If your best friend made your graphics and you absolutely must use them, pass them along to a professional who will be able to polish the graphics into a usable state, as you want to be able to use them in the correct way – in a professional manner.

There are many affordable web design and marketing companies, but the cheapest will not always be your best bet. Just be sure to check out their portfolio for other happy clients find a design firm that will do great work to get you the return on investment you expect for the money you put in for your website and startup marketing budget.