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Andrew M McCall

10 Static Site Mistakes You Should Stop Making: A blog about the common mistakes people make when creating static sites.

Static websites are a great way to build a JAMStack websitesite without having to worry about server configuration, databases, or security. Learn why static site generators can be a powerful JAMStack tool.

When starting a business, it can be tempting to go with the “latest and greatest” web development technology. In fact, this same temptation often happens within a business even after it has launched a website. A website that has been built with a static site generator is always going to have a lower risk of being hacked. This doesn’t just mean your company will be less likely to be hacked, but you will also not have to throw away any code and start over if things do go wrong. If you are a small business you can also take advantage of static generators that are free or low cost.

Bad front page content

Your front page is your first impression. It’s the first page that people see when they land on your site. It’s the page that tells people what your site is about and maybe even introduces them to your brand. But what if you’re making the same mistakes that most people are making? What if you’re making your front page content too hard to read? Or what if you’re missing an important call to action? Bad front page content leaves a poor first impression on your potential customers.

No internal navigation

One of the most common mistakes I see is that people either neglect internal navigation entirely or they simply link to their single page of content. Most people would never leave their house if all they had access to was one giant room, but we do it all the time with websites. As the saying goes: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” And this is exactly why a website needs internal navigation. Don’t forget about the people who visit your site from search engines. If they find your site worthy of being on the first page of Google, they should be able to navigate around it easily and find the other pages that are relevant to their needs. Whenever you link to your home page, you should also link to other relevant pages within your site.

Copy errors

Copy errors are some of the most common mistakes people make when creating a site. Copy errors are the most common because they’re usually easy to fix and are very easy to overlook. Copy errors are the things that make your site sound awkward or unprofessional. Copy errors are things like: typos, spelling mistakes, not capitalizing the first letter of a sentence, etc. Copy errors are easy to fix if you’re writing a page by yourself, but when you have a team working on a site, copy errors can be more difficult to find. That’s because there are many people working on a large project, so a lot of people are writing and editing the copy, making it very difficult to find copy errors. If you’re making your site with a team, try to go over the copy before it’s published, or have a dedicated editor that goes over the copy. If you’re making a site on your own, try to go over the copy multiple times yourself.

No social media integration

Social media integration is a huge advantage for any website that is trying to reach out to its audience. When done right, it can bolster any online presence and make it much more effective. However, a lot of people fall into the same trap when it comes to social media integration – they make it difficult for visitors to share content from your website. In this blog, we will go over some of the common mistakes people tend to make when it comes to social media integration, and how you can avoid them. A lot of people use social media as a way to promote their website. But if there is no way for people to share the content from your website, then you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. If you’re not allowing people to share your content, you’re essentially telling them to get lost and never come back to your site again.

Content errors

A content error is basically when you have broken links or missing files on your site, or other technical issues that prevent you from accessing your site. While a “404 Not Found” message isn’t as bad as a “404 File Not Found” error, it’s still a problem that needs to be fixed. (And while you’re at it, you should probably fix the other error, too!) Content facts also need to be checked to make sure search-intent is fulfilled

No sitemap

When creating a static site, it’s easy to forget about having a sitemap. After all, the design is clean, there are no links to click, and the navigation is non-existent. So, why do you need a sitemap if there are no pages to navigate? It’s true that you don’t necessarily need a sitemap for your website – but you should. A sitemap is vital to the SEO of your website because it allows search engines to crawl and index all the content on your site. This not only increases your site’s visibility in search engines, it also helps search engines better understand your site’s structure. And, since search engines are getting smarter and smarter, they can find content on your website through other means than just the sitemap. Think of sitemaps as your website’s roadmap. They will show search engines how the pages are linked, and how they’re connected to each other. And, if search engines can understand your site structure, they can find all of the pages on your site.

No 404 page

Static sites are very popular these days, but many people are making the same mistakes. I’ve seen a lot of static sites lately that lack a 404 page. Having a 404 page is important because it keeps the user informed. If the user follows a link and the page doesn’t exist, they should receive a 404 page. Some people use a custom 404 page or a default 404 page that comes with their blog theme. I prefer the custom 404 page because it’s more about the user and their experience.

It seems simple, but you’d be surprised how many websites don’t have search features. Why? Users hate it when they have to click through multiple pages to find what they’re looking for. It’s not just a matter of convenience – it’s about creating a positive user experience. How do you implement a search feature in a static site? There are a few different ways to do this. One is to use the search form of your CMS (content management system), or to build your own search form that crawls your site’s pages and searches them for keywords.

No contact info

One of the more common mistakes with static sites is not including contact information. It is important to build a contact form into your static site, even if you don’t plan on actually using it. This way, you can give an alternative option to people who want to reach you. Having a contact form also helps with SEO. If you tell Google that you have a contact form, but don’t actually have one, then you are misleading them. This can lead to a Google penalty. If you don’t want to use a contact form for your static website, then at least include a social media profile for people to reach you on.

No sitewide Google Analytics

While Google Analytics has been around for a long time, people are still making the same mistake when it comes to integrating it into their static sites. Google Analytics is the most commonly used website statistics service. In fact, it’s used by about a third of all websites. It allows you to track various statistics and data that is useful for optimizing your site. Most of the time people will use Google Analytics when they are using a CMS like WordPress or Joomla. However, it’s also possible to add Google Analytics to a static site. Just like with a CMS, you have to add the Google Analytics code to all your pages. When you have a static site, there is no need to add the code to every page. When you use a static site generator – like Jekyll – your pages are created automatically. You can just add the Google Analytics code once. This will work just as well as adding it to every page (just make sure you add the code before any other code). Conclusion: A static site doesn’t have to be boring. It can be as simple or complex as you want. These 10 common mistakes should help you create your own awesome static site.

FAQ:

  1. What’s the most common mistake you made on your first static site?
  1. What’s the best way to get started with static sites?
  1. What are some of the best static site generators?
  1. What’s the best way to get your company to support your idea of creating a static site?
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