Here’s a really frustrating way your web site can cost you money: It brings you customers you can’t serve.
A customer likes your site. They like your work. So they get in touch with you and ask if how much it will cost for you to do something that you can’t or don’t do. The reason this happened is because your site misrepresented your business, and now a potential customer is willing to pay you money for something you can’t or don’t do. That’s business you get to watch walk away after explaining to someone that you don’t do what they thought you did. For example, if you are a real estate buyer’s agent, you want to make sure that people understand if you don’t take listings. If you’re a patent lawyer, you don’t want people calling you to file suit against their neighbor with the noisy dog.
If you’re selling something, this could result in a refund request, or in the extreme, a legal action taken against you. That’s a sale you’ve just made and then unmade. This can also leave an unhappy customer telling everyone they know how much your product isn’t what you said it was, which is negative advertising you don’t need.
Now, not all misrepresentations are deliberate. You can misrepresent your product or service accidentally, or just lay down the sales pitch a bit too thick. In any case, it won’t serve you to do this, so double check your site (or have it double-checked) to insure that you’re not inadvertently telling someone who’s never seen it before something about your business that isn’t true. The bottom line is that you shouldn’t make visitors to your website have to guess what you do. Make sure your website paints a clear picture of your business.
