How Frightening Haunted Houses Bare Similarity to Creating Your First Website

I love a good mystery. I love a good psychological thriller even more. And, I love haunted houses. On my bucket list is to stay a night in the Lizzy Borden house in Fall River, MA. I believe she is guilty, how about you? But, there’s one house that I find most fascinating. And since seeing it in person would take some planning, as it is across the country, I opted for the virtual tour. You get lifetime access for $8.99, and while not the same, it did kill some time and had interesting facts. You can view it multiple times and go back and visit the rooms that most interest you. Which house am I referring to? The Winchester Mystery House.® www.winchestermysteryhouse.com

(In s.p.o.o.o.k.y ghost story voice. . .) Now, rumor has it, the widow of William Winchester, (Winchester® Repeating Arms), Sarah Winchester, felt she owed it to all of the souls who had died due to her family’s guns. The gun could shoot something like 15 rounds before needing to be reloaded, so it was revolutionary and made them some moolah. Sarah had a wealthy upbringing and was well educated, and was able to “marry well,” as they say. (Whispering gossipy voice. . . she may have had a budget of $1,000 a day (keep in mind she died in 1922—not a shabby income!).

She and William had an infant daughter who died of a rare disease. William died of TB after several years of marriage. A psychic told her she would need a big enough home to house all of the souls of the gun victims. In order to remedy this, she bought an 8 room farmhouse across the country in San Jose, CA and engaged in constant renovation to increase the size, (24,000 square feet) and ordered a lot of construction designs that did not make sense. She renovated this house until her death. (She also wore black for a few decades, so the story goes.)

How is a spooky haunted house related to creating a website? 

Avoid Common Website Design Mistakes and Flaws

1—A staircase or doorway that leads to nowhere.

What is the point?

Similarly, if your website is not leading a potential client to your call to action, it is a staircase leading to nowhere.

Content 

2—Upside down posts.

Your content needs to relate to your business and your audience. 

Sarah literally had posts put in upside down, but posts on your website should lead a customer to where you want them to go, and to be helpful. If you are a life coach, posting about cheerleading would not make sense, unless it relates to a concept you are trying to convey. Your posts should make sense to your business. If not, it will confuse the reader, and you will not appear as professional. Be your quirky self, but make it worth your client or potential client’s time. What can they learn? What would help them?

Size

3–More real estate is not necessarily better. 

24,000 square feet, with ghosts, and unusable rooms does not make more sense than smaller square footage, that is all accessible. Similarly, your website does not need to have multiple pages. To get started, only a few pages are necessary, perhaps only one!, and too many pages can cause overwhelm for those visiting your site, and be harder for you to maintain. Focus on your homepage, your about page, and your services. Add others as it makes sense when your business grows. Start a blog page when you have articles to upload. A fun fact about Squarespace—you can schedule your blog posts, which is very helpful for consistency.

Trendy

4—Window on the floor, so you can see the room below. 

As cool as that is, keep your website functional before trendy. Sure, it could be the newest fad to have a window on the floor, aka, a particular font or color palette. But, think long term. What happens when the window gets old, or the glass breaks, or somebody falls through it. In other words, what if the font of the year suddenly goes out of style, or your trendy color palette ends up annoying you. Focus on the value you can offer your clients, and what is authentic to you. You can always rebrand. Save the trendy for the haunted houses.

I hope this was helpful as well as entertaining. It fits the season, for those of you who celebrate Halloween. I’ll report back when I make it to the Lizzy Borden house. And, in the meantime if you want to talk haunted houses, true crime, or websites, let’s chat!