(Cri8iversary) Webinar - Common mistakes and false myths on the Web

 

Webinar: Common mistakes and false myths on the Web

What are the most common errors and what you shouldn't do when dabbing in the world of digital communication.

The errors you shouldn't make on the Web; from fake news to click-baiting, to AI-generated content and why you shouldn't be using it

(Many thanks to my sister Catherine "Treehugger0123" for her invaluable help with getting this translation out in a timely way!)

In this Webinar (also available as a video below) we'll have a look at some of the most common mistakes that you could run into while creating contents for the Web. Knowing what to do - how to best convey a message, what platforms to use, as well as the specifics of programs and languages - is certainly important, but knowing what not to do might be just as important, if not more so. By figuring out where you go wrong and why, your contents will be more effective and to the point. Cri8ive is here to help!

N. 1 - "I don't need a website, I already have Social Media"

"Oh no, I don't need a website, I already have Social Media."

"Why I should get my own site if I already have Facebook and Instagram?"

"Websites are outdated, no one checks out a site anymore, it's an outdated concept."

You may have heard some of these statements before. Or perhaps you have voiced (or thought) these concets yourself. Thinking that Social Media alone are everything you need in digital ommunication is, in fact, one of the most common mistakes you could make.

Social Media are a very powerful tool. Often they serve as the first connection with your clients or your audience. Communication is timely, and sometimes occurs in real time. All this makes for a tremendous starting point; but as of itself, it's just not enough.

A professional website helps you showcase your business and your projects

One of the key aspects of Social Media is their brevity. Users are looking for contents they can browse quickly; pictures and short videoclips that don't require more than a few seconds of brainpower. it can spark interest in your project or your business - and it should - but to really engage your audience, you must make your work well-known so they can appreciate its characteristics and what makes you unique. Hence the need for more in-depth contents that will captivate your targets for more than a few minutes, as they delve into who you are and what you do.

Think of Social Media as a "love at first sight" between you and your audience. The first contact has been established and there's undeniable chemistry. Great! Now with a professional website, you can make that selfsame audience fall head over heels in love with your project.

N. 2 - "Fine then, I'll make my own site for free!"

Subsequently, you might wonder what use you have for the services of a Web Designer or a Web Developer, with all the platforms online that allow you to create your own free website in just a few clicks. Platforms like Wix or Jimdo offer you a wide array of tools that should allow you to reach a wide audience cost-free. Right?

No - quite wrong. These platforms can be a valuable asset if you're just starting out as a content creator, or for amateur projects. These sites are the online equivalent of WYSIWYG softwares and CRMs; in a few minutes you can arrange a webpage simply by moving around blocks of texts and adding pictures, similarly to what you'd do on a Word doc.

A common mistake; using free website platforms

However, these tools are nowhere near powerful enough for professionals who need to showcase their skills, their projects and their enterprises in a businesslike and sophisticated manner. An amateur website will reflect poorly on your endeavors, and your audience might think your work isn't worth their time if you for first won't bother to display it in the best light possible.

Think of your website as a business card. Would you settle for a generic and plain appearance, with just your name and contacts on white background? Or worse still, would you hand out a handwritten buiness card? If the answer is no - you just figured out why your website should be tailored by a professional deveoper like Cri8ive.

N. 3 - "The Social Media is mine and I manage it myself!"

While the slogan - echoing the Italian feminists rallying cry in the 60s - may seem funny, this is actually one of the most common mistake that businesses can make in building and managing their online presence. We all use Social Media on a daily basis; it's become a significant part of our life. Why then we shoudn't use our Social profiles outselves when we want to promote our services, our enterprise or our work projects? Nowadays, is there still need for the services of a Social Media Manager?

Nowadays do you still need a Social Media Manager?

Similarly to what we've already discussed on the subject of Websites - you certainly can manage your own Social Media yourself. However, the results won't be the same than if you were hiring a professional to take your Socials to the next level. A Social Media Manager studies the most engaging tone of voice to appease your audience, is proficient with advanced marketing strategies, knows how to handle marketing campaigns and can figure out what is the best publishing schedule for your contents, both long-term and throughout the day. Their goal is always to give a broader reach to your projects, showcasing them off in the most successful way.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that the way you interact with your friends on Social Media may work just as well with your potential customers. In return for investing time, money and resources in your projects, users expect nothing short of your best, least they turn elsewhere.

N. 4 - "I'll do everything with AI" (for free)

This is by far one of the worst mistakes you could make, and nowadays it's absolutely THE most common. Many a geek out there will tell you to use Artificial Intelligence for everything; free "art", book covers, promotional texts, video, web design and programming, proof-reading, source-checking. Even the authors of a wildly popular Italian podcast have stated in multiple occasions that their Social posts are written almost exclusively by Artificial Intelligence,

So why you shouldn't also be doing the same? And better yet, for free?

First and foremost, AI makes mistakes - sometimes glaring ones as well. No matter how outwardly flawless the output may seem; upon closer inspection you'll find a quantity of errors, in about 99,9% of AI-generated "work". Ranging from  plain and ineffective - where not downright nonsensical - turn of phrases that are often the tell-tale of an AI "author", these texts - for example - may make your posts and copywriting less effective. But that's notall; even the actual contents may be inaccurate, with estimates, stats, dates and events either blown out of scale, or completely made up.

AI is imprecise, unreliable, and unethical.

There's been increasing cries of alarm about the unreliability of the Artificial Intelligences. But if you still don't believe it - you might have noticed that the developers themselves ultimately had to tackle the issue, with disclaimers found usually at the bottom of the window or at the end of the output. ChatGPT, for example, reads:

"ChatGPT can make mistakes. Consider checking important information."

Which is another way of saying that the AI will provide you content... but ultimately it's up to you to double-check and fine-tune the output, spending twice as much time, resources and energies over tasks that YOU may have crafted just as successfully the first time around. So why waste time in "fixing the homeworks" of a robot when you could rely on a professional who will follow the entire content creation proceedings from end to  finish?

Additionally, AI is deeply unethical. Its database is trained on copyright-protected works whose rights are never recognized, and whose authors don't get paid when their work is used to train AI models. To put it simply, AI exploits the work of creatives (you can find out more here). And even if you're one of those who don't give a zit about creators rights, you perhaps don't know that AI is immensely detrimental to the environment as well. Its servers require massive quantities of energy to keep running, with dramatic consequences in term of pollution that may have serious repercussions on our ecosystem as a whole.

N. 5 - Clickbaiting is Evil

Another fairly common mistake is the use of clickbaiting. If you've ever come across grandiose titles and  articles that don't really live up to what the Facebook or Instagram post promised, you know what we're talking of. But perhaps you didn't know that clickbaiting dates way back, before the age of Social Media.

Already as early as in the 2000s the less scrupulous webmasters would use this kind of "tricks" to draw more visitors on their website. A very common technique was the use of trending keywords - the most popular of which, of course, were "sex" and "soccer" - strategically hidden in the souce code of webpages. This way, the sites would get a lot more clicks from people who were expecting either sport or adult contents. However, Google and the other search engines were quick to counter attack; in the last two decades, content analysis tools have become way more sophisticated, leading to the development of SEO as we know it.

A common mistake is using trending keywords like "soccer" or "sex" to get more views (if, that is, your site is NOT about soccer or sex)

Yet, clickbaiting continues to grow, especially over Social Media. If you have considered this option for getting more views, you should know that your results ought to be very short-lived. Users may click on your misleading post or ads once - and just once.... then they will realize that your site's a scam and avoid it altogether. You just lost a potential customer.

Besides, clickbait contents can be reported to Social Media platforms and search engines; you may get your "five minutes under the spotlight", but at the risk of having your udience halfed at best or completely poofed at worst - because your profile has been blacklisted and your contents are no longer being shown to anyone. Is it worth it?

N. 6 - A common mistake; sharing fake news

Fake news are a plague that is getting more and more widespread on the Internet. By now, even the mass media have become aware of the dramatic extent of this problem. Nowadays, any content can be promoted on the Web with little to no filter. Thus, it's extremely easy to pass out competely inaccurate news and contents as genuine - and sometimes it's even done in good faith.

Fake news are a rather common mistake on the Web

Before sharing or publishing a content (or before you ask a SMM or Webmaster to publish it for you), always double-check and even triple-check your sources. Don't make the mistake of thinking a viral content must be true just because it's bouncing off the Social Media. Sites like FactCheck.org or Snopes.com may help you determine whether a content is genuine, but sometimes even a generic Google or Wikipedia search will work a charm.

Most imortantly, DON'T trust Artificial Intelligence when fact-checking, unless you're researching a subject on which you're already super-experienced (but then you probably don't need Internet to cross-check the content to begin with). As we explained beforehand, AIs are unreliable and sometimes will provide completely made-up answers in a warped attempt to "appease" the user. Sources must always come from verified sites - better if institutional or official ones.

N. 7 - Images are (not always) worth a thousand words

Internet and the Web in general are a visual media. Thus it's quite common to think that one of the best way to draw audience is through images alone. While this is partially true, relying exclusively in images is a mistake in itself.

Using images on Social Media, for example, is the correct way to go. Illustrated posts are immensely more engaging than simple textual contents. Some platforms, like Instagram or TikTok, were even created purposefully to share images and slideshows. These are all cases when images will serve you just right, drawing attention and requiring little to no brainpower from users (beyond likes and reactions).

Good quality pictures are pivotal - but shouldn't replace textual contents entirely.

However, core contents should be available in both form - visual AND written. Many visually impaired users use text-base browsers that cannot process images. This is why, for example, SEO is so adamant about the use of alternative texts or captions - if you've ever wondered what those are for, now you know.

Websites are a different matter, and the golden rule of Web Design is that the images should be only decorative, as the search engines won't be able to read anything contained in a picture. All the contents and details should be written out for your visitors. Furthermore, texts should be fully intelligible even without additional pictures. The good news is, if you want to find out whether your written contents are accessible, there's a very simple way to do so; just type it out or copy it on Word or Notepad as plain text - then read it over. Can you still understand what your text is about? If the answer is no, then your contents really ought to be revised by professionals like Cri8ive.

N. 8 - "Why should I pay someone for doing online work?"

Ultimately, many of the common mistakes we have examined thus far stem from just this question. Which, in turn, stems from a common misconception - that "online work is not real work".

This prejudice was first used to slander Influencers, and over the years has extended to Youtube and OnlyFans stars as well. Often people think that content creators are tax-evading swindlers out to  con unsuspecting people out of their pocket money.

Let's get the obvious away; like in every work field, there's good people - the majority - and there's the occasional fraud. But generalizing is wrong, especially as online work isn't about "slacking in front of a computer" like many people think. Content creation implies communication and marketing skills, a thorough study of the market and of what competitors are doing (and how they're doing it). Creators must be always up to date on the latest trends; skills and equipments also involve considerable costs, as do live events. In fact, it's not uncommon for the individual creator to have a teamwork assisting him, or her.

Content creating is a full-time job and deserves to be respected as such

Digital work is just as valid as any traditional job. It's dignified - and ultimately it's about effort, sacrifices, commitment, and perseverance. Content creators are no lazy bums who don't want to go out and work - they're highly qualified professionals who are ALREADY working hard to get where they are. The most common mistake people make everyday is belittling their job, whether it's in the enterainment, cultural, or adult field. Even worse, many people think that these workers "have no right" to earn their living, and that replacing them with the sub-par contents of an Artificial Intelligence is not a big deal when, in fact, it's nothing short of criminal.

Questions & Answers

Have you made any of these mistakes yourself? Or had you already heard about some of these false myths, and the Webinar helped you underatand why you should steer clear? Is there any other misconception or mistake you'd have liked me to expand upon?

Click the comments box below and let me know! I'll be available all evening for an extensive Q&A session on the mistakes on the Web.

Stay Cri8ive!