If you are reading this, chances are you have a website or are thinking of one. Hopefully you have bought into the benefits of having a website, and expanding your reach. It really is one of the most powerful tools you can have that will allow you to reach people a world away. An effective small business website should be an investment that makes you money, not just something that sits there. So, let’s take a look at a few things to consider when building a website.
Design Yourself or Hire Out?
A lot of small businesses owners are determined not to spend money on their website, or to spend as little as possible on a website, so they decide to build a website on their own, often using a do it yourself website builder. The result? Often a very clunky, unaesthetic, poor coded website that is not search engine friendly. I admire those that want to do things on their own, but at the same time it is important to know when you should hire a professional. And building a website that will portray your brand and be the face of your company is something that should be done by a pro.
Foreign or US Designer?
Like many other products and services you can potentially pay less if you go overseas to have your website built. A few things to consider though:
- Time Zone Difference
- Language Barrier
- Cultural Differences
- Understanding or Lack of Understanding of SEO
- Reliability
For foreign designers, it is common to compete solely on price, and they try to make this up with volume, building as many sites as possible, so your website will be slapped together as quickly as they can, or worst case scenario if you paid up front, your website won’t be done at all. The understanding that many foreign designers have on ON Page SEO is virtually nonexistent. Not only that, but they have no interest in the security of your website so the security software and backup software that should be installed on your website? It isn’t, leaving you quite vulnerable. And relying on them to write content for your site? Don’t even consider it.
Do yourself a favor and hire a US based designer that has a successful track record. Do not, under any circumstance, risk your company’s future by trying to save a few hundred bucks. In the long run it will come back to bite you. I’ve seen it countless times.
Include Useful Content
When you have a website, you are not only trying to be found online, but you are looking to convert the traffic into sales. The best way to do this is to provide value to your visitors. If you have an HVAC business, you may want to include information on your site about how often to change your air filters, or perhaps the ideal temperature to put your thermostat in the winter. Think user experience first and optimizing your keywords for the search engines second. What good will your site do if the search engines find it because it is optimized with lots of keywords, but when your visitors get there they leave because the site is obviously keyword stuffed?
Easy to Update
With the popularity of a content management system called WordPress, it is easier than ever for a novice to update basic components of their website such as adding more pictures and adding blog posts. For the vast majority of small business websites, WordPress will be an ideal choice.
Consider a Blog.
A blog is a section of your website that you use for articles. You can post useful articles that your visitors would find beneficial. A blog is a great way to connect with readers and to rank for
more of your relevant keywords in the search engines. I think every small business should blog regularly. Just be sure you aren’t making one of these blogging mistakes.
Easy to Contact
One mistake I’ll see regularly is that it is hard to find how to contact a business on their website. The contact form is buried, or worse yet, there isn’t one at all. On most sites for small businesses, I think it makes sense to put a contact form on the phone page, and definitely the phone number on the home page. Make it even easier by putting your email address in addition to the contact form. Some people dislike having to fill out required fields that may not apply to them and catpcha forms that they can’t read. Make it easy, add your email address.
These are just a few of the things to consider when putting together a new website for your business. If you need help getting started with your website, contact me I can help.