Your Small Business Website

What is the best website builder for small businesses? Should you use a website template and do it yourself?

Should you have your niece build a website? (After all, she is a millennial, and they all pop out of the womb experts in the internet and websites.)

What about hiring a professional? Oh, wait! That sounds too expensive! How much would it really cost to get a new website designed for my business? Ah, forget it I probably can’t afford it.

So what is the best way to get a website built for your small business?

If your concern is simply price and getting a website designed for cheap, well there are thousands of options for you.

What you should be asking is how do you get a website built that will generate new customers and sales for your business.

10 years ago you could get away with throwing up a cheap website. Not any more.

98% of your prospects will research and shop online long before they make a purchase.  The bigger the ticket item the longer people will shop.  So having a good website is vital today. Notice I said good, not cheap and there is no such thing as good and cheap.

Your business’s first contact with a new prospective customer today often will be via your business website.  Most businesses have hundreds of competitors online so having a website that represents you well is very important.

If you have a home service business like HVAC, plumbing, electrical, landscaping, or anything related to construction, roofing, or building your website is the first impression and your prospects will make a value judgment. In short, you do not want to look like a “chuck with a truck”. Even if you started your business last week your website needs to convey professionalism and communicate that your company is the “safe & right decision” for your potential customer to make.

 Sorry, that’s just the way it is.

Things You Have To Have On Your Small Business Website

• Obviously, your website has to look aesthetically pleasing. Things like font choice, color balance, eye trail, and correct graphic elements combined that sell your story and business.
• Your website has to be easy to navigate. This is more difficult than you think, as most cookie-cutter sites are not set up for this. If you do not know how to program and change the template your website will fail.
• Your website has to be optimized so you show up on searches. 72% of people do not get past the first page of a Google search. Are you aware of how and what people are searching for when it comes to your business?
• It has to have a flow pattern that guides people through the visit.
• Do you know what causes people to hit the close button leaving your website to go to a competitor’s website?
• Do you know what the tools are to help convert visitors to leads?
• Do you know how to drive traffic to your website?

Having a poorly designed small business website today could cost your business hundreds of thousands in lost opportunities and sales.

So the money you are saving by “doing it yourself” is not saving you money and is, in fact, shackling your company sales and growth and potentially losing you money.

So how much should you expect to spend when having a professional design a website for you?

The answer to that question is, it depends on what you need.

For a basic business website, you should expect to spend anywhere between $2000 to $3000 (90% of businesses fall into the basic website category). For a website that is more advanced, it will range between $6000 to $20,000 in cost to build.  (Advanced websites get into building design and function from the ground up–a lot of custom programming, secure customer login portals, shopping carts, copywriting, user testing, and advanced SEO).

It depends on your business and what you need.

The money you spend on a website will be well worth it, as it will generate returns that far exceed the cost of building it.