Ah! Being a business owner and your own boss! It is everyone’s dream! The flexibility of creating your own schedule and managing your finances as it fits your lifestyle is one of the many perks of being a business owner. However, unless you inherited a large company with a brand that everyone knows, it is very hard to meet those goals as expected. But you are not alone. Thousands of businesses around you are going through the same struggle. Some of them are in your same niche! Now, that is a bigger problem.
There is an incredible force in entrepreneurship. Someone who is starting a business understands that the competition is fierce. Therefore, their prices are low; their willingness to work harder for the client’s satisfaction is more predominant that in that of a larger corporation, and most importantly, they are probably running a basement operation to cut on the overhead of paying a utility bill. Yet, there is a window of opportunity that some small business owners fail to identify. And that is – they lack the means to market effectively to the online population. Mostly, because they add the web marketing factor to the many things that they cut from their overhead. Is that a good thing? Or is it doing more harm than good?
Why do you need a website?
It is probably safe to say that 98% of businesses will benefit from having a website and only a very small percentage is not impacted at all or very little. But the truth is most potential buyers will search the internet first before thy drive aimlessly around town hoping they will find the best product for the best price, or find it at all. In fact, many shoppers, although being aware of a place they can find their product, they will still browse the Internet in case they find a deal somewhere else. Understanding this behavior alone should give you motivate you to enter the online competition. This is the main reason without considering all the other technicalities that will probably bore you.
What about social networks?
Undoubtedly, utilizing social networks to market your business is very important and effective. However, there is so much you can share about your company in social networks and if you have been a shopper as well, you could probably notice that even after you have successfully identified the business you want to deal with, your next step is to visit their website. But the most important fact to remember from this is that unless you are paying the social network to campaign for you, you will be mostly marketing to your friends. And chances are, they already know what you sell and do for a living. Websites for small businesses that rank in search engines are marketing to anyone who is searching for any specific product and not just a brand. They don’t have to know you, they just have to know what they are looking for and your website has to offer it. Naturally, this effort can be enhanced with more aggressive search engine optimization.
Free websites for small businesses
Well, who doesn’t like free services? Acquiring a free website for your business may do your business more harm than good. Let’s look at it like this. Imagine you are replacing your car’s alternator. You go to the auto parts store, you get an alternator that matches your car, you watch a few YouTube videos, and you give it a try. If it works perfectly, you have earned that cold beer. But if something else goes wrong along the way, you are left with a decision to make:
- Leave it alone, it’s not a big deal
- Search YouTube again and fix it
- Giving in to your pride, accept defeat, and have a professional take care of it
Professional Web Design and Marketing companies who build websites for small businesses have a strong understanding of everything that it takes to build a website that will work correctly. But the most important and valuable benefit is the marketing angle itself. Anyone can go to a DIY website building site and create a great looking website built on a template and using drag and drop tools and word editors but without knowing the correct architecture of a website that satisfies marketing techniques that attracts the user’s attention, failure is almost guaranteed. These are some of the most common mistakes resulting from DIY websites:
- High http requests by using too many files and unnecessary scripts usually compacted in a DIY builder and template.
- Excessive use of images reducing the SEO value of the website.
- Use of inline styling which often conflicts with the website responding to mobile devices.
- Non-minimalistic approach leads to a heavy load and it slows down the website.
- High data consumption due to large images.
- Unrealistic navigation causing dead ends and leading to user frustration.
- Lack of secured network and payment gateways which can lead to identity theft and spamming.
- Incorrect use of color palettes usually as a result of the website owner using what he likes best instead of what is recommended.
- Mobile device version of the site are often broken.
- Lack of customization due to templating.
- and many more
It is what it is
In a nutshell, re-evaluate your need for a professional website. Websites for small businesses do not have to break your budget. If you are with the right company who cares about building a long-lasting relationship with you, they should offer startup packages and payment plans that will allow you to afford a website that will give your competition a run for their money. You will be featured online as a professional, your visitors will feel comfortable and informed, you will raise the bar on your competition, and you will more likely receive a better click-to-call conversion.
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