We all see the ads on TV advertising free custom website design for your business. Does this mean that the days for quality custom built business websites have come to an end? It seems very attractive to be able to get your business online for free? Why should you spend good money to get a website?
If you only think of your business website as an expense, then you should shop for the best deal to minimize your business expenses. Here you would treat the website as a commodity where it is not about quality it is about price in making your buying decision.
Racing Analogy
Racing and business have more in common than you may think. In business you want to be fast, agile and stay ahead of your competition. Would you consider taking out your family Prius to compete against formula one racing cars?
Of course not, you would need a custom designed race car, engine carefully machined and blueprinted and designed to compete against the other high performance cars. The same is true with business website design.
Business Website Marketing
Your website should be part of your marketing strategy. Money spent on promoting your business should yield a return. The conversion strategy from interested visitor to happy customer should be planned and designed in.
Lead Generation: The purpose for the vast majority of business websites is to generate new business leads and inquiries. You need to skillfully guide a website visitor that is seeking an answer or a place to buy, that you are the best and most trustworthy answer to their need. You need to acknowledge their need and then provide an easy path to action. This may be as simple as encouraging them to call and providing your phone number in the optimal location.
Website Visitors: How are visitors going to find your website? The web has over 857 million website according to Netcraft. Websites need to be designed to be indexed and ranked well on Google. This is no accident. Working in keywords helps tell your visitors and Google what it is that you do and where you do it. Designing in traffic strategies will quickly put your website in a place where visitors can easily find it.
If you view your website design as an expense, then by all means spend as little as possible. If you view your website as a way to bring in valuable new customers, then bring in a professional digital marketer to get new customers and increase sales.