Should You Build Your Own Website?
It’s a new year and a new decade even (though apparently, that’s up for debate…LOL). We are in the year 2020 and many people are ready to take the leap and start a business on their own. Of course, one of the most crucial needs for ANY business starting is a website. And if marketing & design isn’t your professional lane, you may want to consider hiring a Digital Strategist | Web Designer to help you to create a website best suited for your business.
I was recently reading a Facebook post in this woman in business empowerment group called Boss Babes where a fresh entrepreneur was asking the over 10,000 members of this private group, what platform did they use to create their websites and flat out said they needed “HELP”.
Typically, when I design a website for a client, I use Wix. As a designer, I find the templates have plenty of options that have kept up with the current methodology in web design, but the best part is if a client doesn’t hire me as their Web Master, they should be able to easily navigate through website changes. Note: Make sure whoever builds your site walks you through how to make changes. But there is so much more than plug ‘n play when it comes to website designs. Even Wix has a set of backend complexities that can confuse a novice web designer.
Just because you can design a website, does it mean you should? It could mean the difference between your website just occupying webspace out there in the whole wide web or someone who you didn’t direct to your site, finding your new small business on their own. And let me tell you, THIS IS THE WHOLE POINT OF HAVING A WEBSITE!
A website is a place where potently new customers can come and find out the information they seek and the products they want 24/7. If your website is done right, web click will turn into a conversion. A conversion could be someone signing up to your newsletter to learn more, a new client making an appointment, or someone purchasing your product. But you have to think about how they will get to your website if you haven’t sent them directly. The answer is usually Google.
Let’s say you sell skincare & give facial’s at a local spa and there is a potential customer in your area looking for facials so they Google “facials in Richmond VA”. What exactly would they find? How far in Google pages will your business appear? Would you appear at all?
These are things you want to ask yourself when creating a website.
And you want to make sure you do everything you can to organically increase your search engine page results (SERP).
To be clear, there is no magic wand someone can wave to increase your ranking on Google, but there are tactics you can do to help improve on what SERP your business shows up.
In starting your first small business your family and friends can be a great place to start to get the word out about your new venture. Nevertheless, your family and friends are not your core lifetime customers. Let me say this again, to sustain your business, your family and friends are not your core lifetime customer. The intent is to have customers find you during their web search for your service or product. I recommend you calculate your Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV). CLTV is the metric that indicates the total revenue a business can reasonably expect from a single customer account. This is a great metric to help you to understand the value of having a website that is customer first. Not having a great website could have you lose a potential lifetime customer.
So I guess you are asking, how do you get people I do not know to click on my website? You have to know marketing, e-commerce, Google, SEO, SEM, and other digital marketing tactics. Do some research before you take on building a website on your own. Trying a free consultation with a Digital Marketing Agency could be a great place to begin your entrepreneurial dreams. To prepare for your consultation, write down some questions to ask. Here are a few:
Do you have sample website work you can view?
Ask them to explain SEO to you and how they will implement SEO strategies to your site.
If you are selling products on your website, brush up on e-commerce best practices, and ask what e-commerce tactics they will use.
Ask if they are familiar with best practices on improving Google ranking organically.
Lastly, I suggest making sure the web building platform you chose will create a secured website for your business. An unsecured website is another that lowers your Google ranking.
Starting a business can be overwhelming, but consider bartering your services or goods to get your business going. The practice of bartering – the exchange of goods and services rather than money – is a great option for leaner startups strapped for cash flow. BartrVA is an advertising social and web bartering hub for small businesses that for a nominal fee you can advertise to find someone to barter with for your particular needs. This will allow you to focus on your core business and better your products and services. It’s okay to outsource some of your tasks. Ultimately, you have done the first step and that’s decided you want to be an entrepreneur. Congrats and Happy New Year from Saint MGMT!
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