Here at Distinct, we often meet people who have tried to build their own websites in order to save money. Yet, they end up coming to us because they find that DIY websites force them to take valuable time and money away from actually building their business. The following hypothetical story highlights the issues that we have heard about and seen over and over again in companies that try to build their own websites.
Danny Smith runs a local seafood restaurant called the Surfer's Turf. While he earns decent business from word of mouth and signage on his store, he knows that he can reach a larger customer base if he gets online. At the same time, he is discouraged by his phone calls to a few web development companies: Building a small website to showcase his restaurant will cost him almost $5,000. Regular maintenance of that site will cost him hundreds of additional dollars a month. He finds it hard to believe that a simple website will be worth that much money. Plus, he lacks a website budget, because his business is small.
Then, Danny hears about DIY website templates. For a couple hundred dollars a year, he can choose a domain name, web host company, and website template and build his own site. Most of those website templates even claim that he can get his site up and running within a few minutes. He eagerly starts work on his own DIY website, thinking that he can get the same website as a website designer could give him, but for a fraction of the cost.
Within a short amount of time, however, Danny finds himself struggling to run an effective site. First, he notices that the basic template does not allow him to upload his menu, or set up an online system for ordering delivery. If he wants to customize his site, he will need to dig into the open source code and implement those features himself. That task alone consumes more than 30 hours of his time, and it still doesn't look quite right when he is finished.
Next, Danny notices that he can't find his website when he searches online. He doesn't understand how to use search engine optimization to get his site to rank on the first or second page of the Google search results. As a result, his website is buried on page 43, and he sees one visitor to his site in the first month. Once he realizes that he should add content regularly in order to boost his visibility in the search results, he has to set aside another 10 hours a month for content creation. Even then, he is failing to do keyword research, and other strategies that can help get his website in front of more people.
After Danny notices an error message when trying to access one of the pages on his site, he realizes that he is going to have to do regular maintenance to make sure his site stays up and running. Since he is a website novice, he is going to need to spend 15 hours a month instead of 5 running routine maintenance on his site. Plus, thanks to his amateur coding, he can expect to repair a page crash at least once or twice a month.
After 6 months, Danny evaluates his website's effectiveness. He has had 20 visitors, and made four sales for a total of $150. He has spent about 130 hours working on his site. Not a single customer who filled out his in-store survey checked “website” when asked about how they had heard of his business. In addition, Danny finds is that the time he spends on his website is time spent away from running his business. His time away from his business is costing him money.
For instance, he has had to give up developing his popular weekly special. This means he loses customers every week who used to come to try out his tasty new seafood dishes. Because he doesn't have time to do the scheduling or all of the day to day management of the restaurant, he has to hire a part-time manager who doesn't run the place as efficiently as he did. He estimates that he is losing $500 a week thanks to the time his website is consuming.
Plus, because his website is down so much for maintenance and repairs, Danny loses sales his website should have been earning him. And customers who find an error page aren't likely to come back later to see if things are back up and running. Within 6 months, Danny has lost much more than the $5,000 he would have spent hiring a professional to build his site for him.
So what is a small business to do when forced to choose between the high prices of professional web developers and the lost time and money that DIY websites create? Here at Distinct Consulting, we offer you a solution through a combination of expert services, a simple process, and affordable prices. Consider the following benefits you get from hiring us:
Expertise
We know web design, web development, coding, customization, search engine optimization, social media advertising, and more. As a result, we can create all the features your website needs in less time than it would take you to do it yourself. Plus, because we understand SEO and social media advertising, we can make sure that your website is ready to rank visibly in the search results, and we can help you craft and implement a social media campaign that will get the attention of your target audience. You won't just have a great website; you will have a more noticeable online presence.
Maintenance
We also offer maintenance packages for your website. This means that we can spend as little as an hour or as many hours as you need checking your links, fixing error pages, updating content, tweaking images, and otherwise keeping your website running smoothly. Because your website won't suffer from down time, you will make more sales and earn more visitors.
Stress-Free Process
Once you hire us to implement your website, you don't have to spend any more time worrying about how the site will turn out. Instead, you get to devote your attention to what you do best: Helping your great business to thrive.
Affordable Prices
Danny chose to try a DIY website because he didn't want to pay the high prices that many web design companies charge. Here at Distinct Consulting, we have a commitment to keeping prices affordable for small businesses such as yours. This means that we often charge much less than what other companies will charge. Our low prices are possible because we intentionally use a business model that is designed to be affordable without compromising quality.
Plus, even if your website budget is small, chances are we have a package that can fit your budget. For instance, you can choose for us to redesign your site, design a 5 page, 10 page, or 15 page website, or even do a custom site for custom pricing. Our maintenance packages, content creation packages, and advertising packages are equally flexible. The result? You can enjoy peace of mind and a hassle free website experience without breaking the bank.
You can always choose to build your own website. However, you need to be prepared to lose time, money, and peace of mind throughout the process. It might be smarter to choose a web design company like Distinct Web Design who can use their expertise to create an outstanding website at an affordable price. Contact us today.
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