15 September, 2020

Skills For Your Business.

Jack of All Trades? 

There is a GoDaddy advertisement currently on TV, suggesting that a plasterer uses their service to make himself a website. In addition to being a skilled plasterer, he may possibly offer related services, as is quite normal and he may have other related skills. Like stilt-walking, to reach higher up the wall!

As is expected of large USA corporates, their marketing is excellent. There are financial incentives to encourage new customers to sign up and stay longer term. And who doesn't smile at the image of Harry Redknapp with Sandra's Jam Roly-Polys?

    GDDY Headquarters: Scottsdale, Arizona, United States
    Subsidiaries: Afternic.com, Inc., Host Europe Group, others
    Employees (2020): 7,000

Before you go ahead, just think about your job and where your income comes from. Do you want to be a plasterer or a carpenter or whatever you've spend years learning and building up? Or do you want to be a website designer?

How hard can it be? :)

During the past 30 years, we've seen software packages to enable our clients to create their own graphics (after dabbling, most of the professional businesses came back to professional designers) and do-it-yourself websites with their hidden nuances. These include Wix and Weebly.

This trend has also led to students creating cheap websites for small businesses. We've no problems with students trying to gain experience in their chosen field and make some money - as long as clients understand what they are getting. Internet presence is generally better than no presence at all.

Some of the issues we've noticed with home-grown websites include:

  • social media links going to (e.g.) Wix Twitter account rather than the website owner's account;
  • images uploaded are inconsistant sizes or too large which can slow down website display;
  • poor SEO for search engines - written content, insufficient content, alt-tags, etc.;
  • website can look old or ignored if not updated regularly, including copyright date and news.

Why SEO is important

If the website designer doesn't understand the importance of SEO, it will be more difficult to get the website noticed by search engines (e.g. Google). We can work with owners of diy sites to improve the SEO but sometimes the learning curve is too long or the chosen website software isn't flexible enough. Wix isn't bad, though, neither is the customised WordPress blog, although somewhat inflexible compared with a professional WordPress website.

Saving Money

If you haven't got the money for a professional job, be careful which diy site you choose - don't get locked in! It will end up costing more in the long run.

If you would like an affordable, professional bespoke website, with friendly support from a team that offers an individual service, try one of the following:

  • The BPc (of course) for logo design, website design, SEO and social media management;
  • Professional Solutions for website design/build, e-commerce plus website and PC support.

Supporting Small Businesses

Just a thought... if plasterers, plumbers, etc. want to build their own websites, don't be surprised if website professionals have the spare time to attempt plastering, plumbing, carpentry, brick-laying, etc.

;)


2 comments:

  1. What are the costs of a website, up-front and on-going?

    ReplyDelete
  2. The essential costs include purchase and annual renewal of domain name and hosting - around £60-£80 - some companies are switching to monthly payments which usually work out around £80-ish/pa. There is also a highly recommended secure server certificate which some companies include in the hosting price and others charge whatever they can get away with!

    The website itself may cost as little as £500-£600ish to design and build a small site without bespoke bells and whistles. Larger or complex websites may be £1000-£2000 or more.

    Websites require maintenance in the form of updates and backups. These services can often be provided by your website developer for a small charge, ranging from £80/pa to £40/pm.

    All-important SEO (on-page optimisation and regular News updates to keep it fresh) is another recommended service which is essential for building traffic to your website. This often goes hand-in-hand with Social Media Management. Costs can vary, depending on your ambition, but allow at least £100/pm.

    The above is a guide only. When you get quotes, be sure to check what's covered for a true comparison.

    We hope that you find this information useful.
    You would have to do your own research regarding Go-Daddy, Wix, etc.

    P.S. if you are a small start-up business with a very low budget of £300 or less, consider customising a blog that can be incorporated in your new website as your business grows. We can help with that, too.

    ReplyDelete