If you have a business, you should have a website. Period. No question. Without a doubt. Being a website so pivotal for your business, how do you make sure you are choosing the right person to build your website?
During a recent conversation with a client who owns and manages a training centre this issue of how pivotal a site is came forward. He has been growing his practice for the past 20 years, and very successfully so. As a matter of fact he has contracts for another year and a half and counting. And he could have more would he be able to clone himself. He contacted bridge2MORE to talk about ways to grow his business leveraging on his good reputation, but in such a manner that when he retires he can sell the business. The way things are now, if he would leave today, the business would disappear.
During the conversation he asked to provide a hint of how bridge2MORE would approach this task. We discussed some ideas and then I said that while most of his business leverages on referrals, if he really wants to expand without cloning himself or significantly increase his overhead, he should consider leveraging more on internet, including a website to help him with much the work he does now, among which online classes.”
He said that a couple of months ago he had given his niece “who builds sites for a living” the task to do a site for his company.
This is the most normal thing to do, right? After all when you need a plumber or an electrician you ask the people you know for referrals. Why wouldn’t you do that, especially if it’s a close relative? ’Win-win, she makes money and I get a website’ you think.
A tool that skyrockets your business
And here comes the thing. A website is not a standalone thing. It’s a super powerful tool to grow your business. But for a website to do that it should be part of your marketing strategy, not THE marketing strategy or in place of the marketing strategy. A solid strategy rests on several pieces which integrate to deliver results.
It has no sense to ask somebody to build your site before you have a marketing strategy in place. It is a waste of money and, by doing so, you are neglecting a key element that can help you to sky rocket your results and get faster to your goals. You need to be very clear of how the website falls into the marketing strategy puzzle, and can be sure that the website structure and content will work to support the strategy.
But many entrepreneurs depart from the point that “if one does not have a website, one does not exist” and then rush to create a website. As the business moves on, the flaws show up. And what is thought as the weaknesses of the website, actually are the flaws in the strategy.
How do you then decide who should build your website ?
Choose wisely. The internet has changed many things in the modern life and has put means and technology at our finger tips. Nowadays the possibilities to have a site set up in one day are endless. And so you have people who are very good at WordPress and offer to set up a site without further thought on the strategy or the results you are aiming at. Some web designers will create stunning websites for you, but do these sites do what they have to do?
And we are not saying you shouldn’t settle for your “niece who builds websites for a living” and go for somebody else.
What we are saying is that the best way to go is with the professional that takes the time to sit with you to talk about what would you like to see happening, what is important to your customers, what are the results that matter? Whether that person is your niece, a friend or a company is irrelevant.
If this conversation does not take place, beware! You might find yourself with a website that does not serve to your company goals.
