What is your time worth? There are options out there to build a site for free or close to free. If you need to get you name up on the web and are not looking to drive business to your site a free site might be a good choice. If you are looking to gain customers or educate them a professionally built site is a much better option. The web is maturing so are the consumers. They can quickly recognize a site that is inexpensive. When you walk into a store or a restaurant if it is dirty or unorganized you will most likely leave pretty quick. Your website needs to be inviting and draw you to browse.
Hiring a professional to build your website will be the same as hiring an architect to build your building. It will be designed to meet your needs. The designer will ask questions and understand what you would like to get from the site. They will get into if you need shopping carts or membership systems or special programing to meet your customer’s need. The professional will set the site so that Google and all the search engines will rank the site. SEO is not a buzz word; your site needs to be programed to meet Googles need. You will also need to make it mobile readable. 60% of all web searches are via mobile devices. A responsive site will rank better for searches.
How to go about assessing you needs for a website? Ask a few questions how will my customers find me? Do I need a steady stream of new clients? Websites for consumer to consumer business are a key tool for driving sales. Web engagement is one way to build that name and reputation. Consider 60% of the World Wide Web is spam. If you want to quickly differentiate your business from others a well-designed site that is optimized is the best way to go.
Greg Rollins is the owner of Proforma GIS for the last 20 years; working with his clients to implement their marketing with ideas, resources and results.