You wouldn't ask an electrician to put in your plumbing. You wouldn't ask a painter to draft blueprints. You wouldn't ask an architect to install drywall. Similarly, as a business owner, you shouldn't think that just because you've been able to find your way around a website builder you should save a few bucks and build your own website. In all honesty, anyone can "build a website." Absolutely anyone. There are more code-free website platforms out there than ever before. But, just because they exists doesn't mean that they're going to do your business any good. There's so much more to a website than what meets in the eye from the user's perspective. And, this is where people without IT backgrounds get into trouble.
9 times out of 10 it all comes down to where can my business save on overhead. This is completely understandable. Starting and operating a business almost always tends to cost more than you originally expected. There are obligations with city permits, accounting fees, insurance, legal fees, rent, repairs, supplies, taxes, utilities ... and the list goes on. So you, the owner, draft up a budget that includes all of these things and (big surprise) you're out of money. Consequently, you decide that because all of your money is spoken for, you're going to do all the marketing yourself - including your website. And why wouldn't you?
Consider this: without skillful marketing, you're not going to have money to cover the things outlined above. For most customers, your website is your first impression. It should look well done, clean, and aesthetic. If it looks like it was put together by an amateur, you've just given a potential customer their first impression of your business: (1) you were saving money by doing it yourself because your business is suffering (2) you don't care how your website looks so you must not care about other aspects of your business so why would I waste my time trying your products/services, OR (3) all of the above.
Going back to my opening statements ... you wouldn't ask someone to perform a task that they're not skilled in. When business owners think that they can save money by building their own website, they are creating cognitive dissonance in the minds of the consumers. Most no-coding-required, template-based website builders have extreme limitations. Couple that with someone who has no IT background and you're really limited because you are unable to discern the very few customization features. So, what is the result? You get a website that looks like every other business that was created by another small business owner who used that template.
Your website is only effective if it complements your brand. Every small business owner starts their business because of a unique passion - the keyword being unique. If your website (your first impression) does not reflect that then you're going to hurt your business in the long run. Your website is the main component of your marketing system. All potential customers end up there eventually. So, if all of your other marketing efforts are on point but your website is less than adequate, the rest of your marketing efforts and band equality is destroyed. You've just created ultimate cognitive dissonance.
To conclude, although you may feel as though you can't afford a website built by a professional web marketing partner, the truth is that your business can't afford to not have a website built by a professional web marketing partner. However, to make the project affordable, there are a couple of conditions that every small business owner should know.
A full-service marketing agency (which is where most small business owners turn to because they're the first that come to mind) is going to give you a quote for roughly $5,000 - and that's absurd for any small business that's on a budget. No small local business needs a custom website built from the ground up. Unfortunately, after receiving several comparable quotes from other agencies that are trying to convince them that they need a custom-built website (and it's not even truly that because they're just selling a modified WordPress template and claiming it's a custom-built website), most business owners decide immediately that they are not spending that kind of money and that's how they end up building their own website.
There are many independent contractors and small marketing teams out there that understand the importance of conscientious overhead spending. Mostly because they have been there themselves. So, it's worth sitting down and exploring the possibilities ... and you just might find out that building a quality website is not as expensive as you'd originally thought.
PUBLISHED JANUARY 23, 2020