There is an ever increasing trend where small businesses think that they can save a few dollars using websites like wix, weebly, 1and1, etc. Despite the promise of “free” it these builders actually come at a large cost to you and your business. Most business owners do not have the time, skill, patience, or artistic eye to build a website that will professionally represent their business to the world.
It’s not best to pretend you know how to do everything. If you need to call in a professional, do it! Take the hours and hours of time spent producing a subpar website and put them to use in your business doing what YOU know how to do. Here at Build Your Online, we know websites, we however don’t know a thing about refinishing concrete. Sure we could do lots of research and reading and give it a go. But let’s be honest, our time is much better spent working on our business, and letting someone like Wilmington Concrete Resurfacing handle our concrete issues at the office.
Websites are easily one of the most important assets of your business. Before someone calls about your service or walks into your store, they’re visiting your website. If it’s poor quality, outdated, etc it reflects poorly on your business. Never should you think that “it’s good enough” when dealing with someone so important to the growth and success of your company. That mind frame is not helpful, especially in today’s web-savvy world. Customers and prospective clients will judge your company by the quality of your website, and if it’s not professional, those customers may end somewhere else.
Is it worth losing potential clients just to save a little money?
There are number of flaws with free website builders:
- Modern “website builders” are really just template sites. They usually only have about 10-15 templates to choose from, so chances are there are tons of websites out there that look exactly like yours. You’re not going to stand out if you look just like everyone else.
- You don’t get your own domain name. Nothing says “cheap” like having to go to a website address that has a URL like mybusiness.freesite.com or mybusiness.godaddy.com. Every visitor is going to know you did not invest anything into your website.
- Never pretend that you can do everything. I can’t repair my vehicle and I won’t even try. I take it to a local mechanic who charges about $100 an hour. It’s a good amount of money, but I know it gets done correctly! If you don’t have a keen eye for details or you aren’t a great website content creator, don’t try to be. Let someone else do it for you.
- Free and paying website builders have tons of limitations. You basically take what they give you. If you’ve got a unique idea, a way to use your website, chances are it’s not going to happen.
We build websites for small businesses, and are quite aware that money can be a big problem for most small businesses. That’s why we offer flexible payment plans and always try to give a good deal.