As a business owner, you are constantly bombarded with people trying to sell you services and products that are suppose to make your company more money and run better than ever. Unfortunately a lot of those salespeople who are trying to make you rich, get rich themselves at the expense of you.

Many businesses will get visits from web development firms, they come in to sell you their services and guarantee a multitude of outlandish promises. Some things to watch out for are;

1. Guarantees of "Top 10 in Google" right away! If those words come out of the mouth of anybody trying to sell you a website, laugh in their face. Unless you are in a very uncompetitive market such as Custom Clothing for Ostriches, the odds of you being able to capture the top 10 spot is not very likely. Quality rankings with keywords that actually generate traffic take a lot of time, and a lot of effort. Anybody can promise a top 10 ranking with uncompetitive keywords that generate no traffic. A quality firm will explain the time and efforts needed to achieve a quality ranking.
   
   
2. Guarantees that your site will pay for itself in one week. Although possible, especially if you are selling products or services with a high profit margins, be keen on this sell. Competition on the web is huge and being able to capture a significant market share in a short time frame is very unlikely. Although websites are investments and DO pay off in the end with a quality firm to back it up, don't be suckered into somebody who promises to deliver the world on a weekend.
   
   
3. Get a website for $299! Many firms will offer a website at very little cost to you upfront. This sounds great at first, but in the end you will owe more than ever. Be sure to carefully read any contracts they may give you, this can be very limiting to your ability to access and change content your own site. After the small initial amount, they can charge you as much as $1,000 a month for upkeep and service and as much as $200 an hour for any changes or alterations you need for your site and if they have the only access to your server, you must pay the price.

If the sales rep at any firm tries to sell their services to you, make sure that they can back up their claims. Demand that you see examples of work done for past clients and see if their claims are justified with past work. If they can't, show them the door.

A quality firm will not promise you more than they can deliver. They will be open and honest towards your needs and explain what will be needed to achieve your goals. They will not need to promise anything, their quality should speak for itself in the work they have done for previous clients.

All websites are investments, they will flourish with time when they are backed by quality web firms. Your website should not be something you need to keep dumping money into. If you do not see positive results with the money you spend, stop that service and look for somebody who can help.

Use your best judgment when you come face to face with somebody who is trying to sell you a website. If something sounds too good to be true, it often is. The bottom line is read the fine lines, research the company, view work done for previous clients and justify the amount you are going to spend.

Labels: hiring a firm, web design services, web development services

Would a sensible business owner take out a loan before reading the fine print? No.

Would a rational person start a business without researching potential customers? No.

Would a sensible business person create a website without carefully analyzing competition, neglect planning, and forget to address technical requirements for the website? No.

However, everyday I meet clients who made this crucial mistake in the beginning. A 'to-be' client stumbled across an ad FAST CREATIVE WEBSITE IN 5 DAYS FOR $299 These ads are everywhere, just go to the computer section of Craigslist and take a look. But let's be realistic. How can a truly creative web page be created in 5 days? Unfortunately, the client made the call and soon they were on their way to making a web page. The ad wasn't a total lie. They delivered what they promised. A cheap website, fast. Countless people, over and over, bite on these ads. And what do they get? Templated, cheap, non beneficial, fast, websites.

So what is the real problem with these websites? If it isn't obvious to you; lack of thinking, planning and strategy. Just because you make a website does not mean it will be successful or effective. Back to my client, they got what they thought they wanted, a cheap website, but really what they got was a loss of money. When I completed the consulting process on their web page, I found that of the small visitors they did get, 98% were from direct link, and 90% were there for less than 30 seconds. If your goal is to have your website help your business, those are frightening numbers. Face it, websites take planning, strategy and thinking. A fast website may get you up and running quickly, but websites are so much more than a quick chore every business needs to do. Just read more of the blog and it should be easy to see; websites are an art and a truly powerful marketing piece for your business that simply cannot be 'half-assed'. It just plain and simply cannot be done if you truly want results. Results are the goal of all websites, especially in today's technical business world.

Labels: website planning, website results, website strategy