Recently someone came to me with a website concept. They had taken the concept to other companies. After delivering a proposal, this person wanted another meeting with me. During the meeting he shared that he needed to make sure we had all the details because the last place he got a proposal from quoted him over $17,000. Our quote was for under $5,000. After going over the requirements again, I came up with the same quote.
How could that happen?
There are all kinds of Website design and development companies out there. There are a few important distinctions you should first consider when choosing a website provider:
- Website Designers - Website designers are typically good at designing sites - the look and feel. They may even have some working knowledge of navigation concepts (how people will get to the various parts of your site). Typically that is where their expertise ends. They will likely not have solid working knowledge of custom eCommerce solutions, Search Engine Marketing or custom applications if you need them.
- Website Developers - Website Developers, on the other hand, are good at the more technical skills such as custom applications, eCommerce solutions and the like bit may or may not be as strong in the design and navigation facet. At Web 180 we are fortunate to possess both skills. We are not the only company but we are a much rarer breed than you may think.
The problem with these two groups is that they don't have the other critical pieces to ensure your website's success. I don't care if you are a Fortune 500 company or a work-from-home-entrepreneur; you need a few other weapons to win the online-success battle.
Ask yourself this question – why will people come to my site? Here's the most important thing you must understand if you want people to visit your site... it has to be properly marketed. Period. I get asked all the time, "How long after the site is live before we start to see real traffic?". It never ceases to amaze me that people really believe that "if you build it, they will come". It doesn't work that way. There are well over a billion website on the World Wide Web
There are three primary ways to get people to go to your site:
- Search Engine Marketing - This may involve Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns (in the paid ad slots on search engines) or Search Engine Optimization (getting good or frequent rankings in search Engine's result pages). There are other methods that can be used when marketing via search engines, but these are the two most common. No matter how you slice it, this is a service you are going to have to pay for. A few things to watch out for:
- A provider who guarantees specific rankings such as, “you'll be in the top ten results in Google”. If you hear this run for the hills. It’s impossible unless that person works at Google or Yahoo! and wants to get fired.
- Be as weary, if not more weary, if a provider does not have an ongoing plan for Search Engine Marketing. It is not a “set it and forget it” concept. Search results change every day and so do the search trends – as far as which words people type into search engines to find what they are looking for. There should be monthly maintenance, or at the very least monthly consultation, fees involved. It is important to be realistic. Any provider who over simplifies Search Engine Marketing is not the company you want doing this work for you. If you want people showing up on your site without traditional advertising or marketing, SEM is the backbone of your success.
- Be very concerned if there is no mention of researching your keywords. This is cornerstone of any SEM campaign. If you are targeting the wrong words, your efforts will be for nothing. You may get good rankings for words no one is searching for. This is vital. You must have a good handle on what people are looking for at all times.
- Search Engine Optimization has changed drastically this year (2009). If your provider cannot explain the terms Universal Search, Blended Search results or Behavioral based search, your strategy will be drastically weakened.
- Viral/Word-of-mouth – This is an excellent option if you have such a unique online service or product that, by just telling one person about it, the consumer filled skies will open and you will be inundated with new customers. OR, you can produce marketing assets that will entice people to go to your website and automatically pass the word on to friends, family and colleagues. Even if you had the ability to do this, you’d still have to know how to get the initial word out.
- Tell them where to go :-) - Using traditional marketing, or any other methods, tell people to go to your site. Your website address should be on every marketing asset you have. Every time you produce any type of advertisement, write an article, do an interview or speak in general about your company, you should mention your website address.
With those three things in mind, you might still be wondering - what’s the missing ingredient from the two types of website providers described above? The answer is proper consultation. That consultation must include a thorough understanding of your objectives, the technical skills to produce the online assets you need and the marketing skills (online and off) to drive lots of the right people to your site.
Most website providers are not experts in all of the disciplines needed to produce the type of project you are expecting and paying for. If you don’t have a marketing company working for you or if you don’t have an in-house marketing department, you’ll need help.
Here’s the problem with each road you may choose to travel:
- Website Designer – lack of development experience may require outsourced help to complete your project. Lack of marketing experience will either provide lackluster results or require more outsourcing. Typically designers are not well versed in what it takes to develop a site that is inexpensive and easy to maintain.
- Website Developer – Lack of design experience may result in poor imaging of your company, several attempts (lots of extra time) or it may require outside help which will be marked up and more expensive. Lack of marketing experience will lead to poor sales performance or will require outsourcing to produce desired results.
- Marketing company – Lack of development experience will lead to poor a performing site, a site that is difficult and expensive to maintain down the road. Most marketing companies do not actually do the long term SEM processes. However they are good at temporarily driving targeted traffic.
Find a provider that can show you samples of the work they have done that relates closely to what you are looking for. Ask them about each facet of the project and be honest about your expectations for each facet:
- Design – Make it look good
- Development – Make it work well
- Marketing - Make people go there
Then ask them how they intend to deliver what you are expecting in the areas where they are the weakest. Ask if they can recommend anyone who can directly handle the areas of weakness so you don’t have to pay the mark up. Make sure you are comfortable with them. You will be spending your hard-earned money so you'll need to feel comfortable holding them accountable.
Your best option may to find a consultant. There are not many good ones out there. Of the consultants that are out there, some are trying to make millions from get rich quick schemes and others don't have working knowledge of all the facets of successful websites. At Web 180 we have consulting options that are guaranteed to pay for themselves or you get your money back. We don’t care who you are working with… we may find that you’re working with someone in over their head but we will not sell our services during consulting.
Make sure that success is the goal, not the end of a project.
Cale Guin - Web 180
http://www.web180.com/
Cale@web180.com
262-544-5566
