Small business owners encounter a lot of problems in the course of running their own businesses. But one of the most common challenges is building a successful business website. More and more people are turning to the internet for just about everything. Hence, it is of great importance that you set up your site correctly.
If your business does not have a professional website, you are already one step behind your competition. Even so, many small business owners face a lot of challenges when building a business website.
Here are five common problems small business owners encounter when building a website:
Website Builder (DIY) or Designer
in this day and age, anyone can create a website. In fact, many small business owners opt to DIY their own site when starting out. Still, the design and development of a business website is a big decision. Blindly building a website can lead to major problems down the line and cost your company many tens of thousands of dollars in wasted man-hours and even more money in the opportunity cost of lost potential revenue. And while a simple DIY website may save you money today, your site may be restricted by functionality too.
This is why having your website created by a professional web designer is crucial. When a reputable web designer builds your site, you can count on it being liked by search engines. While a great design is an important element when designing a website, it is not the only factor to consider. A successful business website should be search engine optimized, user-friendly, have a high converting design, all of which work to create a fully functional website. A qualified web developer will help you achieve this and more with your site.
Lack of Time
“Time is money” is a phrase that holds true for small business owners. Small business owners, especially new entrepreneurs who wear many hats in a business, lack the time needed to create and manage a successful website. The time they spend building and maintaining a website can be used to do more important things for the business. What’s more, it is imperative to factor in the cost of your time when creating and maintaining a new website.
Deciding Where to Focus
It is tempting for business owners to include every project they have worked on in their site. But this approach only makes your best work harder to find. Being the curator of your own website, you need to figure out where to focus your energy when building it. Start by defining your customer base to know the kind of content they want. Once you have this in hand, you can create a website that attracts new and prospective clients.
It costs too much up front!
The way a lot of people think about getting a new website is, they have a certain amount of money, and they think, “If I pay less money for a website, I’ll have extra money left over, therefore I win”. And so, they’ll go and get a Square Space or a Wix or a Go Daddy website, and they’ll think because they’ve saved money they’re coming out ahead of the deal.
But Warren Buffett, who’s widely considered one of the greatest investors of all time, says that the most important thing when it comes to thinking about money is opportunity-cost.
And, that’s really the way you should be thinking about it in terms of opportunity cost. It’s not so much, even your return on investment on a single idea, it’s what’s the best overall net profit on all the different options available? And sometimes when you go the cheap route, you’re really losing a lot in terms of potential net profit.
Another thing people don’t consider when going the cheaper route is what’s the value of your time? Because, when it comes to investing, you’re either saving time or you’re saving money. Money buys you time, and you have to ask yourself: what is more important and “What’s the value of my time?”
One thing I would advise people when it comes to choosing a website is to just focus on the result. So, what do I mean by that?
So, in the end, Your website is the most important marketing tool you have, and the result will depend on your choice.
Now, here is a simple tip. Just as you wouldn’t trust an overweight personal trainer or a skinny chef, you should probably never trust a designer with an ugly looking website or an SEO specialist who doesn’t rank well on Google or an “internet marketer” who are using word of mouth to get leads or to get in contact with you, they’re really not practicing what they preach.
Simply put, the cost of building your website boils down to 4 resources:
- Time
- Technical knowledge (or your interest to learn to code)
- Design skills (or your willingness to learn design)
- Money
The truth of the matter is, if you feel something has value to you, you will gladly pay up for it, right? — This is what consumerism is all about.
Managing the Website
Even if you have the best website, with the most beautiful design and a powerful hosting server, it won’t matter if you cannot manage it regularly. This is a common pain among small businesses. A website that is routinely regulated stands a much greater chance of ranking high in search results and reaching potential customers compared to a site that is poorly managed. One of the biggest problems companies encounter is an inability to make changes to their website, meaning they cannot improve their position on search engines like Google and Bing.
Balancing Quality and Growth
Having a website is not enough in today’s global marketplace. You need to have a site that is optimized, interactive and functional to capitalize on all opportunities. Unfortunately, some small business owners do not know how to balance quality and growth when building a website. It is important for a website to put parameters in place that help you scale to meet the demands while maintaining a high-level quality. While there are a host of issues business owners encounter when building a website, these are without a doubt some of the top problems they face. A good site is in a better position to stand in for you when you are not there, which makes it an integral part of your business. Hence, make sure it stays up to date, it's user-friendly, and your customers, as well as potential clients, can find it.