If you’re ready to hire a person or web design company to build a new website, it’s important you know what you’re getting into, and how important a decision you’re making when it comes to budgeting your marketing dollars, and the future spending of those dollars.
Web design is a tough business. When I started in this industry, I didn’t realize how difficult a business it is. Pricing varies greatly; there are numerous web design applications to choose from; you have to possess multiple skills including HTML and CSS language knowledge, graphic design,copy writing, SEO, improving page-load speed performance, and you need to have at least a basic understanding of servers, hosting and databases.
I’m proud to state after beginning with little skill in most of these departments, I’ve forged ahead, spent hours upon hours studying, learning and testing, and now consider myself knowledgeable and skilled in all the aforementioned applications.
So what’s the point?
The point is – for you, a person or business owner ready to hire someone to build a new website – is that you want to know you’re hiring the right person for the job. And you need to know how to understand that.
Here are some tips that should help you develop a better understanding of the website design industry. And after reading these, I hope you know that hiring New Concept Media for your new website platform is the right choice for your business and marketing budget.
- Beware of the $500.00 website.
I noted above that website pricing varies greatly. You may receive quotes on a project that range from $500 to $3,000 or more. Beware of the “friend of a friend” who will build you a site for a few hundred dollars. If you’re a business owner or racing professional, this will likely come back to haunt you. If they’re charging only this, likely they have no plans to spend the time it really takes to build a professional, secure, search-engine optimized, mobile-friendly website. You’ll likely end up spending more money a year or two later to get another new website built.
- Beware of over-priced packages.
I once gained a client who wanted a new website for his business. His current site looked pretty good, but was missing product images on many pages, pricing wasn’t up-to-date, and several pages were unfinished. I asked him why this was, and he had given up on the agency that built the site, noting it was too difficult to get anything accomplished.
I learned later that he spent something like $10,000 for this website! This agency promised the world and delivered little. About 30 days later we had built a clean, professional replacement for a fraction of what he originally spent.
Even if you have the money to spend, beware of companies charging $10,000 or $20,000 for websites and promising the world. There are instances – such as ecommerce – where this may be an accurate quote. But many times, especially if we’re not dealing with ecommerce, you can find a professional outfit like New Concept Media to build a sharp, functional website for much less than 10 grand.
- Search engine optimization.
Strong SEO for a site includes a number of layers, and a strong understanding of the tools and techniques that make this happen. SEO needs to be kept in the forefront of the designers mind from start to finish of a new site’s construction.
Simply using WordPress to build the site is a great first step toward successful SEO, as Google loves sites built in this platform.
Techniques such as smart content writing, image titling, a strong site title and tagline, and building inbound links are all extremely important.
Then we get into ensuring the site’s page load speed grade’s are, at minimum, above average. A slow loading website can be detrimental to your SEO.
And working together with these techniques are several WordPress plugins that should be installed and calibrated to give your site the best opportunity to reach the top page on your desired keyword searches on Google, Bing and the other popular search engines.
Lastly, strong SEO is an ever-changing landscape. Methods and strategies that may have worked years ago – such as using meta keywords and descriptions – are no longer important. Years ago mobile compatibility meant little regarding strong SEO. Today, it’s very important.
Hire a professional who understands SEO. Especially if you’re a small business trying to grow. We can’t express how important this is.
- Mobile compatibility.
Most won’t be surprised to read that today approximately 60 percent of a website’s viewership is done on a mobile device. Many people are rarely in front of a desktop or laptop. But today most people own a smart phone and when an idea pops into their head throughout the course of a day – such as, “I need to find a local contractor to stain the deck,” or, “I need a good landscaper. I just don’t have the time to cut the grass and do the landscaping anymore,” – the person whips out their phone, does a search, and the first several businesses listed have the best chance of getting a call.
This is today’s world of marketing. Your site’s mobile compatibility does two key things that will aid in your site producing new customers or clients.
- When a person does view your site on their phone or tablet, they will be welcomed by an easily navigable and functional site that immediately includes the information and contact options as soon as they open the page.
- Google is now including a site’s mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This is new in 2015. If your site is not mobile-friendly, it’s ranking may be penalized, allowing your competitors to possibly overtake you in search results.