Lets face it – Everybody knows somebody (…who know somebody…!) who can ‘do’ websites!

The are also lots of websites offering free templates or wizards and hosting services too. These are fine if you’re running an amateur page for a youth club or as a general hobby or interest of your own, but you absolutely should NOT be using these sorts of services for your business. Here’s why:

Reason Number 1:

I’ll start with the obvious answer… they look unprofessional!

If you are a business or a charity who relies on your website as a marketing tool or a ‘shop window’ (why else would you have one?) then you really should invest some time and money on your website. Many businesses happily pay for an article in a local, or national magasine or newspaper, at great expense. These types of advertisements are generally professionally designed for you by the company that’s looking for your business.  These types of things typically become bedding in your rabbits hutch within a week / month, or at best, three months. When it comes to websites, Businesses seem reluctant to dedicate the same sort of time and investment either to a new website or even an update of their current site, even though the cost of this usually does not exceed a single page spread in said magasines.

Now, I’m not saying that we should all dedicate our entire marketing budgets to our websites, but a more balanced approach to actively promoting your company via other types of media would be a good start! For instance, making you web address more obvious in your offline marketing campaigns should push interested parties towards further information, then a cleverly designed and an inviting home page that coaxes prospective customers to ‘read on…’ is a much more cost effective way of getting your message across than spending money on a full page spread in a magasine every month. Your website is where you can say as much as you like about your company, services, products… and it won’t cost you any more if you have a little to say or a lot to say, and it will only cost you a fraction of a monthly full page article to update your web pages on a regular basis. This in itself helps show the world that you are fresh, current and up-to-date, and it’s fair to say that potential customers will be of the opinion that if this area of your business is fresh and up-to-date, the chances are so are your company’s practices and procedures.

Reason Number 2:

Can you be found?

Template websites are by their very name, templates… They are generic. This means it has been design by somebody who knows nothing about your business. If a developer know nothing about you it is very difficult to design a website that suits what you do. Generic website are not picked up or indexed very by search engines and this in turn means that you will not be found if people are searching for services within your area of expertise and location.

Reason Number 3:

Unnecessary time and effort!

In order to fully customise a template so that it ‘fits’ your company properly, a developer must do an awful lot of work. it is not a case of simply adding your pictures and some text and off you go as there is usually some element of the template that the customer doesn’t like. This usually leads on to customising the template… this basically means picking up somebody else’s work, somebody who you do not know and generally will never meet and have no way of contacting, which of course means you cannot facilitate any sort of hand-over or find out any information about the template without doing some investigating.

At this stage a developer has usually spent so much time on the project it would have been easier to develop the website entirely from scratch so that it was designed to the customers needs in the first place.

Again, I’m not saying there isn’t a place for templates… if a customer sees something that they like, or a general style or colour scheme then that will save a web designer dreaming up something that the customer may not like.

By going to a reputable company who can design you a website specific for you needs you will get so much more bang for your buck. Many are passionate about what they do and will happily meet you for a coffee and talk with you about any ideas you may have and then be able to give you some idea of cost.

‘Brochure’ website are by far the most common for businesses. All they need to do is show others what you can offer them, but they must do it in a engaging way. This sort of website does not need to be expensive even when designed from scratch.

With bespoke websites starting at around £350, Rainbeaux Media can offer you exceptional value for money. Why not drop us an email to arrange a suitable time to meet over a coffee, or call us on 01624 611757  to have a chat about your requirements.