Small Buisness Web Sites

Many small businesses know they need a web site. But they feel they cannot afford to hire a web designer to set up a web site for them. They really do not understand the costs involved. Many look at having a website as something they should have. But it may not be considered as part of their core business activities or core advertising business.

In this post, we decided to provide three examples of small businesses that needed a web site and the solution that they eventually went with for their business. All wanted the basic information to be online so they could refer their customers to the sites for more information, they wanted to be able to add the URL to their business card and they hoped to gain customers through their web site from visitors that found them on the internet. When they advertised using traditional models, they would also list the web site.

Electrician and Residential Gas Fitter

This customer really only wanted five pages initially with all of the basic information about his company and the services they provided. He wanted to add some pictures as well that showed some of the installations that he worked on along with testimonials from his customers. This was easily accomplished for him and other than the initial fee to set up the website, he only needs to pay the annual domain name fee and the hosting account fee.

Since we used a blog engine, we also set him up so that he could add pages or blog posts himself and he could also update existing material as his business changed. This was a really attractive advantage to him since he did not want to pay for updates to pages or adding pages. He had a very limited budget and this met his objectives.

Unfortunately, his web site is not ranked very high by the search engines since it is not SEO optimized. There are simply not enough pages with keywords that people usually use to search for the services he offers. At the present time, he is satisfied with that and will continue with his current arrangement.

Ski Club

While this is technically not a business, they have many of the same requirements that the above customer needed. Inexpensive and limited update costs were paramount. This site is used to keep members informed about trips and membership updates. There are only 5 or 6 pages that need to be updated. They want to be able to also make their own updates.

They already have a domain name, but no hosting location. Their budget is even more limited. They are presently looking for free hosting and someone to update their pages for them. They are still thinking about the services that are provided and that they need as well as looking for free hosting which one of their members may be able to provide. Again, they are willing to work on the content and just need the basic website structure to be put in place which a content management system such as WordPress can provide.

Word of Mouth Lawn Care Provider

Another potential customer has been offering lawn care services in the area for many years. He is trying to decide if he wants to increase his business or keep it at the present level. He does not have a web site and relies on word of mouth for his business advertising.

While this works for him at the present stage he is at. He knows he needs a web designer for his small business. He also needs a domain name, hosting account, and a web blog that would be easy for him to upkeep.

Although the costs are very low, he is trying to decide what his business strategy will be.  Before he takes the next step should he try to turn his part-time business into a larger full-time business? This will involve personal commitments that he is not sure he is ready for.

For more information about our services and our costs for those services, click here. We can help you with your website requirements.

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