As a small business, it’s tempting to put up a website from a template. After all, it’s cheap (or free) and easy – you can do it yourself! But the problem with relying on a template and not choosing custom business website development is that your site looks just like everyone else’s – which immediately doesn’t differentiate you from the competition.
In order to have a web presence that really showcases your small business, you need custom business website management services. Before you balk at the price, think about this: a poorly designed website can actually cost you money in terms of the sales you’ll lose. Prospects will come to your website, and if your website isn’t professional, they’ll dismiss your business as a fly-by-night or worse. Here are the benefits of getting your business website developed by a professional:
Lead generation. With templates, you may not be able to create a way to capture leads, like with an email newsletter sign-up or a contact form. Using a developer means that you can have a custom way to capture and generate leads so that your website will result in more prospects.
Better marketing and advertising. Going back to having a professional website presence, your website may be the first point of contact your prospect has with you. More people are searching for businesses on the web, and not only can custom business website development result in a web presence that really showcases your business and gives it a professional image, it can also help you rank higher in search results.
Broader base of clientele. If you’re just viewing your website as a Yellow Pages-like advertisement, think again. A living website can showcase specials and be updated to reflect anything new going on in the business. Whether it’s an award you’ve won or a sale you’re having, you can work with your designer and developer to create a site that you can update easily. These living websites attract more customers because they’re current; there’s no question about this being a static business that isn’t keeping up with trends and innovations.
A mobile presence. How many times have you seen someone fiddling with their iPhone or Android device? Chances are, they’re searching for something and frustrated because the website they went to doesn’t have a mobile version. But with custom business website development, you can have a mobile version of your website that pulls in these prospects – and keep in mind, these are the people likely to spread word of your business through social media channels. These smartphone users are likely to check in via Foursquare, Yelp about your customer service, and tell their Facebook friends how much they love what you’ve done for them. You want to get them in the door, and having a mobile presence will help them find you, even when they’re on the go.
A mobile app. Going even further into custom business website development, you can also consider an app for your business. This is something that is a great value-add. For instance, if you sell running shoes, you could have an app that will help an over-pronator choose the right shoe for her foot – and conveniently, you would have that shoe in stock.
In this new web frontier, ditch the templates and get a custom website. Your bottom line will thank you.