Oscar Wilde once said: “Illusion is the first of all pleasures”. Where we can debate the message, I think it’s safe to say that all of us, at one time or another has experienced some form of pleasure from an illusion. Whether it was a hologram, a set of clothing that looked amazing, but was poorly manufactured, or a shapely woman in a red dress carrying a terrible personality, we probably agree that looks can be deceiving and that appearances are often just that.
But what does this illusion we speak of have to do with your website’s rankings? Get comfortable and give me a few moments to explain, I promise I’ll make the time worthwhile. I really do enjoy shining light into dark places, empowering small business owners wherever possible. So here it is.
I’ll bet if you’re like most small business owners you’ve heard that getting to that number one spot on the first page of Google (for multiple key words relating to your business’ products or services), should be a top priority or something like that. Am I warm? You probably get dozens of e-mails daily, from web companies promising to get you to the top spot for (fill in) amount, just like the rest of us. It can be nauseating sometimes, but doesn’t it seem necessary if you want more people to see you and find your business easily via the search engines? Of course it’s necessary! Being number one (or even in the top five) is very important in terms of visibility, but the thing is, being number one is not nearly as important as how much traffic your website receives, and even less important than HOW WELL YOUR WEBSITE CONVERTS VISITORS TO INTERESTED PARTIES AND TO SALES! The sad thing is, you could even be number one for multiple categories and yet that cheap, template-based website with no marketing implemented will waste marketing dollars faster than they can be replenished. Sad, but true.
I’ve seen business owners fight tooth and nail to get to that number one spot, only to find themselves at the top spot scratching their heads in disbelief and wondering why their phones still weren’t ringing. They’re confused and just about all of them have the same look on their faces. Few things pain me more than seeing business owners suffer unnecessarily. This brings me to why I’m here. It is my hope that you take something useful away from this article. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Now the best way to illustrate what I’m saying is to have you visualize going to the circus with your kids. We go to the circus to be entertained, don’t we? We go for the trapeze artists, the clowns, the dancing bears, the ringleader and cotton candy, right? Well, what would happen if you saw the tent at one point, made plans to go with your family, then arrived to find no animals, clowns, high wire acts or even a ringleader? What would you do? You’d go home wouldn’t you? I mean why stay, if what you’re looking for isn’t there? It’s the same scenario with a template based, clunky website that has nothing compelling enough on its homepage to make anyone stay and start clicking. A website that doesn’t convert visitors to new business, is little less than an enlarged online business card. And no matter what kind of traffic that website gets, it will be wasted by a crappy website that isn’t compelling and does not engage its visitors or get them into action quickly.
You may not want to hear it, and you might think that a website, is a website, is a website. But deep down inside you knew there was more to the whole web thing than building out a FREE website from WIX, or Weebly, or Squarespace, didn’t you? Did you think: “If I build it, they will come?” I mean, I know the commercials can be appealing. These guys spend millions of dollars to get you to essentially risk it all just to save a few dollars. Trust me, I understand that you’re trying to save money by any means, but I can promise you that the money you save now by going with a free, or super low cost template-based website will end up costing far more money in lost revenue than you saved.
Why? For one, YOU are NOT a web marketer! Are you? Did you think web marketing was just a term made to fool people, and that basically anyone with half a brain could do it? Did you think your niece, or nephew (fresh out of school), who convinced you they knew web design AND marketing could pull it off? Be honest!
Truth is, it takes SEASONED professionals to design and build websites that perform well. It’s like any other profession. Want to save money on taxes? Go to a CPA or an accountant with a great reputation. You get injured in a car accident, do you hire someone from Craigslist or do you call Lerner & Rowe? It’s no different when it comes to having a website that not only looks great, but performs exceptionally well over time. PLEASE DON’T TAKE MY WORD FOR IT! Do the research! Fall on your face a few times. It’s OK. But just as you wouldn’t trust a simple handyman to build your entire home, you should leave what is largely the future of your business to those with a VERIFIABLE, PROVEN track record. Do it not, and it’s your funeral.
Statistics show that a whopping 94% of those business owners who go with a low cost or free template-based website and fail to market their services and products properly online, fall on their faces within the first year of business. Most thought that hiring someone off Fiverr, or Craigslist (whose name was hard to pronounce), was a pretty safe play. I mean what could possibly be that difficult?! A web guy is a web guy, right? Not even close, dear readers, not even close! Believe me, I do understand you went cheap because you figured something was better than nothing, right? No one told you that free website builders were a pretty sure fire road to failure, or that being number one on Google was only part of your mission as a small business owner. I’m sorry about that! I really am. In the here and now however, you have a chance to change your situation and you now know that rankings alone aren’t worth much without great traffic and a website that converts and coverts well. That’s right, you no longer have an excuse to suffer! In fact, Aeon has a way for you to begin creating a state of the art, professional web image and presence for as little as 299.00 per month! Now you really have no excuse, do you?
Let’s talk soon! Until then, I hope you flourish beyond your dreams.
You talk about “building (websites) from scratch”. Why should I care if there built from scratch? What difference does it make in terms of functionality, rankings, etc. I’m assuming that “building from scratch cost more money. Why should I spend the extra money?
For one, Google has already made it clear that custom responsive websites get preference (In terms of ranking) over template based websites. They made the announcement in 2016. April, I believe. Templates (while improving overall) contain extraneous code used to make them easier to build. That’s why everyone and their brother thinks they are a web designer these days. Any desktop monkey can build out a template, but it takes a skilled developer to build a custom, hand coded website specific, and tailor made for a particular business. Templates are also utilized by hundreds of thousands of business and are as common as sliced bread. Templates make you look like every other business on the block that utilizes them, so essentially your business will likely look like the rest that went cheap and utilized a template because he or she wanted to save a few bucks. Templates (due to extraneous code) are clunkier and slower than custom. The result is slower load times, which also effect rankings.
One other important note, is that developers are not marketers. So what you’ll usually get is a template based website that might look fine, but one that focused on appearance, rather than functionality. When templates are utilized, choices are limited, as well as functionality. You just can’t get a template to do what custom website can. All Aeon developers have at least 10 years web marketing experience, so you not only get a website that engages visitors, but one that has a much higher rate of converting visitors to patrons.
Honestly, templates are usually fine for start up. But if you’re interested in creating separation from other businesses like yours, and your image is important to you, the clear choice is custom. We specialize in custom WP websites because statistically they are the most “user friendly” available. Clients request Word Press (Almost one for one) because it is a platform that was designed to make it easy for clients to make changes quickly and easily. In fact it’s so easy, even a caveman can do it.
If you would like a further explanation of the differences between custom and templates, I am happy to e-mail you the short PDF I have on file. Just say the word.
So how do you know who the “SEASONED professionals” are and who aren’t? I don’t know much at all about web design so how would I tell the difference?
Martin,
My sincere apologies for the apparent delay in response. I actually responded in great length at an earlier time (months ago), and it appears my response to your question did not post! I have my tech team looking into the issue.
With regard to your original question, knowing who the seasoned professionals are can take a little bit of time. If you’re willing to take that time, I recommend starting with company reviews and longevity. While shell corps can be used to create the appearance of a company that has longevity, you can’t outsmart Google in that you will usually be able to find reviews dating back to when the company opened its doors. a large part of the time. What do those reviews say? Do they look generic and staged, or do they appear honest and legitimate? It’s not always obvious, though the person that posted the review, should have more than ONE review to their name. Note: A five start rating doesn’t automatically delineate a legitimate, honest company. I am often suspicious when I see a company with hundreds, or thousands of reviews, all of which are five star. This just doesn’t happen in the web world. No business is perfect. I hope that makes sense.
Secondly, when speaking with a web company to make the determination of who are seasoned professionals, please be sure to speak directly with someone on their technical staff. Reason is, salespeople aren’t techies, so often times you will receive misleading, or inaccurate information. For example there is a difference between customized templates, and 100% custom hand coded from scratch. Almost anyone can customize a theme, but few can build a website from scratch. So when speaking with tech personnel, ask them straight out: “Do you build your websites from scratch, or do you start with a basic template, customize it, and build it out?” Amateurs will also not know what you mean by “building from scratch”, which is another indication yu may, or probably are dealing with amateurs. Does that make sense?
Please let me know if that answers your question, or if you need further clarification. I am happy to jump on a call with you to discuss further.
Thanks for your question! We appreciate the engagement!