THE PITFALLS THAT SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS FALL INTO WHEN "DOING IT THEMSELVES"

1. PAYING TOO MUCH & THE PROJECT IS TAKING TOO LONG

I have clients who come to me with quotes from other web development companies that range between $3500 to $4800 for a five page website and the estimated project time is between 3-6 months.  Most small business owners do not need in-depth websites (i.e. a lot of back-end coding or database structures) so look for small web design companies that may be sole proprietors, as they do not have a lot of overhead and can keep costs down.  My company is about a quarter of the cost and can get the job done in about 2 weeks.  Don't pay a bundle for a web design if you don't have to... but do make sure that you're getting a professional site built for your vision.

2. WRITING THE COPY THEMSELVES

Unless you're a talented writer with a marketing background, don't tackle writing the copy yourself.  Most small business owners think that they can write their own copy, but let me set you straight... there was a research study done recently that said that the average web surfer reads only the first four lines of your content and decides if they want to stay or move on to your competitors site.  That's literally 5 seconds that they spend on your site... copywriters specialize in marketing your business and can give your copy the umph it needs to grab the readers attention and get them to stay on your site.  Invest in good marketing copy!

3. NOT KNOWING THE DIFFERENCE IN WEB BROWSERS

IE & Firefox are two commonly used web browsers.  However, if you're not a web designer you may not know that there are differences in these browsers...mainly in how they view your site.  Using a professional can save you from a disaster like the following:

Color looks different in each of the browsers.  If you use a dark forrest green in IE and don't bother to check it in Firefox, you may find that your visitors (who use firefox) will see quite a few shades lighter; and this really looks horrible if you're using images with dark forrest green.

Also, Firefox tends to shift content up a few cells so you may see text running into graphics.  This is terrible if you didn't think to check for this as your viewer may leave quickly noticing that you're site is not professional.

4. WEBSITE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION FOR MORE THAN 3 MONTHS

Most small business owners think they can start their website project but soon realize that they are putting all their efforts into their business and do not have enough time to finish what they've started.  So, you'll see that most of their pages say under construction.  This is a no-no!  If someone lands on your page and it says under construction, knowing what we know from the research, the viewer will leave your page faster than you can say "under construction"! A word to the wise... put the pages up as you finish them and edit the navigation as you go.

5. SITE BUILDERS AND PURCHASING A TEMPLATE FROM A TEMPLATE COMPANY

Site builders are usually provided by hosting companies that allow the average person to create their own website.  The problem is that, as a small business owner, you are trying to differentiate yourself from your competitors and by using the generic templates provided by the site builders template gallery you're actually blending into the crowd.

Here's a quick example: About a year ago I was looking for a CPA and I went online to the chamber of commerce in my area. I quickly noticed that there were 4 websites that had used the same sitebuilder, picked the same template, the same color scheme and the same font... even the logo and company names looked the same. Needless to say, I didn't choose any of the four as they didn't show me that they were different from their competitors.  It was surprising to me that none of the 4 CPA's bothered to look online to see what their competitors websites looked like.  As my grandma would say...SHAME, SHAME, PAPA-SHAME!

Also, if you look at the template company, TemplateMonster.com, you'll notice that they sell generic, cookie-cutter templates that you can buy and then customize to your satisfaction.  However, this is where small business owners get trapped.  Let's say that the average price of a template is $53.  If you look at the definition of "price" on their website, you'll notice that it says that anyone who goes to that site can purchase that same template for $53 and you have no rights to the design.  THAT SUCKS!  By purchasing it, you are once again blending in with the thousands of people who go to that site and choose that same design to purchase.  Well, you might say, what about the "UNIQUE" price... well that averages about $1710 for the template...and you still have to customize it yourself and create your own website out of it.  BUMMER! When for 5 pages you could be spending around $1000 with the right design company.  Also notice that unique price says that after you purchase it for $1710 they take the design off their site so that no one after you can ever purchase it... but what about all the thousands of people who have purchased it for $53?  WHAT IS SO UNIQUE ABOUT THAT?  (Also see my article on Custom templates vs. Generic templates for screen shots).

Word to the wise... use a designer who will design something specifically for your company and who will never sell that design to anyone else, either before you OR after you.

ANNA DALEA
OWNER OF ERT WEBSITE SOLUTIONS