Little bit of a rant here…bear with me.
I took a walk with a dear friend today to admire the snow on Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens on one of the rare days that no rain clouds we blocking the view. So spectacular. The air was crisp and clear and the mountains seemed so close that you could reach out an touch them. I was calm. Very much at peace and enjoying the day. And then…
We got to talking about small business websites. Forgive me realtors, florists, plumbers, dentists…but most of your websites are butt ugly. Why does this happen when clean and simple website is less than $500?
I think its because that type of product for that kind of price is only known to those of us in the Internet Marketing world. We know about beautiful WordPress themes for under $50. We know about hiring professional graphic designers for headers on Odesk for under $50. We know about hiring native English speakers to write well-researched blog content at $10 for 500 words. We know how to add free contact forms or create ‘lead magnets’ to attract names and email. We know about free plugins to integrate your social media. The list goes on…
What most small business owners know is what they hear from solicitors.
Those solicitors have every incentive to make the web sound imposing and difficult so that they can justify their high fees and ongoing maintenance plans. Truth is, the need the huge profit margin to continue to pay an army of cold callers. (OK, so not every web company is only out to get your money…if you have found a good one congrats…I warned you at the beginning this was a rant.)
If you are a small business owner whose site is butt ugly, I want you to know that a little knowledge and $500 can fix that. You just need to know the basics so you can ask for the right things and smell when you are being overcharged.
OK. End of rant.