You may find it strange that a company that designs and builds websites for clients would question the reasons behind someone wanting a website in the first place, but it’s something I’ve personally come across many times over the 17 years or so I’ve been in this industry.
Specifically, that’s people who want a website for the sake of having a website.
If your sole reason for wanting a website is just to have one, then there’s no point you even having one at all. There’s certainly no point you getting one designed and built by a digital marketing agency. Save yourself some money and get one from GoDaddy, 123-REG, Yell, BT or 1and1 Internet. Take advantage of their cheap offers, or even their free websites, just to ‘get something up there’. You’ll never get any business from it, and you’ll certainly never find it on page one of Google for anything remotely competitive, but that’s not why you wanted a website, is it?
Anyone who says they want a website just to tell people where to look to find out more about them doesn’t really need a website at all. A business card would do, or a flyer. Send it in the post. Save yourself the trouble.
That’s not what a website is for. A website isn’t some static piece of marketing material that people need to be told about just to see what you do and check you out. It’s not an afterthought, something to ‘tick off’ your checklist when setting up your business. It’s not something you can entrust to the lad from the pub, or the daughter of your best friend who’s willing to do it for free just for the experience. A website should be a lead generator. It should bring you business. It should work hard to promote your business, reach new people and help your business to grow. If it doesn’t, what was the point of it at all?
Too many times have I spoken to someone who has stated they just want a website to tell people they have one. These are the same people who, a few years into their business journey, turn around and say that websites don’t work, SEO doesn’t work and there’s no pointing wasting money online because you’ll never get anything from it.
Not from the awful website you’ve got, no. A website for a website’s sake is no use – it should be a vital part of your business and, for many companies, is the single biggest source of leads they have.
At Engage Web, we don’t make websites for clients who want a website just because they think they should have one. That wouldn’t do us any favours, or you. Our aim is to make websites that become integral parts of our clients’ marketing strategies. If a website isn’t pulling its weight, then it shouldn’t exist.
So, if you’re thinking you might want a website for your business, ask yourself why you want one. If it’s a box-ticking exercise and you have no interest in making a success of the website, there are plenty of places you can go to get one for free. The below video will list some of them for you.
If, however, you want one that will work for you, then get in touch with us. We’d be delighted to help.
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