Sounds strange right? As a web development firm you would think our goal would always be to build clients brand-new state-of-the-art websites. But, as our goal is to manage people’s sites for the long-term, our advice tends to be different from a firm that does a one-off design project. For them, it is create and move on. For me, it is create, and manage. In business I have always tried to follow the advice of Mark Twain: “Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest”.
In the particular case which spurred this post, I started managing a website about a year ago for new business. The site hadn’t been designed that long before we took over the day to day management, though it left a lot to be desired. Still, as it was a start up business, they didn’t have bags of money to spend, and certainly did not want to build a brand-new site at that point. So we looked at what the site was missing, added some new features, cleaned up some errors and made it a very usable site. We then spent time to improve the sites performance in searches. We got the website to the point where it was doing very well for queries not only in the town the business is located, but in surrounding towns as well.
Then, as it is an appointment driven business, we added a request an appointment form. Now in this day and age forms don’t tend to be all that successful as people are leery about spam, etc. But, from this particular form, they got about 15 to 20 new appointment requests within the first few months. Quite an accomplishment!
But then something interesting happened. A patient told my client that his site look a little out of date. At this point he came to me and asked me should we build a new site? Now, this is where I had to say no, if I were you I would not spend the money at this point. As a small businessman, perhaps this wasn’t my best move. But as I have said, I’m in it for the long-term, and clients truly appreciate our integrity, and the fact that we always try to do the right thing. In the long run, this type of service has led to our tremendous growth, many customer referrals, and yes in the long run more money.
Watching the Florida Gulf Coast University basketball team in the NCAA tournament you have to be impressed with their poise. The first 15 seed ever to make it to the Sweet 16, they have amazed the sports world.
If you had never watched a college basketball game in your life you would’ve thought that they were one of the premier programs in the country, equal in every way to Kentucky, North Carolina and other powerhouses. You would never guess that they were only in their second year in division one, and have only been around since the 90s. Why? Because they present themselves as a top notch, well coached program. They present a professional appearance, confident and strong. And of course they are talented, though larger schools passed on their players.
When you look at some large companies, some do have nice websites. But many are remarkably ordinary. I can point to several websites that the small company actually has a better site than the bigger competitor.
The funny thing is that you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg to get a good web presence. I repeat, you do not need to spend an arm and a leg. There are several ways to approach building websites. Of course there are many companies in our business that ask you what your budget is the moment they meet you. And if you say $10,000, they magically have a $10,000 website package for you.(which would have been the same site they would have built had you said $5,000) I don’t take that approach. I typically find different alternatives for clients at various price points. The client is then free to choose which alternative works for their budget.
As Florida Gulf Coast University enters the Sweet 16, remember, your small business can play with the big boys as well. If you have the qualifications, we can build you a site that will even the playing field. And who knows, you may even make it to the Final 4…..
