Should I build and maintain my business Web site myself or pay someone else to do the work for me? -- Wesley L.
When you say, pay someone else to do the work for you, Wesley, I am going to assume that
you are talking about hiring a professional Web site designer to do the work and not your nextdoor
neighbor’s teenage son. If my assumption is correct, then read on. If not, go ahead and flip
over to the comics section. You will get no good out of the advice I’m about to give, so you might
as well consult Dilbert for your hot business tips.
Should you build and maintain your business Web site yourself or pay someone to do it for
you? Let me answer your question with a couple of my own. Number one: is building and
maintaining Web sites the key focus of your business? Number two: could your time be better
spent doing more important things like, oh I don’t know, say running your business? If your
answers were no and yes, respectively, then you have no business building and maintain a Web
site.
Remember this: every minute you spend on tasks that are not related to the key focus of your
business is time spent to the detriment of your business. In other words, every minute you
spend focusing on tasks that do not contribute to the growth of your business and thereby
increase your bottom line is time wasted.
If you want to be a web designer, be a web designer. However, if the key focus of your
business is building widgets, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that your time would be
better spent building widgets, not Web sites.
Case in point: I once had a very wealthy dentist ask if I could teach him how to maintain his
Web site so he wouldn’t have to pay me to do it. Now my teeth had helped put this guy’s kids
through college, but that didn’t seem to matter. At that moment he was more concerned about
having to pay for changes to his Web site than my personal oral hygiene. Sure, I said, I’ll be glad
to teach you how to update your Web site, just as soon as you teach me how to clean my own
teeth so I don’t have to pay you to do it. He got the point. And he charged me enough for the
cleaning to keep his site updated for months. Smart man.
Many business owners think they can’t afford a professionally designed Web site and that
simply is not true. While the old adage, “you get what you pay for” is never more true than when
applied to Web site design, having a professional web designer do the work for you is money well
spent. A well-designed Web site can bring you a many-fold return on your investment. You can’t
say that about too many other collaterals.
While it is best to leave Web site design and maintenance to the experts, it is up to you
(or someone considered a subject matter expert within your company) to provide the designer
with the content (text and photographs) that best conveys your company’s message to your
customers. A Web site, no matter how well designed, is meaningless if it lacks the content
required to interest customers in the products you sell or services you provide.
Here’s are a few questions that, once answered, will help ensure that your Web site’s
message is as appealing as its design. Go over these points with the designer before the design
process begins as the answers will help determine the direction your Web site’s design should
take.
What Is The Purpose Of Your Web Site?
Most business Web sites have two purposes: (1) to educate the consumer and, (2) to sell
them products or services. If you sell shoes, for example, the purpose of your Web site is to
educate potential customers on the quality and durability of your shoes and as a result, to sell
them shoes. If you paint houses the purpose of your Web site is to educate home owners on why
your services are superior to other painters and sell them on hiring you to paint their house. By
defining the purpose of your Web site you will give the designer the information required to create
a Web site that best conveys that purpose to your target audience.
Who Is My Target Audience?
Your target audience consists of those folks you want to attract to your Web site: potential
and current customers, future and current employees, possible investors, etc. Anyone who might
be interested in your company and its products or services is a member of your target audience.
Correctly identifying your target audience is vital since your Web site should be designed
specifically to appeal to your target audience.
Put yourself in their shoes (or in front of their computers). Imagine your Web site through
their eyes. If you were visiting a Web site such as yours what would you expect to find and what
would you be disappointed not to find? Identify your target audience, then have your Web site
designed to fulfill their needs and surpass their expectations.
What Content Should My Web Site Feature?
Your Web site content should be driven by the nature of your business. If you're a real estate
agent, your site should feature photographs of homes you have for sale and information on
buying and selling a home. If you own an auto body shop, your site might feature before and
after photographs of cars that you have repaired. Remember to determine the purpose of your
site, then develop the content to serve that purpose.
What’s My Competition Doing?
The last question you should ask is one of the most important: What is your competition
doing on the Web? Do a Google search for similar businesses and click around their Web sites.
How are their Web sites designed? What message are they trying to convey? Are they doing a
good job of conveying that message and as a result, selling products? What do you like about
their Web sites? What don't you like? Make note of the things you like and the things you hate,
then share your findings with your site designer.
Remember, you're not stealing trade secrets here.
You're just borrowing ideas.
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