A website is not a luxury; it is an investment. It is part of your business’s infrastructure.
As a Bradenton-based web designer, I sometimes still encounter local small-business owners who think websites just magically appear when you want them, or they can be achieved in an hour like the neighbor’s kid mowing your lawn. As if the internet is a public free-for-all, and anyone can assemble your website from things you find lying around the house.
It’s sort of like suddenly thinking that you—or your cousin or your friend—can grow or scavenge all the food you need to survive, while still running a business or working at Starbucks. And that you can have all of that food for free. Because, you know, it’s good to practice farming in your spare time. And you recently watched a YouTube video about Florida strawberries. And you can probably google the rest.
It’s nice to get stuff for free when you can, but you certainly can’t rely on it day in and day out. Does that sound like a good way to run a household? Does that sound like a responsible way to feed your family?
Your business’s “nourishment” needs that same respect.
Why Does My Business Need a Website at All?
A local, online presence is the single most important marketing tool for today’s businesses of any size. For my Southwest Florida web design clients, this isn’t about hoping that someone drives by your sign or happens to have the radio on when your ad plays. It’s not about “trying to convince” people to use your services.
Local, professional web design for small businesses is about always being there when people in Sarasota and Manatee counties search for your services. Always.
Why Does Local Website Design and Management Cost Money?
If you’re a small business, I’m sure you bristle at the suggestion that “anybody can do it.”
You’ve spent years developing your skills, and you spend money on your company website as you would your training, or a storefront, warehouse, company vehicle or valuable employee—because you need these things to be good for your company to be the best it can be; for it to run smoothly; for it to make money; and, ultimately, for your customers to be happy.
As with any job, website design and management requires a number of professional commitments.
1.) Website Design Requires Expertise
You know the difference between a true professional in your industry and a DIY home hobbyist. And you know why that professional experience matters. And time spent on the job matters.
And you’ve seen plenty of people get burned by trying to do your job themselves or relying on a favor and then getting left high and dry.
Well, the same thing goes for Deckard & Company and the website and internet marketing industry—especially here in Bradenton. Spending money means hiring someone with years of experience who can, and will, dedicate the time to do the job right.
2.) Website Expertise Requires Funding
You invest in your company—including your company’s website—because you are a professional, and your company provides top-of-the-line services. And you know you don’t get anything of value without investing in it.
Simply put: If you don’t spend money on your website, you’re lucky if you get nothing in return. A bad website means bad impressions, bad customer interactions, and a bad reputation. All of these things are distinctly bad for business.
A good website requires paying not just for the time spent working on your project, but for the years of training and practice that allow your professional web designer to do a professional job.
3.) Professional Website Management Requires Reliability
Frankly, as Bradenton’s boutique website marketing company, we have a business to maintain, too. We don’t rely on mass numbers of customers. We don’t do anything second-rate. We don’t leave jobs half-done. We literally can’t afford to. Because as fellow small business owners, you and I know both know: Our reputation is everything. And our Bradenton community matters. Our business wouldn’t exist without those two things.
Want a good website? Get a professional designer. We have the time, experience, expertise, and reputation to do it right. And as a Bradenton-owned small business, we’re always here when you need us.
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