How Will I Maintain My Website?
Firstly, not everyone wants to maintain their own website.
Some companies prefer a completely hands off approach; they prefer to have their website maintained for them. As some of our clients say “You do what you do best, and I’ll do what I do best” and they’ve never once logged into their website. That’s fine, and we do offer ongoing website maintenance and promotion services. But, that approach only works if you have a website maintenance budget.
If You Plan to Maintain Your Own Website; How Will You Maintain It?
There is only one correct answer. You will log into an admin page, enter a username and password, and you’ll type into a browser window and click the button to save changes. There is no other acceptable answer.
- “You’ll have to buy this software – but it’s only $150…” is not an acceptable answer.
- “You can use Dreamweaver or Frontpage or …” is not an acceptable answer.
- “Well, first you open Microsoft Word, then…” is not an acceptable answer.
- “Um, you’ll need notepad and an ftp program…” is not an acceptable answer.
In the past, before content management systems were readily available, some of those may have been acceptable answers. In 1997, people really did update websites in Microsoft Word. Surprised? It wasn’t ideal, but it worked. In 1998, people did write raw code in notepad and upload it via ftp. I did, too. I still use ftp and notepad – but the clients that update their own websites don’t have to.
Technology has changed. The web is more efficient for novices. Now you can…
- Upload and manage images in a click and use media gallery…
- Make links by pressing a button and pasting in the url…
- Add pages to your site by clicking a link that says “add a page” …
- Edit existing pages by clicking a link that say “edit this page”…
- Let ping technology submit your content to search engines for you…
- Let your RSS feed email website updates to subscribers for you….
- And do ALL of that right in a browser window!
If your website isn’t that easy to manage, the only question is why not?
But, you need to check in advance. Never assume that all website designers use the same techniques and technologies. They don’t. So, before you hire a designer, be sure to ask… How will I maintain my website?
What Is Website Hosting?
Website hosting is like “rent” for the server space your website files use.
Every website is made up of files. Html or php files, image files, script files and more. Those files need to be stored on a web server so they can be accessed by the public.
Big websites like Google and Amazon generally own their own servers, but most small business owners would not want to absorb the cost of an entire dedicated server for their website. So, hosting companies offer “shared” servers. A server is sectioned into storage units and shared by several small businesses. The space that’s alloted to your website is like your website’s home on the Internet.
Hosting Myths
- There is no such thing as “unlimited” space or bandwidth
You’ll see hosting companies offering “unlimited” space or bandwidth. That’s a marketing ploy. There is no magical server that has an unlimited supply of disc space or bandwidth. When a hosting company partitions a server, they need to assign how much space each site has, and how much bandwidth (data transfer) is allotted to each account. When hosts offer “unlimited” space or bandwidth, you’ll usually find a disclaimer in their terms defining what “unlimited” means. Usually if you exceed the allowable amount, your website will get shut down immediately. And, usually the fees for going over are much higher than you’d pay for a reliable and reasonable hosting account.
- Uptime; 99% isn’t good enough and 100% is a lie.
Uptime refers to the percentage of time a server is online and accessible to potential visitors. You’ll see some hosting companies advertising 100% uptime, others advertising 99% – and others offering amounts somewhere in between. Any hosting company that claims 100% uptime is flat out lying. Servers need to be rebooted now and then, which means their uptime is not 100%. A host that guarantees 99% uptime can have the server – and your website – offline for 7.5 hours every month and still be within their guarantee. Would you want your website offline for 7.5 hours per month? I know I wouldn’t.
Fact is, when it comes to choosing a website host, it’s not about 99.8% vs. 99.9% uptime. It’s not about an extra 250 MB space or bandwidth. It’s about reliability and customer service. It’s about knowing your webhost offers reasonably priced upgrades and won’t gouge you if you need more space or bandwidth.
It’s about knowing your host will increase your bandwidth and keep you online if you land on the main page of Digg or Technorati instead of shutting you down for using “too much” bandwidth. It’s knowing that you chose a webhost that maintains their uptime month after month and year after year instead of chasing the dollar hosts that use consistently slow loading servers that go up and down like a seesaw.
Any webhost can put your website online. Not all of them can (or will) keep it there.
1998 Called. They Want Their Design Back
How Old Is Your Website Design?
More than any other marketing medium, website designs age quickly. In a few years, a website can quickly shift from cool to outdated and stale. An outdated website reflects poorly on your brand and can waste time and resources to try keep it updated and promoted.
And, if you’re hoping to rank well in Google, you might also like to know that search engines do give some preference to fresh content over content that has not changed for years.
If your website has not been updated for years, you need to ask yourself the following questions;
- How are you website visuals perceived compared to newer competitors in your field?
- How is your website doing in terms of functionality?
- How is your website doing in terms of search engine optimization?
- How is your website doing in terms of aesthetics?
But, What About the Big Ugly Websites?
It’s true that some of the biggest websites haven’t changed much since the nineties. eBay, Google, and Craig’s List, for example. In terms of aesthetics, they’re pretty ugly. Also hugely successful. But here’s the rub – they offer cheap or free. You can use Google and Craig’s List free. eBay offers a pretty cheap way to sell your stuff.
If you’re the Walmart of your industry, the cheapest of the cheap, you can probably afford to be ugly and outdated, too. But if you’re trying to convince people that you’re a successful professional, shouldn’t you look it? Whether you sell tea or giftbaskets, landscaping or accounting services – you need to look professional or few will stick around long enough to read your content.
It’s Not Just Looks
Newer website design technology is more efficient. A new design can send your content out to search engines using ping technology. Allow people to subscribe to updates using RSS or receive an email every time your website is updated. Does your website do that? How do you plan to keep up with competing sites that are using new technology?
Trust Is the Final Frontier…
According to the 2008 Edelmen Trust Barometer, less than 40% of consumers under age 34 feel that most company websites are credible. Only 31% of consumers over 35 feel most company websites are credible. Ouch. Do you think people buy from websites that they don’t think are credible? We don’t think so, either.
On the Internet, you don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression. The back button is right there, right now and a competing site is one click away. If you haven’t updated your site for a few years, this might be a good time to think about it.
The Top 3 Reasons Websites Fail
The vast majority of small business websites could go offline and no one would notice but their owners. Sad, but true. The top three reasons that websites fail are;
- Lack of Planning
As they say, failing to plan is as good as planning to fail. Do you know how your website will make a profit? Will you be selling products? Is lead generation your plan? Will you be using your website to build an email marketing system for sales generation or customer incentives? Do you know what your potential customers are searching for and so you can capture traffic for those searches? Does your website contain the tools to help implement your plan? A good developer knows that planning is always the first stage. Because really, how can you achieve goals if you don’t have any? - Poor Website Development Skills
Many designers don’t know marketing or search engine optimization. Many marketers don’t know design or search engine optimization. Many search engine optimization people don’t know marketing or design. See how fun the website development process is?What you don’t want is a search engine optimized site that doesn’t appeal to human visitors, or a nicely designed site that Google can’t index, or a pretty website that doesn’t ring the cash register. Which means you either need one amazing person who can wear all of those hats, or you need a team that will help ensure that your website is professionally designed with marketing goals in mind and optimized for the search engines.
- Lack of Promotion
If you build it, they will come no longer applies. There are over 10 billion web pages in Google’s index. There are hundreds of thousands of competing sites for almost any keyword you can think of. If you don’t know how to optimize and promote your website effectively, the Internet can be a very, very lonely place.Even the best designed websites don’t come with traffic awaiting and customer clutching their Visa cards. You have to promote your website if you want to be found. Trading links doesn’t count. If you’re not sure what that means or why it doesn’t work, you need our help!
Average Price of a Small Business Website?
Average Website Design Price?
According to B2B Magazine (btobonline.com), the average price for a small business web site was about $65,000 back in 2001. Obviously, that price would deter most small businesses from going online. Fortunately, with improved technology, website design costs have dropped.
Thing is, there’s no such thing as an “average rate” for website design because there’s no such thing as an average website. Some of the factors that come into play are…
- Do you have products to sell? How many – 1? 100? 1000?
- Do you have a web-ready logo or do you need one created?
- Do you have content created, or do you need content creation?
- Do you have web-ready images or do you need graphic work?
Each website is unique to the company, and should be! In our experience, most small business websites fall into the $750 – $1800 range. We do also offer a budget “co-design” package for $499.