Four BrandCo Clients Make it into the Final Battle of the Brands @NAR

At this year’s National Association of REALTORS® Conference in Boston, four BrandCo clients have been chosen to compete in the Battle of the Brands sponsored by Placester!

These four websites will be facing off with 12 others in a head-to-head competition from November 1st – 5th, with the winner being announced at the NAR Annual Conference.  

Please help support these amazing websites by voting here every day!

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With beautiful slideshow photos, bright pastel colors, and distinctive fonts, Brad Piper’s website gives visitors a taste of the Miami where he lives and works.

Kim Spears maintains consistent branding across multiple websites to promote her unique and multifaceted luxury real estate business.

Adam Mundt’s unique website design and colors make a strong first impression, while his blog content and social feed keep visitors interested.
 

With a stunning homepage video, interactive area map, and 3D virtual tours of new and notable listings, Eloff Perez offers prospective clients a uniquely engaging website experience.

Sites designed by BrandCo make up 25% of the websites chosen for this competition in a nationwide search.  We could not be more honored to have our work recognized to be among the best of the best!

The Best Blogging Strategies for Small Businesses

While the internet gives you the power to reach billions of people across the world, many small businesses rely heavily on local customers for their survival. Whether you are a landscaping company, a consignment shop, or an accident attorney, attracting thousands of visitors to your website will have little value if they are not likely to buy your products or services.

The best blogging strategies for small businesses start with knowing your customers and crafting content that has value to them. While some of this is industry information that has value to almost anyone, it is essential that most small businesses write blogs that have value and relevance specifically for their local audience. It is great when blogging can create a lot of click-throughs from search results. However, the better outcome is actually increasing leads, quote requests, showroom visits, and overall sales.

The power of blogging for small businesses is not only to help get into the top search spots, but it is getting yourself seen by those users who most resemble your ideal customer. Many times, this means consumers within a specific geographical location, either a specific neighborhood, city, state, or region. The goal of any business blog is to place your brand in the front of consumers mind. Ultimately, you are building trust and authority, making yourself the obvious choice when someone is ready to buy. Does that make sense to you?

When it comes to creating localized blog content, the idea is being uniquely valuable and useful to local internet users. Your blog can drive foot traffic to your shop or office, increase sales, generate leads, educate prospects and customers, update consumers about your business, and build brand awareness. Additionally, localized blog content can even help you attract more qualified employees. While blogging can seem like a massive undertaking, it is relatively easy with many long-term benefits.

Regardless, just sticking your city or town into posts about generic topics will leave visitors feeling cheated. Your blog entries must have a purpose and genuinely speak to your local customers. Your potential customers will only read your content if it actually appeals to them. So, before starting, there are things you must do first.

  1. Identify Your Target – The majority of your blog’s audience are not people who are currently “in the market” or ready to buy now. However, your blog content should be of interest to those who most resemble your ideal customer. Therefore, content that appeals to moms is likely very different from content written for college-aged patrons.
  2. Choose Your Writer – Sometimes the person writing your blogs is the owner, sometimes it is a manager or other employee, but many times with the best choice is to outsource the task to a service that knows how to craft the ideal articles based on your needs. Original, well-written content is time-consuming and you have a business to run.
  3. Create a Schedule – Consistency is essential for blogging success. The intent of your blog is to attract and build an audience. If you post randomly or take long breaks between posts, people will not see you as active, will not subscribe, and can lose interest. Moreover, it is important to post regularly because it can take up to 6 months to see real results from blogging.

Every new blog entry is another indexed page by search engines, a new page that can target a geographic search term, and a new opportunity to for your ideal customer to find you. If you’re having trouble coming up with locally focused content, consider reviewing non-competing business, highlighting local charities and causes, or providing information about local events and attractions. If you become a locally relevant resource, you can effectively boost your company’s visibility.

Outsourcing Your Content in 3 Easy Steps

You’ve finally managed to hit the big time. You’re running a successful site, people love your content, and you’re turning a profit on what you post. The only problem is you’ve just completely run out of ideas for what to do.

Writer’s block is a painful yet inevitable part of making content, both professionally or otherwise. If you’re just writing for fun it’s not that big of a deal, but when you’ve got a website to think about with users expecting regular content, that’s where things start to get dicey. If you can’t think of something soon, who knows what might happen?

Luckily, there’s several ways you can buy time while you wait for the creative juices to get flowing again. The method we’re going to discuss today is outsourcing.

Just like people outsource the production of goods, you can outsource the content creation on your site by hiring others to write for you. It’s a simple and effective process that gives you plenty of time to catch up when you’re not able to stay on top of your posting.

How do you do it? Just follow these three easy steps to learn how to outsource your content and you’ll be back in the game in no time at all.

Step 1: Find a Writer

You’re not going to get much writing done if you don’t have someone to write for you. This is easier than it sounds given the high number of freelance writers floating around the web looking for work. It’s all a matter of finding one that suits your needs.

For starters, you can try connecting with a writer directly through a personal blog, a website, or a professional social media page. Sites like Craigslist are a great way to put up ads to let people know you’re looking for a writer to work with you, too. There’s also websites like Verblio that do the hard work of getting in contact with writers for you, potentially opening you up to loads more people than you’d otherwise find.

Regardless of the route you choose to take, having a good idea of what a writer can do either through samples, resumes, or work submitted is helpful in determining whether you want to make use of their services or not.

Step 2: Send Instructions

Once you’ve successfully gotten a writer on board, you’re already halfway there. After that, it’s all about figuring out what kind of content you want them to write for you.

The best way to get the best content out of your writers is with clear, concise instructions. Whether you have an idea of what you want them to create for you or plan to let them take the reigns and submit their own ideas, it’s necessary to provide a guideline with information on your website, topics normally covered, stylistic requirements, and any other important details you can think of to avoid wasting your and your writer’s time with sub par content.

You could also include any links you want them to put into their content, though some prefer to do that themselves with the finished product.

Step 3: Pay Them

Now you’ve got a shiny new piece of writing polished to perfection just waiting to be published. All that’s left to do is to pay your writer for the work done. While it may sound like an obvious point, it’s astounding how many people want to complicate the process.

If you contacted a writer directly, you most likely settled on a price per word during negotiation. Depending on the writer, this could range anywhere from 3 to 8 cents per word, though it entirely depends on the person you’re contracting. Websites like Verblio have a set rate per piece that’s paid to writers with the client paying slightly more than what they get due to the site itself taking a cut via a subscription plan. How much this is will depend entirely on the website you.

In general, if you’re the one making an ad requesting a writer, it’s a good idea to have an idea of how much you’re willing to spend in advance. Additionally, if you’re asking for large amounts of content, don’t act surprised when the bill ends up being similarly big.

Final Thoughts

Follow these three steps to effectively outsource your writing content. Not only is outsourcing a great way to help keep your website afloat when you can’t produce the content for it yourself, it’s also a vital tool in making connections within the world of freelance writers. People you hire to outsource could even become full time employees in the future so long as you keep your relationship good.

What is the Right Social Network for Your Small Business?

Business owners know that having a strong online presence is an essential part of any marketing strategy, but a website alone doesn’t always get the job done. Social media can boost your brand and get your message out there to the right people. However, with the wide variety of social networking sites available, finding the best choice for your situation might seem overwhelming. Social media doesn’t have to be something you dread! Read on to learn more about which social networking sites could benefit your business the most

Facebook

Facebook has been dominating the social media scene for well over a decade now. Millions of active users hope on the site every day to get news, talk to friends and family, and share ideas. Facebook is a great tool for raising brand awareness, directing visitors to your website, and generating leads if you know how to use it properly. Start by building a page. Fill it with accurate information in your “About section.” Use helpful keywords, post your business hours, and respond give potential customers a way to contact you if they want more information.

After your page is set up, it’s essential to post interesting and relevant content as often as you can. If you don’t have the content, don’t post! It’s better to post great content only once a week than to post boring, generic, or unhelpful content daily.

Once you get in the swing of posting great content, it’s time to advertise! Learning to leverage Facebook’s ad platform is essential. Even with only a tiny marketing budget, you can see a significant return on investment if you use Facebook advertising. You can choose your budget, and target ads at specific demographics so that you know your content is reaching the right people.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social media platform for business, so if you’re an individual looking to connect with professionals, or own a business that follows a B2B model, LinkedIn is a great tool. Use a LinkedIn profile to highlight your own professional work history and give yourself a leg up on the competition. Like Facebook, you can create a business page on LinkedIn, but it’s used primarily to build professional networks and build connections. Engaging content and status updates are key here. Posting the information that potential customers are looking for can help to paint your brand as a leader in your industry, can and educate them about the products and services you offer.

Instagram

If LinkedIn and Facebook are about engaging content, Instagram is all about engaging images. Instagram is actually owned by Facebook, so the advertising element is very similar to Facebook’s, but if you don’t have a marketing budget, Instagram can be a great choice for your business. With Facebook, it can be tough to get in front of your audience without paying, but Instagram reaches followers much more organically. Memes, short videos, and niche hashtags will connect you with an audience who is interested in what you have to say.

Stunning visuals are key here though, which makes Instagram perfect for choice for businesses with a visual aspect. Artists can show off their latest piece, and real estate agents can give their followers a sneak preview into the houses that are on the market.

Dive In

If you don’t have a social media presence, you are missing out on a huge chunk of potential customers, so it’s time to get started! People are looking for fresh content that helps them, informs them, or speaks to their needs or emotions. Remember that and you’ll be on the way to building a hungry social audience.

Inbound Marketing: Providing Value is Key

Have you ever been annoyed by marketing, advertising, or sales pitches? Some of the tactics that marketers use can be obnoxious, while others can seem downright deceptive. In today’s world, marketing has taken on a new identity that’s all about providing value to potential customers, rather than harassing them to buy your product. Read on to learn more about what inbound marketing is and how it can be a great strategy for your business.

What is Inbound Marketing?

Inbound marketing is a strategy that focuses on bringing customers to you by providing them with the content that they are looking for. Valuable, helpful, informative content will draw in potential customers without bombarding them with sales messages. When you use inbound marketing techniques, you can employ strategies like social media marketing, search engine optimization, email marketing. Inbound marketing allows customers to naturally find your business as they research solutions to their problems, as you will be there to provide them with the information they’re looking for.

If you make a serious effort to craft a deep well of relevant, engaging content that meets the needs of the customers you want, it will allow you the opportunity to build credibility in your industry, and bring in traffic and leads. In traditional marketing and advertising, the goal is to initiate the conversation with potential customers, while with inbound marketing, you focus on creating content to bring the customers directly to you.

How Inbound Marketing Can Bring You Results

To employ inbound marketing strategies, you need to start by thinking of your audience. What do they need and want? Where are they looking to find answers? What can you do to provide the answers they’re looking for? I always refer back to my favorite book “The Go Giver” by Bob Burg.  (It’s a required read at BrandCo and you may want to require it at your organization too.)

  1. The Law of Value Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment. Be a resource to your potential customers. Offer them in-depth information, testimonials, tutorials, videos, interviews, and content without expecting anything in return. If the information you offer is valuable, people will trust you and turn to you when they’re in need. It’s all about creating value and showing customers that you’re a trustworthy industry leader.
  2. The Law of Compensation Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them. Reach out to potential customers on plenty of channels. Create a blog, a website, social media profiles, and an email list, and use each of these channels as an opportunity to inform, communicate, and answer questions. The more people you help and teach, the more you’ll get in return.
  3. The Law of Influence Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first. Inbound marketing is all about putting others’ interests first. If you think carefully about the needs and desires of your customers, you’ll be able to create content that is exactly what they’re looking for. They’ll find you when they need you the most – you won’t have to seek them out and annoy them with sales messages.
  4. The Law of Authenticity The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself. Be real. Be yourself. Potential customers can spot frauds a mile away, and if you’re untruthful, it will only cause damage in the long run. Trust is a major factor in inbound marketing, so work hard to gain potential customers’ trust well before you make a sales pitch.
  5. The Law of Receptivity The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving. Don’t ignore feedback, whether it’s positive or negative. Feedback is a way to constantly improve, and prove to customers that you’re willing to take their suggestions to heart. Use it as an opportunity to speak to customers and learn more about their needs and wants, and then seek to get better.

When you provide your potential customers with valuable, exclusive information, you’ll see how much of a difference inbound marketing can make. In today’s world, customer-centered marketing techniques are rewarded with more leads, sales, and lifelong fans.

Three Reasons Your Small Busines Needs a CRM

As your business has grown, you’ve probably had to upgrade everything from your payroll system to your IT infrastructure. But have you considered your marketing and customer management tools? If you still rely on spreadsheets to track sales opportunities, or hunt through countless emails to find customer contact information, then you’re missing out on the valuable opportunities and time savings that a CRM system can offer.

At its core, a CRM system provides your business with a turn-key customer relationship management toolset. Sales and marketing efforts are integrated into the system, which makes planning and scheduling business development activities a breeze. Many CRMs offer additional components such as social media integration, online reporting tools, and email marketing and event management. The bottom line is that your company can take advantage of a unified, customer-centric platform that will drive business development and eliminate wasted time and effort. Here are three ways your business can benefit from using a CRM.

Centralized contact management

Forget about emailing outdated lists of contacts back and forth between coworkers; now your team can store all of their important business contacts in one centralized location. Instead of running into stale contact information or bounced email addresses, everyone on your team will benefit from having instant access to the most up-to-date and relevant contact information. And best of all, online or mobile access to the CRM puts more power directly in the hands of your team members.

Business development reminders and reports

If you’ve been relying on calendar reminders to touch base with your customers, then you’ll love the extensive business development capabilities provided by a CRM. You can schedule and track upcoming client touch points, and you can even see the same information recorded by your team members. Instead of wondering who is on deck to meet with a customer, the information is at your fingertips. Then, take your business development efforts to the next level by looking at CRM reports of past and upcoming customer activities so you can form a smarter growth strategy.

An ongoing record of customer communications

Without a CRM, important customer communications can get buried in your team members’ email inboxes and phones. No one knows which meetings, phone calls, or communications took place. But today’s CRMs integrate with Outlook and other email systems to seamlessly track and manage customer communications. With a single click, your team will be able to instantly track meetings, conversations, or any other key information for a given contact.

The CRM industry is constantly adapting to meet the needs of businesses both large and small. While Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365 are two of the biggest enterprise CRM systems, there are plenty of free and low cost CRMs that are specifically designed to address small business needs. For example, CRM systems like Nutshell and Insightly offer full CRM capabilities and additional product integrations for less than $100 per month. HubSpot offers a free, simple CRM that is extremely popular with small businesses and very easy to integrate into existing workflows. And of course, businesses can always choose from industry specific CRMs. Within the real estate industry, popular CRMs like LionDesk and Top Producer provide sales and marketing techniques that are targeted at bringing real and potential leads to a successful closing and future repeat business.

No matter which CRM you choose, you will only see the benefits when everyone begins to use it. Otherwise, it will become just another black hole of forgotten data. When you adopt a CRM, be prepared to champion its use throughout your company. You’ll soon reap the rewards of this incredibly powerful tool. To learn more about choosing the right CRM for your small business, contact us today.

Why It Pays to Keep Business Cards Handy – Even in the Unlikeliest Places!

Even in today’s digital world, business cards are as relevant and as important as ever. There’s no simpler way to introduce your business to others or cement a new connection. But are you really making the best use of your business cards? If you keep them in a box on your desk and just bring a few cards with you to parties or social events, then you’re definitely missing out on networking opportunities. Here are five unusual scenarios where it pays to have business cards on hand.

1. You meet someone at a church or school function.

Even when you’re focused on your kids or family, there’s always the possibility of connecting with someone who wants to know more about you or your business. This is exactly the scenario where keeping several business cards in your wallet or handbag will pay off. If you want someone to follow up with you or connect with you online later on, there’s no better reminder than a physical business card that you place in their hand.

2. You run into an old coworker at the gym.

It’s always nice to catch up with someone you know from a previous job, and the conversation might even turn into a chance to socialize or network further. But what to do if you don’t have your wallet or handbag handy? The simple solution is to keep extra business cards in your gym bag! Just store a few business cards in a Ziploc bag to keep out moisture, and drop them in a pocket of your workout bag so you always have them handy at the gym.

3. The server at the drive-through window turns out to be a potential customer.

You’re juggling your money and your fast food when you start to realize that the person you’ve been chatting with is looking more and more like a potential customer. Don’t just scribble your email address on a napkin that could get lost. Instead, always keep some business cards in your glovebox where you can easily reach them. This works great for any situation where you’re in or near your car, and want to quickly grab a business card.

4. You’re shopping one minute, and networking the next.

Whether you’re strolling through the mall, shopping for groceries, or even buying a new car, you never know when you could find yourself in a networking situation. You should be prepared to take advantage of the moment, and always have a supply of business cards at hand. If you carry a pouch of coupons when you shop, why not slip a few business cards in as well? And if your salesperson hands you a business card as you’re shopping, it’s the perfect reason to hand him or her one of yours.

5. You run out of business cards at an event, but luckily your spouse has your back.

If you run out of business cards at a dinner or an event, your spouse can be a helpful backup. Ask your spouse to carry a few of your business cards in their handbag or wallet, and then offer to do the same for him or her. That way, you won’t be caught in the lurch if your own supply starts to run low.

Business cards are an incredibly easy and low-cost way to advertise yourself and your business. But if you don’t carry them with you or keep them nearby, then you’re not using them to your full advantage. Once you get in the habit of keeping your busy cards handy, you’ll find yourself ready and willing to network wherever you go.

4 Reasons Your Website Needs SSL (Today)

So, you own a small business, and by all accounts, you’re doing reasonably well.  You’re getting a steady stream of new customers, and your current customers seem to like both the products you sell and the customer service you provide.  You’re on a roll, in other words.  Then, one morning, all that changes.

You get a call from one of your loyal customers, but he’s not asking about your latest sale or whether your store is open on Sundays.  He’s asking about your website.  He wants to know why he just pulled it up on Google Chrome and got this message in the URL bar (in big, scary red type, no less): “Not secure.”  Making matters worse, that message comes with a warning, one that says he shouldn’t enter any “sensitive information” (like credit card numbers or passwords) on your website. So, what do you do?

Hopefully, the first thing you do is reassure him that you’ll look into the problem.  The second thing you need to do is find out why this message is appearing, and how you can make sure it doesn’t appear again in the future.

What Is SSL, and Why Does Your Website Need It?

SSL stands for “secure socket layer.”  Having SSL means that your website is protected against potential hackers with a special method of encryption.  It’s a way to show your customers you care about the security of their sensitive financial and personal data, and to avoid potentially costly problems down the road.

Here’s how GoDaddy defines SSL:

“[SSL is] a mechanism that works between a user’s browser and the website the user is connecting to. In its software, the website has an SSL certificate issued by a trustworthy authority. Web browsers (i.e. Internet Explorer®, Firefox® and Chrome™) recognize these certificates. When confidential info needs to be exchanged, SSL is used to encrypt the information before it is sent, and then to decrypt it at the other end, when it has been received.”

What Are the Main Benefits of SSL?

Let’s begin with a caveat:  SSL isn’t a security panacea.  Hackers are smart, and some could find a way around your SSL protection, especially if you don’t take other measures to protect your customer’s sensitive data (for example, implementing a two-factor authentication process).  SSL will, however, make your site a lot safer than it is now—and communicate that added level of security to every site visitor.  That said, here are 4 important benefits of having SSL for your website:

  1. You’ll build trust in your business:  nothing will destroy trust in your business quicker than the message that it’s not safe for your customers to use.  When, on the other hand, customers and prospective customers see that “HTTPS” at the front of your site URL, they’ll know that you cared enough about them and the safety of their personal information to make your site secure.  That makes acquiring SSL a sound investment for the future of your business.
  2. You’ll be more attractive to web browsers:  although website browsers don’t currently require websites to have SSL, most are moving closer to that position.  Google Chrome, as noted above, now marks any sites that don’t have SSL with that off-putting “not secure” warning, and other browsers are rapidly moving in the same direction.  Said differently, the writing is on the wall.  It’s only a matter of time before all browsers will either require SSL, or substantially penalize sites that don’t have it.
  3. You’ll boost online sales:  why would a prospective customer for your online store risk his credit card or other sensitive information on an unsecured website?  Think about this:  according to Shopify, customer concerns about site security are one of the top 4 reasons online shoppers abandon shopping carts.  Not have SSL means you’ll be turning off a substantial portion of potential buyers, driving down sales and hurting your-long term profits.
  4. You’ll rank higher in organic searches:  research shows that sites with SSL do better in organic searches than those without it.  According to Web Ascender, for example, Google rewards sites that have SSL with higher search engine rankings.  It’s important to do everything possible to enhance your site’s search engine optimization (SEO)—having SSL is one smart way to do that.

Conclusion

You’ve worked hard to build your business and gain your customers’ loyalty and trust.  Why would you do anything which could negatively impact all that hard work?  Said differently, when it comes to the relationship you have with your customers and the viability of your business, why would you take chances?  Ensuring you have SSL on your site will reassure your customers that you care about their business and substantially enhance the odds that your business will continue to thrive and grow.

All BrandCo hosting accounts are eligible for a FREE SSL.  Please contact your account manager today about getting your website secure with SSL.

Is your WordPress Website Secure?

If you have a WordPress website and it was hacked, you know how it can stop your business in its tracks.  It means site traffic will slow to a crawl, that critical functionalities won’t be available to you, and that you risk losing business.  You should also know that you’re not alone.  In 2012, for example, more than 170,000 WordPress sites worldwide were hacked, and that number has increased in subsequent years.

I Have a Small Business, So I’m Safe, Right?

Wrong.  Hackers don’t care about what you do, or who your customers are, or how big or small your business is.  They only care about one thing:  is your site vulnerable to hacking?

If it is, they’ll go after it, and typically through an automated attack.  Like search engines, hackers rely on bots which crawl the internet to identify vulnerable sites.  When you think about it, this approach makes sense from the hacker’s point of view:  automating the process allows them to check out multiple sites simultaneously, and in this way, increase their odds of success.

Why Would Hackers Go After My WordPress Site?

There are many reasons hackers might be interested in your website.  Perhaps you process customer financial information, like credit card numbers.  In some cases, hackers will use your site as an entrée to your customers’ computers and gain access to their personal information.  Finally, hackers might want to use the hardware on your server to send out spam emails or perform “denial of service” attacks.

How Do Hackers Gain Access to WordPress Sites?

The most common means of gaining access to a WordPress site is through the hosting platform. According to WP Template, more than 40% of all WordPress hacks occur in this way.  Another 29% of hacking attacks happen as a result of insecure WordPress themes, while 22% occur through plugins, and another 8% because of weak passwords.

What Can You Do to Keep Your WordPress Site Safe from Hackers?

Fortunately, there are some simple, proactive steps you can take to protect your WordPress website:

1.  Choose A Reliable Host

As noted above, the most frequent cause of hacking is the hosting provider.  You should choose a reliable host which prioritizes the security of its client sites, supports the most recent versions of PHP and MySQL, and performs periodic security scans and backups.

It’s also important to choose a host with experience hosting WordPress sites.  They’re more likely to be cognizant of the hacking issues specific to WordPress, and to effectively guard against them.

2.  Back Up Your Data—Regularly

Even if you’re careful and perform all the due diligence to prevent a hack, there’s no guarantee you’ll be spared.  For this reason, you need to regularly back up critical information on your WordPress site.  The best hosts will usually do this for you, but it’s always a good idea to use a good backup program on your own.  Some of the best are also free, including DuplicatorUpdraftPlus and WordPress Backup to Dropbox.

3.  Strengthen Your Login Information

Many WordPress hacks occur due to inadequate login information, like weak passwords.  This is especially true for attacks in which hackers run automated, random usernames and passwords until the hit on the right ones.

To protect your site, avoid obvious passwords, like “123456,” “password” and “login.”  You should also change your passwords from time to time, stay away from your admin username, and store your login information in a secure location (like LastPass).

4.  Use WordPress Security Plugins

WordPress offers a range of plugins which will help make your blog secure from known threats, and it’s in your interest to make use of them.  Some of the best include WordFence, BulletProof Security, Sucuri Security, iThemes Security, and 6Scan Security.

Conclusion

These are just a sampling of the steps you should take (now!) to keep your WordPress site safe.  Others include making sure your WordPress site is up to date, hiding your WordPress version number, using only those themes and plugins which are absolutely necessary, setting correct file permissions, and disabling the plugin and theme editor.  You’ve spent a lot of time and energy getting your WordPress site up to speed.  You owe it to yourself—and your business—to take the proactive steps necessary to ensure its safety and security.

Building Your Website: DIY or Hire a Pro?

A website is a must for a company of any size today. While some web presence is better than none, a high-quality, useful website can help to bring in clients and customers and grow your business. There are tons of tools available to build your own website, but it can be time-consuming, especially if you don’t know where to start. Read on to learn more about the pros and cons of creating your own website.

What You Need To Create A Great Site

Your website can serve as the face of your company. It may be the way that people discover you, so you want to create a great impression from the beginning. You want your website to be informative, intuitive, and well thought out. Even if you have great content to offer, you have to display it in a way that is attractive and easy to navigate.

Today, you can have a website up and running in under a day with online creation tools. They seem to offer simplicity, customization, and cost-effectiveness, which can be great if you simply want to have an online presence. But when it comes down to it, there is so much involved in building a successful website. You may have a great grasp on what your customers want and need, but translating that into web content can be tough.

To create a great site, you’ll need a strategy, a goal, and some expertise in a few areas. It’s important to have at least a basic grasp of graphic design, search engine optimization, digital content creation, marketing, and user experience. If you don’t have much knowledge in these areas, creating your own site can end up costing you more time, energy and frustration than you were originally prepared for.

Why Hire A Pro?

You have a great story to tell with your website, so hiring a professional web designer is a good idea if you want:

  • Strategy – a professional web designer can take your vision and turn it into reality. Maybe you have great content and images, but just don’t know how to translate that into a stunning website. A good designer will work closely with you to map out a strategy that will take your ideas into consideration.
  • Smart Design – a designer will help to customize every aspect of your site, from font to color to layout, so it looks perfect and functions smoothly. They will make sure the site displays well on mobile (more than half of users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly-designed mobile site,) and will enhance your site’s user experience.
  • Search Engine Optimization – When you put time and effort into building a website, you want to make sure people find it! SEO isn’t just about using the right terms in your content. If you want to acquire more traffic through search engines, you’ll need to make sure that your website doesn’t have broken links or poorly coded pages. If looking at HTML makes your head spin, a professional designer can help to make sense of it, and make sure that your site ranks high on Google.
  • Professionalism – a well-designed website will help people remember your brand, while a poorly designed site may make people not want to come back! If you want your site to do its job well, it has to look nice and function properly. A professionally designed site simply looks better than one you put together yourself.

When it comes down to it, hiring a professional web designer can save you time and frustration, and deliver a beautiful and effective finished product. If you’re looking for a pro to design your website from scratch, contact us for more information!