Cheap Website Design – Too Good to be True
I met a prospective client today to discuss his online marketing and more precisely his SEO effectiveness. The subject inevitably turned to his current website situation (since how a website is designed/developed is an important component of proper SEO). At this point his mood changed dramatically.
Strictly from a superficial perspective, his site is fairly attractive. At least it certainly isn’t unattractive (as visual appeal is very subjective to the individual eye); it was relatively well laid out and was fairly easy to navigate.
From an architectural perspective, it was done on a WordPress platform (same platform Advanced Web Solutions builds on) which is great since it is the most widely used CMS in the world, primarily due to its ease of use and flexibility. From a coding perspective, it was fairly clean – meaning search engines such as Google, are more likely to revisit his site on a more consistent basis.
When I dug further into the website architecture and how it could affect its SEO effectiveness, I found it was almost non-existent and what was there was done poorly or incorrectly. That in and of itself isn’t that surprising considering the typical website design company, whether local to the Kitchener area or not, just don’t have the expertise to properly address up to date SEO techniques.
His negative mood change was directly tied to the company he got to do his website in the first place.He had been promised a lot. Considering the price he paid for the site, he should’ve expected problems since you generally get what you pay for.
As an aside, if I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard a business owner say this I wouldn’t have to worry about Advanced Web Solutions selling SEO packages or website design to companies in Kitchener/Waterloo; yet many seem to think that they are the ones that found a deal… Until they need something done or done properly, by the company/person they got the deal from!
This gentlemen realized too late that his website is the cornerstone of his online presence which means that it will need to be flexible and adapt to his changing online marketing requirements. It’s more than just being a pretty online business card.
The company he dealt with promised the world but…
There were a lot of assumptions on both sides from the sounds of it. In typical web designer form, all they concerned themselves with was the ‘pretty’ and not the nuts and bolts that ensure that a website will both drive traffic (appease search engines) AND convert the traffic that arrives into true value for his business (leads, sales). Functionality was promised out the wazoo but in reality, half of what was promised never happened.
Again, if the deal seems too good to be true…
His web guy wanted to start charging for all the extra stuff that wasn’t supposed to be extra in the first place. If he had laid out exactly what the website development project was to entail, there would be no ‘miscommunication’. He also decided that if he was to support this business going forward that there would be a $49/mth fee to do so.
In all fairness, I have NO problem with that. In my mind, what is generally expected from businesses goes far beyond technical issues into the realm of updating and visual alterations which are outside of the original scope of the web development project so should therefore be treated as a new project – therefore chargeable. Oil changes or visual alterations to a vehicle post-purchase aren’t included in a sale. No different for websites.
After some heated arguments, their business relationship is ruined and neither party gets what they need to be successful. The local web designer didn’t charge enough to make a living initially putting in jeopardy their long term ability to stay in business and properly serve their clientele; while the business owner didn’t receive a website capable of meeting his online traffic (SEO), conversion and ever-changing marketing needs.
Advanced Web Solutions has a long list of considerations when crafting a web design project or the SEO packages we offer our Kitchener/Waterloo based clientele. Please feel free to contact us anytime to discuss your specific needs to see if there is a fit for you and AWS.
