If you're a small business or start-up and thinking about buying your first website, it's natural that you may be unsure and even a little bit confused about the best way forward.
You might be thinking there's a range of different providers but their websites all look the same! Which is better? Or you could even be questioning whether you really need a website when social media is so prevalent today. We've provided responses to frequently asked questions below.
We're a boutique business that operates with low overheads and hence we're able to appeal to small businesses and start-ups that only have a moderate budget for their website. We also employ simple website development processes that not only help to further reduce costs but also make it easy for clients to work with us.
Despite the small size of our operations, we still produce high-quality websites that are written from code and are not produced using website builder software that other small providers frequently use. By choosing us as their provider, our clients get a premium product at a budget price.
This can be a confusing issue when so many other providers claim to produce custom websites. In reality, a lot of our competitors are working from a template in a website builder such as Wordpress and typically modifying or customising minor facets such as colour schemes, font selection and choice of images.
Custom takes on a very different meaning when writing a website in code and starting from a blank canvas. That way you will achieve a genuinely custom website with total control over all facets of the website.
We have nothing against Wordpress! It's fantastic software that was originally developed as a tool to publish blogs and over time it's evolved to become a very popular website builder. Wordpress doesn't require a knowledge of code to produce a basic website so it's a great option for DIYers and small providers.
But we like a bit more of a challenge than drag-and-drop and we also love coding! At the same time, our clients get all the benefits of having a coded website such as originality, security and performance.
All websites need ongoing maintenance. It's important to keep content fresh so that it reflects your current business status. In addition, the algorithms used by search engines to rank websites prioritize updated content. This is since fresh content is more relevant to website visitors. It's also important to monitor a website's performance to help identify any degredation that could indicate malicious cyber attacks or possible changes to Google algorithms that have affected search position.
If you have a Wordpress website, it's critical that the software used in your website is kept up-to-date to ensure compatibility with web browsers and to ensure that the appropriate security patches are installed. This isn't a requirement with one of our coded websites.
The time taken to build a website will depend on its size and complexity. For a typical small business website (up to five pages), you can expect a timeframe of 2-3 weeks for us to build and present a website for client approval. This excludes the time taken for the client to provide their design requirements and website content.
There are multiple opportunities to market your business including via social media and also having a Google Business Profile for local searches. A website, however, offers a number of advantages including increased visibility via internet searches, as well as boosting the credibility of your business by presenting a professional looking design and documenting a comprehensive summary of your business' products and services.
We regard websites as being the key method for a business to market their services globally on a 24x7 basis. A combined strategy incorporating additional digital marketing platforms will further enhance your market position.
The answer to that depends on the age and the technology status of the website. Technology evolves rapidly and even if a website is functional, it may not meet current expectations around performance and security. The average useful lifespan of a website is around the three year mark but this can be extended with well written, modern code.
We provide a free service where we will undertake an audit of an existing website and determine whether it is suited to upgrading or if it should be replaced.
We've attempted to clarify the key issues that clients typically raise. If you have other specific questions about WebSofa and our website products, get in touch to find out more.
