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PR - Do It Yourself websites, DIY websites, website development, content management systems, CMS, e-commerce, internet marketing, website design
The Cost of DIY...
There are many hidden costs behind the DIY website, the biggest being lost sales and profits. Find out what to be aware of when contemplating launching into your DIY website project.
I recently met a fellow who had built his own website. He was very proud of the site and proceeded to tell me all about how he had mastered HTML and Dreamweaver. I listened to him talk about the technology, the software programs and all the other technology around this website.
Finally he stopped talking and wandered off. In the 5 or so minutes we had spoken, he proudly told me the new skills he had gained and mastered. He spoke of the challenges and the hours he spent fixing silly little problems but how through perseverance he had won.
He is entirely right. He has mastered new skills and overcome obstacles and challenges. My main concern after this encounter was that through all this work and time commitment, he had not once mentioned how he was going to market the site or how he expected to get new business from it.
Technically he is now ahead of many other business owners, but this knowledge and these new skills won't help to bring in new customers. I have an old saying I have used many times within our own office and to wise friends and colleagues. Technology costs you money, marketing makes you money”.
The story above is exactly why I recommend that people don't try to build their own websites. Most people who build their own website fall into the same trap. They 100% focus on the technology of the website. The code, the programs they use, the hosting and file transfer. They lose site of why they built the website.
They didn't start out building the site so they could become a programmer. Goodness you can do degrees or courses on that. Instead they had a small business that needed to get in some new customers and new business. The website was going to help bring in new business and sales.
Somewhere during the process the focus changed. Instead of looking all the time at how to get new sales, they focus on the technology and you know the old saying - “Once you take your eye off the ball…”
Focusing your time and attention on the technology will cost you money whereas focusing your time and attention on marketing can make you a lot of money. The fellow I was chatting to had lost track of the number of hours he had spent on his website but guessed it had been over 200 hours. It had become his obsession.
Not only had it cost his time he should have been spent marketing his business, it had not and was unlikely to bring him in new business, as he didn't know anything about how to get it listed on search engines. He read some “free” information from the web that he was following and as it was out of date information, it was about to cost him a lot of money in lost opportunity.
There are a number of sound reasons not to build your own website.
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Here are a few:
a) Ninety percent of the time they look unprofessional and amateurish. This gives that particular message to your potential customers. First impressions do count.
b) It looks easy to do at the beginning. Web design is deceptive. Because you can take the first few steps and it is so easy you wrongfully assume the rest will be as easy. So when it has hooked you and you have been committed then the real time thief appears and you lose hours with the only gain of a high level of frustration. Too many small business owners can attest to this being fact.
c) While focused on being a web designer, you have taken you eye away from being the marketing person for your business. Most people I speak to who have built their own website commit between 80 and 120 hours building the site. Imagine the results to the business if that 80 to 120 hours had been spent on marketing not technology. They would have a lot more sales and made a lot of money. Instead they have learnt a programming language.
d) If you wanted to become a programmer, then do the appropriate courses and become a programmer. Most get paid around $40 - 50K and work with their head in a computer all day. Instead you chose to run a business – don't confuse the two.
e) Many home made websites never get finished. The programs you can use to do the basics make it very easy and it is fun to see the information go onto the web. However some of the things you will need your website to do will be technically challenging which is really hard to do – that is why so many home made websites are only half finished or have errors in the navigation. It is really hard to make it all work properly. Don't' start something that you are only going to be able to half finish.
f) Beware of free information on the web. It is free for a reason – no one values it. Seriously, the Internet moves so fast that there is often old information available on the Internet. Likewise much of the e-books or information you buy on search engines etc is out of date and dangerously inaccurate.
g) I have seen people selling the same information about how to build and get successful websites that they wrote 4 years before. Why? Because they can. It did work. The stories are true but times have changed and their advice could get you blacklisted. They still make a lot of money from the information and people don't know it is wrong.
h) Obviously I can't name names, but it is a dangerous reality that many small businesses will get poor results and shocking listings on search engines as they are taking bad advice for their business. It is like the old saying, “Don't take your tips from taxi drivers”.
i) People looking at your website will all have different computers, some PC's others Macs. They will all have chosen a type of Internet browser to use – some Internet Explorer, increasing others are choosing others such as Firefox, Netscape or Opera. Your website has to work on all of these programs. Further more it has to be set up for each version. For example Version 4, 5.5, 6 and sub versions with various patches or Internet Explorer are commonly used. You need to test that your website works on all these different browsers, then spend the hours fixing them to make them work. This is a perfect example of how you can get “bogged down” in technology and not be able to commit the time to focusing on your marketing. Don't do it.
j) There are website companies that specialise in helping small businesses and they give you up to date information and will notify you when big changes happen on the Internet, especially the main search engines like Yahoo and Google. Doing it by yourself means that you constantly have to commit time to researching and looking at what is happening in this space. It is a large commitment of time and energy that you should be committing back into your business.
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Summary
a) Focus on your marketing it can make your money. Technology will cost you money.
b) Get an expert to build your website. You run your business.
c) Good information on how to get up in search engines is worth a lot of money to your business – it can add thousands of dollars in sales. Be prepared to pay for quality information to fast track your sales results.
d) Make sure your website looks professional – first impressions are important.
e) Your customers will be using all kinds of different browsers, version of browsers and computers to look at your website. It has to work on all types.
f) Use a company that keeps up to date with what is happening on the Internet and can offer you training and information about how to get listed on the search engines. Don't expect to get this information for free.
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