Over the last week I have had the sad experience of two people being referred to me for advice after they had already spent upwards of $15,000 on average websites.

Both of these small businesses were displeased at what had been provided by their web designer / developer and both were locked in to proprietary systems where they could not easily add content and value to their own website and were being hit for serious extra bickies every time they wanted a change made by the developer.

The phonecalls were along the lines of “do you think I have been ripped off ?”, “what can I do about this going forward ?”, “I don’t know much about websites and the Internet” and “I wish I had heard about Onlineassist4u before I spent all this money”.

I am certainly not going to slag off web developers in general because it is a difficult and time consuming professional service with customers who rarely understand what they want up front and think “feature creep” is a reasonable part of the development process (feature creep is where you say to your web developer whilst the development stage is in progress “can you make it do this as well” – every web developer will tell you this is the prime reason for cost overruns and they are mostly correct !).

What I am going to do is look at the basic questions you must ask yourself and the basic tenets you must understand BEFORE you even consider talking to a web developer.

Why do I need a website ?

Yes, “why do I need a website ?”. If you don’t know this then how are we supposed to answer it for you ?

The answer you may get is “please come in, take a seat and look at all this lovely technology and graphics we can use to show how wonderful your business is. Sign here !”.

Now, can you really blame any supplier for taking this approach if you have not taken the time and effort to understand what you are trying to achieve by taking your business online in the first place.

The web development company has a premises to pay for and hungry mouths to feed and that only happens when they get orders. We all honestly believe that we will provide your business with an asset.

So what is your prime reason for deciding to purchase a website ?

Are you trying to attract new customers, trying to better service your existing customers, looking to open new markets, releasing new products or services to the market, playing catchup with your competition, trying to get a leap ahead of your competition ?

All of the above you say (and we knew you would).

Well that is a shotgun approach and it is nowhere near as valuable as taking the discipline to come up with just one precise reason.

You can always adapt later as your situation changes (if you select the right web developer of course).

Make sure you have a precise reason for needing to get a website for your business before you go out and buy one.

What Sort of Website Do I Need ?

You mean there are different types of websites ?

Yes, there are many and if you buy the wrong type you are wasting a good percentage of your investment.

So how do I know which type of website is right for my business ?

The best website for your business is one that best supports your answer to the question posed earlier – “why do I need a website ?”

If your answer to that question is to help me sell 1000 widgets a month then your website should use it’s prime real estate to heavily promote widgets and why and how they benefit potential widget buyers.

You would also include a blatantly obvious and strategically positioned call to action to get your site visitors to buy some widgets from your website like BUY OUR WIDGETS RIGHT NOW.

Alternatively, if I am someone who provides a professional service that is not purchased online I might be more likely to use my website’s prime real estate to show off my services or to list the reasons my services would benefit my clients.

I would still likely include a call to action however that might be more subtle and might not take up my site’s prime real estate.

That call to action might be to entice the client to pick up the phone and contact me or to send me an email or to simply provide me with their name and email address.

The important thing to remember is that your website must be a reflection of your business’ marketing requirements and planning.

Having your website set your marketing requirements and your market planning is the tail wagging the dog.

You would be amazed at the number of clients who have no clear vision in this area before they come to a web developer.

Select a web developer with small business experience and marketing knowledge. They will provide you with a much better and more focussed solution.

If you are in this category I hesitate to say it but you are likely setting yourself up to pay a lot more than you should be paying for your website or alternately, and even worse, you will get a website that does not meet the requirements of your business and you will be stuck with it.

So What Should I do First If I Think I Might Need a Website For My Business

Just follow the next few steps and you will be light years ahead of your competition and the average business that purchases a website.

Write Down a Clear and Precise Statement of What You Want Your Website to Achieve for You

Something that you can measure in the future. Something that is quantitative and empirical.

Make your goals for your website RAMBUT (relevant, achievable, measurable, beneficial, unambiguous and give it a timeframe)

If I want to sell widgets via my website my statement might be something like this;-

“Within 6 months of my website going live I want to have sold 1,000 widgets. Following the first 6 months I want to be selling a minimum of 200 widgets per month increasing by 10% per annum.”

And for a professional service;-

“Within 6 months of my website going live I want to have received 20 phonecalls/emails/contacts from people that visited my website. I want the volume of calls to increase by 10% per annum.”

Work Out What Your Website Will Be Worth to Your Business

If my new website sells an additional 200 widgets a month and, after cost of manufacturing/supply/transport etc I believe that each widget makes me $10 profit then my website is worth $2,000 a month to my business.

If I have spent $15,000 on my website then it will likely pay for itself within 8 months – even less if I can get some growth on that sales figure.

Obviously in this case my $15,000 is a good investment.

If I am a professional business that doesn’t simply sell widgets online then the calculation is a little bit more nebulous. It can still be done though.

If I get three new customers a month from my website and I have previously calculated that an average client spends $3,000 with my company for an average profit of $1,000 then I have made $3,000 from my website in any given month.

I know I am being a bit simplistic with the above calculations, however, you should try and do this to the best of your ability taking some educated guesses along the way based upon your experience.

If the numbers don’t stack up then maybe you should not go out and purchase a website at this point in time.

Can My Cashflow Afford A New Website ?

Business is not just about revenue and profit, it is also about cashflow.

If Onlineassist4u was to go out and hire an extra 10 people I am sure we could find work for them and I am sure our business would be taking more revenue and profit once we had them up to speed and productive but could our cashflow support them in the short to medium term whilst they were becoming productive and we ramped up our sales ?

The answer to that question will make the decision for us.

If your answer to the question “can my cashflow afford $15,000 for a new website at this point in time ?” is no, then do not go out and spend that amount of money on a new website. It is that simple.

My Analysis Says I Must Have a New Website – My Cashflow Won’t Support the Cost – What Do I Do ?

All is not lost. There are a few alternatives for you here which you should consider.

1. Educate Yourself in Internet Marketing and then DIY

This is not as hard as it sounds. Yes, it will take you a considerable amount of your spare time and yes it is not easy (by the same token it ain’t rocket science either).

The downsides are that you might lose your focus on your core business (not good at all) and that you might take so long that the opportunity to do well by having that killer website has moved on.

This solution is not for everybody. It is really only for a few I’m afraid.

The biggest benefit is that you will understand precisely what you are doing and why with regards to the online marketing of your business and you will be able to continually keep your business on the front line of Internet marketing and online sales.

Next door's kid shouldn't develop your website

One word. Don’t !

With a huge rider – if that person has experience in small business and current knowledge of Internet Marketing and will give you your site on an open source platform that you can have complete control over to add more content regularly then go for it.

A low quality, crappy, brochure website that does not reflect the professional nature of your business and that you cannot add content to is worse than no website at all.

3. Rent Your Website

Your mobile phone is a key component of your business isn’t it ?

You rent your mobile phone right ? You pay a monthly premium to the phone company who give you a phone number and access to the phone network (the handset is irrelevant as we change them every couple of years anyway).

So, possibly the most important part of your small business is rented right ?

So why not rent your website ? Why is that any different ?

At Onlineassist4u we have a number of plans that will see you getting a superior website that reflects the professionalism of your business and works with your marketing planning to achieve your objectives.

You pay a low monthly rate and, unlike a phone rental, there is no contract and you can cancel at any time.

If you are interested in this idea checkout some of our existing websites to view the quality of site that is available to your business.

If you ever decide to move away from Onlineassist4u we also provide you with a full backup of your WordPress database so all the content you add to your website remains your property and you can restore it on a new WordPress website or import it into other Content Management Systems.

So your investment in the most important thing on your website – your content- is protected.

And, in some countries, you can claim your monthly Onlineassist4u subscription as a tax deduction.

Conclusion

BEFORE deciding to buy a new website;-

1. Write down why your business needs a website – be honest and brutal and don’t buy if the reason is not sufficient.
2. Work out what sort of website you need – what are you trying to achieve with your website – be specific.
3. Work Out the financials – what profit will a new website bring to your business – be honest and use real numbers and timeframes.
4. Analyse your cashflow – can you afford to spend a whole heap of it on a new website – be miserly with your hard-earned spendoolahs
5. If your analysis says you really must have a website then consider the alternatives – DIY or why not rent !

Then go for it and I hope that you will be justly rewarded for your initiative and foresight in moving your business online.