| Shark infested waters
Ever heard one (or more) of these statements in some form?
- Hey, I‘ll do your website for and you will be up and running in no time!
- You know, "Joe‘s" son could write your website and it won‘t cost you a dime!
- Just go to website and sign up. You can create your own website yourself!
- Web hosting is web hosting; get the cheapest you can.
- It doesn‘t matter what kind of website you have as long as you have one!
- I‘d really like to try writing that special program you need; heck I‘ll do it for free...
- Search engines will drive traffic to your site by the ton!
Now, have you ever heard this one:
If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn‘t.
If you happen to believe one of those statements at the top of this page: Smear yourself with steak sauce; the sharks are circling... None of those statements are even remotely true. In fact, we have clients that went down a couple of those roads and to a person regretted their decisions.
A few things you need to understand up-front:
- Your website is going to be a reflection on you, personally, and the way you do business.
If your site looks "cheap" or "amateurish," how do you think visitors are going to react to it? More importantly, how do you react to such sites?
- In the Internet world, it‘s "Amateur Hour" more often than you would think.
Sure you might get a "good deal" on a website now, but unless the person that creates your site is going to stay in the business for a while - what are you going to do when you need changes to your site? You‘d be amazed how many site owners have "lost their web person" without warning.
- If you intend for your website to provide you with any amount of financial support, give some hard thought to what you might lose in terms of revenue if your site "goes down" or people cannot use it.
But the biggest shark in the tank is one we hope you never meet. It‘s the website designer that says:
Don‘t worry, I‘ll take care of everything.
Run like hell!
- How much "say" are you going to have in what your site looks like and what it does? Ususally - not much.
- Are they going to hold your domain name for you? If so - get it into an account under your own control - yesterday!
- If they are in the business commercially to create websites, is it possible they might cut corners to improve their own "bottom line?" (Bet on it...)
- Is your website going to actually do something for your business or is it going to end up being a DOA brochure? (Bet on option 2)
An effective website takes thought, consideration and planning on the part of the owner and the people that are going to create it.
That approach has been HirMon & Associates way of doing business for over 15 years.
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More
things lurking in damp corners to avoid...
2008
□ Welcome to the Dark Side of the Internet...□ Getting a site that "sucks" □ Hey! The oil light‘s on... □ Domain Name Hell □ Vanishing Web Designers □ How to kill your site before its created □ "Losing it all" - Overnight □ Shark infested waters
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