Lets face it, not everybody needs or can afford a $20,000 website. Most small businesses can benefit from a simple informational site that presents vital information without having to pay tens of thousands of dollars. Considerations when planning your website: Use a content editor
How will you update your content? Many businesses that employ the services of a web designer/developer to build their websites can fall into the trap of having to pay hundreds of dollars each time they require a small change to their site. One way to eliminate these ongoing costs is to find a web developer that can offer you a simple content editor that allows you to make the changes yourself. This is the most affordable way to manage your own content. Make sure you differentiate between a content management system and a content editor. The main difference is that a dedicated CMS is integrated with a database and probably has a lot of features that you dont need. A simple content editor will allow you to edit existing content on your site in a WYSIWYG format. You cant usually create new web pages, but for modifying existing flat content, its perfect and very affordable. Hosting
Shop around for affordable hosting deals. ISPs offer competitive rates and there are thousands of them. A good way to check out an ISPs reliability, is to check out some of the sites they host. You could even email some of these clients to ask how reliable their hosting service is. Try to avoid long contacts where you are required to pay upfront. If the ISP goes out of business, you can kiss your hosting investment goodbye. Affordable ways to promote your website Google AdWords
Google Adwords allows you to reach people that are actively looking for information about your products and services online, and send targeted visitors directly to what you are offering. You only pay when people click on your ad, and you can determine your budget beforehand. Once you have signed up for Google AdWords, your pre-defined AdWord will appear on Google search results and other websites that relate to your products and services. Search Engine Optimisation
Despite what you might read to the contrary, ranking highly on the popular search engines WILL bring targeted traffic to your site, although this is by no means the only way to direct traffic to your site. You can expect to pay a reasonable one-off or monthly fee to a third party to optimize your site, but if you have the time to research and spend on optimizing your site yourself, this cost can be avoided. Most people dont have the time, so using a reputable search engine optimization service is a useful alternative. Email Broadcasting
Once you have traffic coming to your site, take advantage by providing an email subscription field on your home page, or in the global header of your site. Collecting targeted potential clients and existing clients email addresses allows you to market to this email list by sending out email broadcasts. You can use these broadcasts to market your products and services, or to simply update your customers on recent news, allowing them to click through to your website from the email. There are managed services that you can use for your email broadcasting, or a more affordable way is to use a do-it-yourself online service that you can subscribe to, such as http://www.jangomail.com. In conclusion, there are many, many creative ways you can make your website work for you, and make it affordable. To make the most of your website, you will need to invest time to research the most effective way to achieve the specific results that you are after. There is a lot of information easily available through search engines that will ensure that you stay informed and ultimately help you make informed decisions to help your business. |
