Individuals often assume building a website takes little time and effort. Do a quick internet search and watch pages of website templates come up. Grab a template, fill it in, and the work is done, right? Don’t assume professional websites use these templates with outstanding success. Basic websites require a significant amount of work to make them appealing and user friendly for visitors and search engines. In fact, website projects often run into tens of thousands of dollars. Why?
Customized web pages take time to design and program. A business owner pays for the designer’s time and skills, and a good designer charges more, as they know people will pay them for a magnificent site that draws visitors in and turns them into paying customers. Creating this site involves more than putting together an attractive design. The designer handles the selection or purchase of images for use on the site, edits and proofreads content, constructs pages, tests the pages and overall site, optimizes the site, and more.
Small businesses lack the fund’s major corporations have for advertising or building a website. As a result, they often fall behind competitors. Fortunately, entrepreneurs find certain steps to help to reduce the cost of the project. They should consider all options and choose those they feel best to meet their needs. Pay Monthly Websites assists business owners in need of an affordable website and helps these individuals decide which methods they should use.
Start With an Existing Template
Entrepreneurs often rely on an existing template when building a new website. Doing so minimizes the time spent on the project and keeps costs down. The internet offers countless website templates for any business, particularly popular platforms many companies use today. Business owners using WordPress, for instance, find they have thousands of templates for websites. As more than 25 percent of all websites, today make use of the WordPress platform, entrepreneurs know they are getting a trusted platform that will benefit their venture. Visit different theme marketplaces to see what they offer and which template best meets your needs.
Cut Pages From the Site
Website designers construct a site page by page. Save money by reducing the number of pages on the site. Every page the designer works on requires someone to write a copy to populate the page, select images, and populate the page. Each task takes time increasing the cost. Start with the most important pages on the site and publish them first. As the business grows and makes money, add pages one at a time. Although the cost will probably be the same once the project is complete, the business maintains better control of its cash flow until it establishes a good financial foundation.
Use caution when deciding which pages to hold off on publishing. Experts often recommend leaving the “About Us” page off the site until the company gets established. However, consumers want to know who they giving their money to, so this isn’t wise. Consider publishing the page and keeping the information at a minimum. This reduces the cost while ensuring visitors have the information they need to make a purchasing decision.
Gather Free Images
Stock photography remains popular with many website owners, as the images are clean and professional. Using these images saves time, although the business owner must purchase the photos. However, royalty-free images exist, and website owners should use these when possible. The biggest problem with these sites involves the time required to sort through the offerings in search of the perfect image. For this reason, website owners need to fall back on the cheapest option today.
Use your own photos on the site. This saves funds and personal photos add authenticity to the site. Consumers know most businesses don’t employ models strictly for website photos. They want to know the business they are working with, and these photos provide them with an inside look at company operations. If you need help in choosing photos for the site, ask a friend with an expert eye for design to help choose which ones to use.
Repurpose Existing Content
Websites that have been around for a while often struggle to provide fresh content. They run out of new things to talk about. Fortunately, innovative individuals found a way to benefit from existing content while still attracting the attention of search engines and site visitors. Repurpose existing content by reworking it and adding new material. This doesn’t mean rewriting the entire article, blog post, or page. Combine the reworked piece with a new website design and visitors feel as if they are dealing with a whole new company but one they know they can trust. If it isn’t possible to rework the content, use it anyway. The new design makes it feel fresh once again.
Handle Tasks In-House
Companies find a great way to save on their website involves handling certain tasks in the house. Many website design providers allow clients to choose which tasks to handle in house and which they would like the provider to take on. For instance, the company might discover one of their employees writes like a best-selling novelist, so they have this individual write the content for the site. Another staff member possesses excellent graphic design or photography skills and takes on producing images for the site as part of their standard duties. Other tasks that may be handled without the assistance of the web design firm include building out a web page or testing a page or site. Learn the talents of all employees within your organization and benefit from them. Doing so helps to keep the cost of website design and maintenance affordable.
Keep the website simple while ensuring it meets the needs of visitors. Companies that do so find they benefit from having a plain site that is informative. Over time, add to the site and incorporate videos, photos, tools, and more. However, when first starting out, companies must find a balance between saving money and creating an effective site. Keep the focus on the core message. When a company does this, a simple site converts visitors as well as a more complex one, and the company didn’t spend a fortune to achieve this goal.
