Do It Yourself Web Design Versus Hiring a Professional Web Designer – Website Design in Reno Nv
Obviously I would rather you contact me to design and build your company’s website, but if you have extra time on your hands and a little tech know how experience, you should be able to setup a decent static website in a week or two.
Have you seen the commercial where the father had decided to setup his own website and save a few thousand dollars? LOL then it takes a lifetime to actually get the site working correctly. Reno Web Design.
Many website builder company’s claim that their web software makes it super simple to set up a website, even a kid could do it. The truth of the matter is that not all website builders are easy to use or worth the effort of learning a new web software.
Everything and everyone you know has at least one flaw, if not several of them lurking around the corner. We all try to put our best face forward; web builder companies are the same.
Do a quick web search in Google for the name of the website builder and add the word complaints or bad reviews after like so: Shopify.com bad reviews or Shopify.com complaints. You will see hundreds if not thousands of bad reviews. This is the same for all large hosting and /or website builder sites. Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper, say page 2 or 3 to see the real reviews of a website company.
Most of the time you will find yourself on hold with tech support (if they even have phone support) or waiting in line to chat with a tech support person who could care less about your needs. Hours and hours of time wasted when you could have been watching your favorite show or out on a hot date with the love of your life. Seriously. This stuff is a pain in the but most days to deal with. I don’t want to just pick on BlueHost.com.
All hosting and web site builder companies have bad reviews, it is part of being in a very competitive and booming industry. It is important to look through these bad reviews to see what problems you may experience by choosing that website builder. Then ask yourself if this bug, problem or concern is something you can live with.
Whether you decide to jump into designing your company website on your own or hire a professional web developer, I have put together a guiding list of items you will need on your website creating journey.
Secure a domain name for your new website. Godaddy is great middle man to do this. They charge about $9 a year for your domain name. Make sure to register this name for 5 years or more. Never let your contact information with the domain registrar become out dated for your domain name. Always keep your email, phone and/or mailing address updated. If not, you could lose it to a competitor. Try to register a name that matches your business name. Do not use abbreviations as they are difficult for your customers to remember. Keep the domain name short, memorable and try your best to get the .com version.
Now that you have a great domain name, you need to have hosting setup. Think of hosting like renting office space on the world wide web, much like renting office space in a busy shopping mall. Hosting plans range in price from free to thousands of dollars a month. Most small business websites can make do with an affordable web hosting plan from Hostgator or Blue Host for about $10 a month. Hosting will house your website files, your emails and other important software needed to run a website. Make sure to purchase Site Lock and Backups for your hosting account to protect your website from attackers, hackers and hi-jackers.
Most hosting companies offer free website builders. There is usually a learning curve with any new web building software. Research the name of the web site builder online to check and see what problems are associated with this free builder. Even pay as you go web site builders have their bugs and headaches. Shopify starts at $29 a month and is super easy to use, BUT, they do not have site backups. A BIG problem for anyone in business to actually sell something. You can buy a website already designed online for about $89, but then you need to learn how to setup correctly and install all the plugins and/or features needed to make the site work. Most theme websites offer an install service for about $600+ per site. You could use a free WordPress theme as well. Your site might not look the greatest, but at least you have it up and running with the basic information needed like office hours, location, customer testimonials and pricing.
Test your new website in multiple browsers and platforms. Open your new website in Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer. Are there any weird bugs? Can you live with them? Or are they breaking the website making it difficult to read? How about your mobile phone? Load your website on an Android and an iPhone and see if the site is easy to navigate and read. Mobile ready websites are extremely important feature to have.
After you have your new domain name, hosting and website setup, you need to setup all of your online social media profiles. Protect your brand online by registering accounts with all the major social networks like Facebook.com, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google Plus and Yelp. Add these social icons to your new website.
Technically that is all you need to know to have a website up and running. Building your website is the first step. Marketing is the
Building a good website takes time, effort and courage. There is always something new to learn and a bug to fix. Browsers update and change all the time. You need to regularly check in on your websites health, making sure that it is running as it should.
A professionally designed website is proven to increase sales and customer loyalty. Every business needs a website. Most new customers research a business before buying. Your website is your best chance at persuading them to choose you over your competition.
Marketing your website is a critical last step in this process. A true necessity if you are wanting to see growth in new customers. SEO (search engine optimization) is the art and science of ranking your website high in the search results for the keywords your customers use when looking for similar products and services you sell.
A good SEO company can rank a well-designed website within a month. The goal is to rank for as many keywords as you possibly can. SEO tools can give us a good idea of what popular words are being searched in Google, but it takes time to weed out the useless keywords and find the real gems that will convert a website view into a real paying customer.
2017 SEO is all about user engagement and interaction with your website properties. If you rank a website for a top keyword and the website viewers do not engage in your website, you will start to lose rankings for that keyword.
The goal is to really WOW your website viewers so much so that they either share your site onto their social media profiles, sign up with their email, watch a video or two, bookmark the site and of course buy something from your website.
This new Rank Brain algorithm makes black hat SEO more difficult. Either your website is fulfilling a need with your customers or it will lose rankings no matter how many back links you have.
Content is KING. The most important marketing expense you will ever have for your business is to hire a great copywriter. Sales copy writing can be pricey, but is worth the extra time and money. This investment will last for years to come.
Working with an SEO company, a copywriter and branding consultant can really help set the tone for a successful website. Why even build a website for your business in the first place if all you put on the site is something from your brochure?
The goal of your website is to convert views into customers. The difference between a homemade website and a professionally designed company website is simple. One of them will generate new clientele for your business and the other will hurt your reputation down the road.
A face only your mother could love
Most often, the do it your self-websites look very unprofessional, but you’ve put so much darn time and energy into it, your proud of the work you have done. This makes you blind to the fact that you now have a poorly designed, half-baked company website.
Often clients will call asking for help with these website builder sites after they have exhausted every free evening and weekend they had. Even though they know they should just hire someone already, they now want to invest more time and dollars by hiring someone like me to make the ugly go away. Even then, they LOVE the website they created with these template sites. Not because the site will win the hearts of their customers, but because they hung in there and finally got something half way decent to share. Not a good business plan if you ask me.
Sometimes the truth hurts, but I promise to make it feel better.
You have to ask yourself, can you handle the truth?
Do you want to impress your future customers? Squash your competitors? Rule the world… 😉
Most custom websites I create cost a onetime fee of $600 – $1500. I need about 2 weeks to work my magic. You can go golf, hiking, a cruise, take a long nap…whatever your heart desires. Leave the heavy lifting to me.
The goal of your business website is to boost your bottom line. You have better things to do than slave over your computer. Step back from the computer…Take a deep breath, pick up the phone and dial 775-453-6120.
In your hourglass of today, there are only 1,440 minutes to utilize. How are you allotting this time to use your creative mind, talents, and physical hard work to manifest the business that supports the lifestyle that you want? As we have discovered, many start-ups as well as seasoned business owners struggle unnecessarily and fail to reach their potential because they try to build a strong business on a weak foundation. If you have a critical weakness in ANY of the Key Performance Areas, it will stunt your growth:
Leadership
Marketing
Sales
Financial Management
Customer Service
Product Development
Operations & Administration
At Catalyst LIVE we are going to take a Deep Dive to help you work ON your business. You will learn from Cheri Hill and some of the best players in business how to blend smart practices to get things done so all the moving parts of your organization function smoothly. This is the real deal…no nonsense stuff because getting it done is the only way to grow!
12-weeks to a winning business strategy!
How to Harness the Power of Business Imagination.
Networking and the Importance of Achieving the Level of Master Connector.
How to Create Profitable Change.
How to Build Value for Your Shareholders (even if you are the ONLY shareholder).
Why Stagnation and Failure Comes From a Hesitancy to Make Decisions.
How to Plan for Success. Out-Think Your Competitors. Stay Ahead of Change.
Three Ways to Grow Your Business.
Why Marketing is all About Value. Creating Value; Capturing Value; Communicating Value; and Delivering Value.
Determine the most important growth strategy (structure, capitalization, staffing, products/markets, product development) to focus on.
Schedule your free 15 minute website review with Sandy Rowley, leading SEO, PPC and Social Media Marketing Expert. I have worked with businesses in person and all over the country via live computer sessions.
Call 775 453 6120 to learn more.
Use the information you learn to massively increase your conversions, rankings in Google search and have more control over your company websites. Join us at Swill Coffee & Wine to learn how to grow your small business with SEO, PPC & Social media.
Would you like to have a customized, easy to understand, internet marketing plan to help your small business reach more of your customers online?
I offer 3 marketing workshop plans to help your business grow:
Video Website Review and marketing audit – See what areas need to be improved and how best to optimize your website to rank for the right keywords. Keep the video and watch when you have the time. You will learn exactly what you need to have done to rank high in Google search. This is a one time fee of $149.
One on one Marketing Strategy and Training session – This includes the video services above as well as a written report, one on one training and free resources to help you save time and money. This is a one time fee of $499.
Expert Managed Marketing – Let me do the heavy lifting for you. Most of my local SEO plans start at $300 a month. All of my SEO and PPC clients earn way more each month that the small monthly marketing fee I charge, btw. 😉
I also give free 1 hour marketing workshops in the Reno Nv area. Our next marketing workshop is coming up in a few months. Give me a call to learn more. I can be reached at 775 453 6120.
Wishing you all the best,
Sandy Rowley
RWDR (RenoWebDesigner.com Sandy Rowley) will collaborate with local Reno Businesses looking to improve their website performance and traffic. Bring a lunch and your internet marketing questions. 11 am – 12 pm ‘ish.
We meet at Swill Coffee & Wine each month in Reno Nv.
This internet marketing workshop is sponsored by Sandy Rowley with RenoWebDesigner.com.
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“We get together and help each other with our marketing, website, social media and other business related questions. This is a relaxed group of local business owners looking to learn something new to help grow their business.” Sandy Rowley RWDR
No pressure, no judgmental energy allowed..everyone comes to these free marketing workshops to help each other grow, have fun and learn something new.
Have questions? Call the organizer, Sandy Rowley @ 775-453-6120.
S.E.O (search engine optimization) the science and art of ranking a page from a website on search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. I remember back in the good old days, that if your small Reno business wanted to reach thousands of local customers, you had to take out a loan or beg, borrow or steal a few thousand dollars to get a respectable ad in the Yellow Pages. For some markets, a YP ad would be just the thing you needed to kick start a successful marketing campaign, for others, was a painful mistake (tax right off). Thanks to SEO (search engine optimization), times have changed, and for the good if you ask me.
Google, Yahoo and Bing search engines give a small business a real chance of reaching ideal customers for less than a few hundred dollars or less. You don’t need to be a top SEO Expert or an award winning Web Designer to take advantage of these marketing strategies either.
Monthly Lunch & Learn – Free Internet Marketing Workshop with Sandy Rowley with RenoWebDesigner.com
Listed below are some helpful tips for reaching your new customers using search engine marketing. I wish you the very best in your internet marketing endeavors. I am always here to chat over the phone if your too busy to do the SEO, Web Design or Social Media Marketing yourself. Want hands on marketing help? Join our FREE monthly marketing workshop. Learn more here.I can be reached at 775-453-6120, just ask for Sandy!
10 Steps To Higher Conversions (sales) on Your Website
Create one page on your website that is designed with one specific goal. A great example would be a landing page that encourages viewers to sign up for a class, e-book, gift…you get the idea. Make this landing page your irresistible offer geared around your products & services. You can hire a custom website development company or use landing page creator sites like Launch Rock, U Bounce or Insta Page for free to little no cost.
Bills.com has a great example of an irresistible offer with their interactive bill tool.
MailChimps home page is a great design example, but uses links to other information. The sole product is still the focus point.
Use a strong call to action at the very top of the landing page and keep the information on the page only about the one offer or ask.
Integrate bold colors and simple backgrounds.
Use testimonials and authority site badges.
Remember, less is more for high end products and more is, well more for lower dollar services and products. If you need to buy a landing page template from Theme Forest or a download a free one online, fine, do that. Unless you are a graphic designer, do not try to cram a bunch of information onto your landing page and hope for the best. You are only wasting your time. The design needs to be clean, easy to use and straight to the point in order for it to work. You have less than 5 seconds to really motivate someone into action. Most non designers and even seasoned graphic designers struggle with finding the right amount of words and images to create a sense of urgency and demand for their product or service. We feel we need to add as much information as humanly possible. Your viewer will only be confused, bored and ultimately leave.
Once you have a strong call to action, an emotion generating image or video and high strategically positioned sign up form created, now you can add content below the fold of the web page. Here is where you can list your top 5 frequently asked questions, your top 3 customer testimonials, your latest press coverage and useful information. Remember, only place content on this page that relates to the one strong call to action. If your goal is to get someone to buy the product, only focus on that product. Do NOT have links to any other pages on your site or others within this web page landing page design. Remember, the only way off of this landing page is to buy something, bookmark for later or leave. Period.
Now that your money making landing page is created, you need to consider where your customers are at online. Are they in a popular group related to knitting? Hiking? Drinking? Find out where they are. It is important to know where your customers are online. If you are selling a product for bakers, I would search for popular blogs for bakers, gift shows, recipe contests and the like. Start off looking for small “mommy” blogs that talk about baking. Email and ask for advertising rates. You are wanting to trade if possible. The goal is for her/him to write a great article about your baking tool/product linking back to your landing page. You could even copy your first landing page, and add logo and picture of the blog site within the landing page… Then email this out to their followers.
Offer a give-away contest to the blogger. They are always looking for content and exciting things to share with their followers. Make sure that the blogger tags your Facebook, Twitter and website address to your landing page in all their marketing and social media outreach. Give-always are a super way to reach a lot of new business, fast.
Do a search for Google PPC credit and / or Facebook credits. Use this $100 credit to setup an advertising campaign linking directly to this landing page url. Remember to set your budget to $100, because you can exceed this by several hundreds or thousands of dollars in one day. You can track how many people saw your ad and how many clicked…versus who actually bought something. You can look at the keywords that were most successful and use these same keywords to do an organic SEO campaign for future sales.
Partnerships are a quick way to reach potential customers online. Let’s stick with the bakery product niche. Who in your industry that is not a direct competitor, would want to partner up and sell your product to their customers? You can offer then a percentage of the sale to do this and/or pay a marketing fee.
Write an article a day that helps your ideal market solve a problem. This one article or info-graphic or video a day will drastically increase your position in Google organic search. These content pieces need to be at least 800 words or longer to have a lasting positive change in your rankings in Google search.
Sponsor a local Meetup group for $90. Choose a Meetup group that has hundreds of active members who match your ideal customer base. You can learn more about this group website at meetup.com
Purchase space in your local Chamber of Commerce website and/or email monthly e blast. The going rates are anywhere from $99 and up, but you can reach thousands of local businesses and their employees fast. Make sure to track the clicks you receive independently of the Chambers email blast service. You can use free url shorteners/trackers from Google and Bitly.
Landing pages are a great web design marketing tool to help convert those new website views into real world customers. I see so many PPC Pay Per Click campaigns with low quality scores and results because they send their paid traffic to the home page of their website instead of a highly crafted landing page on their website that converts to sales.
You can find more SEO, Web Design, Social Media and Graphic Design information throughout my website.
I have 17 years’ experience in helping small businesses with internet marketing. I can be reached at https://www.renowebdesigner.com or call me, Sandy Rowley, at 775-453-6120.
Local Reno Marketing Company offers in depth website reviews for free.
Sandy Rowley with RWDR is a local SEO expert with over 17 years experience in marketing websites online.
“I appreciate the one on one, candid marketing advice she shares during our sessions and review of her work.” Normand VizKennect
“Marketing is the life blood of your business, period. If you are not marketing your small business, you are either located in a prime location in Reno, on a very busy high traffic area of town or you are playing Russian roulette with the life of your business.” Sandy Rowley RWDR
Most small businesses know that they need to be marketing, but get stuck with the overwhelming options they have to choose from. What is the best bet for my small business? What is a waste of time? Will this new web marketing service be my ticket to more sales?
Marketing is a ever evolving tool for business owners. You need to test the waters within reason to see if you have something that will actually send more customers your way. If it does not work, then at least you tried right?
RWDR likes to review your online and offline (traditional marketing) methods and create a co-cohesive marketing plan that has a higher chance of success than the shotgun approach most small businesses rely on.
Having a marketing expert, outside of the team at your business, review your marketing plans and ideas is a solid idea. A review of your plans with a local SEO or marketing expert can increase visibility and help find those blind spots that can zap time and energy away from the real marketing winners.
Schedule a one on one, free review of your business marketing goals with Sandy Rowley. You can start by requesting a website review here.
Lets get together, have a cup of tea/coffee and have some fun. All we need is 30 minutes and I am sure we can help give your small business the positive direction it needs.
Call Sandy Rowley, local SEO expert at 775-453-6120.
In today's fast-paced business world, taking the leap to seek marketing assistance can be the game-changer your small business needs. Imagine unlocking the full potential of your brand, reaching new audiences, and driving growth like never before.
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Don't let your business's potential go untapped. Work with Top SEO Expert and elevate your brand and watch as your vision transforms into success. Call for marketing help today, and take the first step towards a thriving future for your business.
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