"My Niece's Friend's Sister Made My Site, I Don't Need a Designer," and Other Ways You're Leaving Money on the Table
Your website is the curb appeal of your business. It’s a creative and physical framework and the first thing potential buyers see when they look you up.
Let’s say you’re buying a new house. You pull into the driveway of a new listing and it looks like the grass hasn’t been mowed in months. The mailbox is covered in dirt, the flower beds look like they’ve been stomped on by a toddler, and the gutters are filled with leaves from three autumn’s ago.
Maybe the inside is stunning but you wouldn’t know because you’ve sped away before the realtor even knew you were there.
Because houses with terrible curb appeal don’t sell. And houses with so-so curb appeal don’t sell, either.
Every day, potential buyers are coming to your website and speeding away before you even know they’re there. Maybe someone you’ve worked with in the past referred you to their friend. The friend went to check out your website to see what your prices were, all set to reach out to you.
But your ugly (or just ‘meh’) website made them change their mind, and maybe they didn’t even realize it was happening. But they went from “They sound great, I’m going to check them out,” to “You know what, I don’t think they’re as credible as I thought.”
But you get the picture, you understand that a website is important. That’s why you gave your niece’s friend’s sister a hundred bucks to throw one together for you.
There are many circumstances that we actually advise against hiring a designer. When you’re in the idea phase and might just need a simple landing page, when you’re not making an income from your business yet, when you don’t have any branding yet, or when your website will act as a supplement to your resume and you’re seeking traditional employment.
Clients come to us asking for a build, and those are a few of the circumstances when we can’t in good conscience take on the business. In those situations, we offer advice on how to move forward on their own. Maybe we’ll recommend doing a strategy session instead of a custom build.
However – if you’re making a bit of money from your business, it’s time to take your site seriously. And your niece’s friend’s sister (though she’s very kind to do it so cheaply) isn’t going to make you a site any better than you could do yourself.
I know it’s crazy, but not every millennial came out of the womb with digital marketing, design, coding, and conversions optimization expertise.
You wouldn’t let a law student file your trademarks, your nephew’s girlfriend file your business taxes, or your daughter’s English tutor write your operating agreement.
If you’re taking your business seriously, it’s time to take your website seriously.
How else might you be leaving money on the table?
If your site has no “visual hierarchy”. Think like a newspaper, what goes “above the fold”?
If your photos are terrible. With better equipment every three months (all our phones are professional-grade cameras), viewers are demanding better quality. Catch up or get left behind.
If you’re not taking advantage of your footer.
If you have too many call-to-actions.
Your prices aren’t listed somewhere on your site.
Your site isn’t intuitive to navigate.
You’re not paying attention to your copy.
Your language is too rigid, too “salesy”, or too formal.
Your fonts and colors aren’t paired well.
You’re asking too many questions/require too many fields in your contact forms (people aren’t going to answer all of them, so they’re just going to click away from your site). Ask for name, email, maybe a brief message and sort out the other info when you have them on the phone.
There are a lot of ways your site can be your greatest marketing asset. But you’re probably not utilizing any of them.
That’s okay, it’s not your fault – you’re not a web designer. We are.