Web design free! Sound good? We know, times are tough and if you’re setting up in business or looking to get an online presence then a FREE website could be just what you need.
Let me tell you why this is a bad idea.
Let’s start with a little common sense, ask yourself when have you ever got anything for nothing? There’s always a catch and the web design industry isn’t any different. You may be attracted by a free website with your £5 per month hosting plan BUT what inevitably follows is a whole ‘host’ (pardon the pun) of attempts to upgrade your site with a platinum search engine optimisation package, gallery, email form, web space , gorilla anti-spam fighting defense blasting mighty hacker plugin – you get the idea! Following that you can guarantee your hosting won’t be £5 per month in year two. Your website will have purportedly grown to such a size that you need to be on a £500 per month plan.
Beware of FREE – it’s not, it never is.
This may seem harsh but as web developers we hear all sorts of horror stories where people have thought they were getting a great deal on their website. Avoid the pitfalls and check out the following issues with free websites:
- Free websites often look ‘free’ and as such do not look credible
- In many cases you do not own your website so if that companies disappears so does your website.
- Support is poor or non existence, if you have a problem and your website goes down can you get it back online quickly?
- Free websites are often hosted on crowded servers meaning they suffer from performance issues.
- Some companies will use your website as advertising space so you may get the odd pop up to advertise washing powder.
- You may not get a unique branded domain name. Ask yourself how many ‘successful’ companies have a free domain or email address?
- Many free websites are not search engine friendly as they have a poor trust rating.
A much better solution
There is another way. It may cost a little more but it will provide a great return and it won’t damage your business.
The first step is to secure your domain name. There are plenty of companies out there and costs start at around £5. Try www.heartinternet.uk for example.
Next is to plan and budget just like any other form of marketing or business activity. If you’re serious about success you need to invest in a quality website that will communicate with your market and effectively promote your products or services.
Yup, you guessed it! Speak to a professional web developer. Tell them exactly what you are looking to achieve from your website. Many web agencies will work with you to design solution that meets your budget. It may mean you negotiating to squeeze in some more functionality, or it could be you phase in work over a twelve month period.
Importantly, your website will be built to a high standard and designed to fulfill a number of marketing objectives.
Just to be clear, here’s what a good quality website provide:
- Engage your target market through strategic design and generate sales
- Provide a positive user experience from page load times to layout and navigation
- Be ‘responsive’ and work on mobiles / tablet devices
- Support through a team of developers who will step on any issues quickly
- Search Engine Friendly pages to assist in higher rankings
- Protected, ensuring you own the domain name, files and so on.
- Scalable so that you can develop and evolve in line with your business demands
…and most of all it will deliver a great Return On Investment (ROI).
Halogen provide two hours FREE CONSULTANCY and no obligation quotes. We will tailor a solution that will work for your market and your budget. Contact us.