Cheap website design

Are you looking for a cheap website design option for your business?

If the answer is yes then please read this page and others in our knowledge centre it will save you a lot of time and money in the long run.

The answer to the question 'Should I get a cheap website design?' is probably 'No, you get what you pay for'.

There really is only one instance when you may require a cheap business website, for example:

If you are a small business not trying to generate new leads and require a website that will let your existing customers know where you are located and how they can contact you, then a simple one to four page brochure website may be sufficient for your needs.

This example could be a dental practice that is already fully subscribed for patient numbers and is not looking to expand their practice. They only require their prices, services, address and other contact information easily accessible online for existing clients.

However the majority of businesses want a website to attract new business and increase sales. This is not as simple as designing a good looking website and loading in on to the net.

Two main reasons NOT to get a cheap website designed

1. Website look and feel

A website needs to communicate to your visitors a clear and accurate message about the products and services you offer. It then has to persuade that visitor to purchase form you rather than your competitors and leave a lasting impression so that they will tell their friends and family about your website.

A cheap website design is going to look cheap and make your businesses products and services look cheap. This in turn will have a negative impact on your perspective customer before they have even contacted you. Giving that all important positive first impression is key to making a visitor want to see more and navigate your website.

You website also has to navigate well, have you ever been on a website and not been able to find the information you were searching for? What did you do? You closed the website and went to another site, and that is what your visitors will do if they cannot find the information they are searching for easily.

2. Your websites search engine position

Your website has to appear in search engine result pages when a person types a search phrase in to Google, Yahoo, Bing etc. that relates to the products and services you offer on your website. Twenty years ago this was a simple task as you could just enter some keyword Meta data in the websites source code and that was it, not any more. The internet and search engines have come a very long way in the past two decades and Google is by far the largest marketing tool on the planet. No longer can you tell Google what your website offers by inputting some keyword data in to your website coding. Google now looks at over 200 factors to evaluate your website and then makes their own decision of what they think your website is all about and what products and service it offers.

For more information on how Google evaluates websites and ranks them please visit our official Google video centre.

So what should I do?

If you want to appear on the first page in the search engine result pages (SERPs) you will need to consider what search engine optimisation (SEO) you require to be incorporated into your website development project.

This will be determined by a number of factors including:

• Competition rate for targeted keywords and phrases
• The number & standard of your competitors websites
• The overall goals for your website

SEO is a specialised field and a very time consuming process that is constantly changing. SEO has to be part of a long term strategy to increase your websites online presence, visitor numbers and the return on investment you can expect to achieve.

Cheap website design is anything but cheap, think about it, we talk to numerous people each week that have gone down the road of finding the cheapest possible option and then seeing absolutely no return on their investment. The internet and especially Google is the largest and fastest growing form of advertising for selling products and services both locally and globally. Do you really think that having a cheap website design is going to outperform other businesses that are investing much more time and money in to their websites?

If you were going to enter a V8 car race and wanted to finish on the podium, do you really think that purchasing the cheapest four cylinder car with no modifications would win the race, or even finish it? No, and websites are exactly the same, you have to invest time and money to see the results that the internet can achieve.

Don't be put off by the fact that you may have to spend more than you thought getting a website that will achieve the results your business is looking for. All our websites are completely future proof and you can start off with a smaller site and increase the site and it's online visibility as your business grow.