A website is an absolute must for all startups. While free website platforms might seem attractive – especially for cash-strapped startups – the image they portray isn’t always professional. So do you make the leap and hire an outside firm to design a killer website? Or, do you use a site builder and try to figure it out for yourself?
Hiring and Outside Web Development Firm
The advantages of hiring an outside web developer are pretty obvious. First off, building the website for your business can be a time-consuming task. Having an outside team handle this will free you up to tackle the other important things your company needs to devote time and energy to in order to survive.
But before you go out and hire an incredible web design team, take the time to decide what’s the most important priority for your company’s limited budget. Does it make sense to pull the trigger now on a complete web presence overhaul? Or, could you get away with smaller changes or developments while you decide on your company’s ideal brand image?
Either way, bringing in an experienced web design team will absolutely make your company appear more professional, and could convert into some serious business leads. But what about the do-it-yourselfer?
Understanding Your Website’s Purpose
If your company sells products or services online, then your website just became even more important. Not only is it your introduction to the world, but it now is your storefront. This means that SEO should be a big priority – second only to how your site appears visually.
So, how do you nail the site design, while still appealing to search engines? Well, this depends on how adept you are at coding. If you’ve hired an outside firm, then you have all the resources you need to do some serious A/B testing.
What’s A/B testing? Why I’m glad you asked! When testing a new web design, or assessing the effectiveness of an existing site, it’s important to compare apples to apples. To do this, you pit two different designs, layouts or content selections against each other in a conversion fueled deathmatch!
Sounds exciting, right? This is where you get to see how your potential customers will respond to your idea or product offering. To do this, simply split the traffic coming to your site into two different groups. One group will see site A, and the other will see site b.
While both sites are live, you’ll be able to see in real-time how each performs. Which ones convert better? Are you reaching your target demographic and really getting high quality traffic? If neither A or B perform well, then you’ve either got some bad designs and value propositions, or you’re not reaching your target audiences.
Either way, the information gained through A/B testing is invaluable. It lets your customers speak to you, without even realizing it.