Does a website really put you at an advantageous position or is it a useless business expense? It can be both, it really depends on a number of factors. These are the pros and cons of making a website for your business and the true value that you can expert.
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The hype about business websites
Next to the hype about business websites is the hype about business plans. Almost everyone will tell you that you need to have a website for your business, that it makes you seem like a professional or that it’s important because it’s part of the fourth industrial revolution.
I personally have over 5 websites and have built over 50 websites for other small business owners to date. Out the 5 websites that I have, only 4 have proven to be very valuable; one of them is eating up a lot of my money because it’s not profitable. I am familiar with the value that websites bring to small businesses.
Costs of setting up a business website
A standard business websites costs anywhere between R800 to R2 500 in South Africa. Most web developers charge between R1 200 and R1 800. This is for a standard business website that doesn’t have a lot features or customization. You have to pay more if you want a heavily customized website.
After this; you will have to pay a monthly hosting fee; which is usually anywhere between R50 and R150 per month. This is an amount you pay just to make sure that your website is live and accessible; it doesn’t add anymore value besides keeping your website alive.
Let’s say that your hosting fee is R50 per month, this means you will part with R600 in a year. But will your website give you that much value in return?
Getting value out of a website
So where does the value proposition of a website lie? It depends on your goals, some use their websites to build trust, some to sell and some to market their businesses. All of these are legitimate reason why people create websites.
Example, person A creates a website; with the intention of having it appear on Google, person B creates a website; as a tool to advertise his business. These two have totally different goals, person A immediately gets value for money after the website is created. B will have to work a lot harder to attract people to his website.
The first thing you should decide on is your main goal for making a website, I made this one with the main goal of attracting over 20k people per month. It was not enough for me to just make it, but had to create content as well to reach that goal.
Is it worth it?
Again, it depends on your goals, it will surely bring you enough value to cover your hosting fee throughout the course of the year. Some people won’t trust a business without a business website. Just having a website and appearing on Google can convince some prospective clients to work with you.
However, if you want to use your website as a lead generator, you will have to do a lot more than just build it. You will need to find a way to attract people to your site, either through marketing or content creation. It can also be very powerful as a lead magnet.
Creating a website will definitely do good for your business, but not good enough for you to experience any real change; especially if no one is going to the website. A website with no visitors is like a deserted house. Bringing visitors to a website takes up a lot of money or resources.
Business websites with a substantial number of visitors usually make 60% more in sales than their competitors with no visitors.
Conclusion
You should definitely make a website for your business. The value that a website brings in the long term is more than the cost of creating one. Do you have any thoughts or questions? Comment below.
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