6 Ways Broadly web design can help you grow your business

Did you know that only 71% of small businesses in the US have a business website? Even though small businesses account for 99% of all businesses registered and 54% of all sales logged in the country.

Many businesses are not going online to reach their customers, which is a considerable loss. Especially since the onset of the pandemic, where consumers are going online for a lot of their needs and using the internet to research businesses before they buy.

This article will discuss the benefits of having a website, the challenges of trying to build one yourself (DIY), and how you can overcome them.

Why you should have a business website

Having a decent web presence has a long list of benefits for any modern business, especially small business owners – which is why you must be searchable online.

Here’s a list of the most significant benefits you can get from a website.

• Professionalism. A well-made website conveys a sense of professionalism in your processes, which makes your business look more legitimate to newcomers.
• Reach. The US has about 307 million internet users, and they spend about 3 hours and 45 minutes on their mobile devices, surfing the internet, or using social media. You can tap into this vast pool of potential customers with a website.
• Better searchability. Brands have full disclosure over the level of detail that they can offer about their products, services, promotions, communications, store locations, and contact information like phone numbers and email addresses. This makes it easier for new customers to go on search engines and find out more about a business’s offerings.
• Branding. Having a website also means that businesses have complete control over their branding. A website can be fully tailored to reflect who they are and what they stand for, much better than any other marketing tool.
• Content. Your small business can publish content through the various online forms, adding to the body of knowledge about your industry and creating a loyal following.

These are just some of the most obvious benefits of establishing a website for your small business’s online marketing strategy. If you’re not online yet, it’s safe to say that you’re lagging.

That said, it’s also not as easy as it seems. The internet might be powerful, but it’s also very complex.

Competition is often fierce in local markets. Thus, if you want to succeed, you need to be diligent in establishing your online presence or enlist the help of experts.

Broadly is a reputation management software that also offers web design as a service that small businesses can use to develop their online presence quickly and cost-effectively.

However, if you prefer a more do-it-yourself approach, you must understand the challenges you may face.

The downside of DIY websites

If you have the expertise in-house to build, optimize, and maintain a website- great! If not, it’s important to discuss why a DIY website may not be the ideal option.

On the surface, this might look like a great solution. After all, small business owners, entrepreneurs, or startup founders won’t have to pay anyone to create their website, and they get to be in charge of every tiny detail.

But making one’s website and maintaining it is more complicated than it appears.

Here’s a list of the most pressing issues small business owners run into with building their DIY websites.

1. Very inefficient

If you want to make a successful website for your business, you need to pour a significant amount of time and resources into it.

Creating a website is by no means simple: you can learn it yourself, but just like learning any new skill, it takes time, dedication, and plenty of trial and error for you to master website building.

The time you spend learning how to build a website from scratch is time away from your business. Even if you have a reasonably stable operation, that time commitment could have been poured into improving your services for potential clients instead.

Second, you won’t always get the results that you’re expecting. Sure, you can learn to make a website within hours, but if you’re a complete beginner, you may struggle to optimize the website to convert visitors into paid customers.

Even builders like Wix, Squarespace, and WordPress that promise to make website development easy isn’t as straightforward as they seem. They often over-simplify the process to draw customers. It can take weeks to create a polished website, even if you just want a “simple” one.

And unless you already have a background in website development, you will have to undergo a long period of refinement before you get the results you want.

2. Unreliable maintenance

The internet is constantly evolving, and if you want to stay visible and relevant, you and your website need to evolve with it.

For example, Google has just recently conducted the March 2022 update, and often this requires that you modify some aspects of your website’s code in turn.

The problem is that often, these updates aren’t straightforward at all. You need to look at your website’s code, determine what has to be done and execute it.

Besides that, you will need to conduct regular maintenance and make updates as your business evolves to continue to support your business in the way it should.

Whether you want to add a new payment system for your checkouts or just change the layout, upgrading your self-made website’s standardized, out-of-the-box features can quickly become a hassle.

3. May appear unprofessional

Lastly, despite their best efforts, many business owners struggle to match the quality of a professionally designed website. Creating a professional and optimized website requires that you know not just web coding but also graphic design, user interface design, and even user psychology.

Professionals spend years perfecting these skills, and often they will have a team so that they can specialize and still cover all basis. As a result, your small business website may not connect with your target audience as you’d hoped.

Web design/development agencies can be pricey

Because of this, many business owners will immediately turn to development agencies that they find online or are recommended to them.

While we believe that this is a better solution than a DIY website, it has its own disadvantages. The most notable of all these disadvantages is the cost. After all, the price of a professionally designed website can be as much as $20,000.

In addition to the cost, here are some other difficulties in building and maintaining a website through most third-party developers.

• Customization. You’ll most likely need to pay extra if you want additional features, such as chatbots and payment portals to be added to your website.
• Lack of ROI. Third-party developers will do what you tell them to, but if you don’t know what you need, it can lead to pouring money into a slick-looking website that doesn’t help your business.
• Communication. Expressing your small business’ brand will depend on how well you can relay your intent to the developing team and how well they interpret it.

As you can see, while paying third-party website designers is the most common path, it might not be the most efficient option. You can better spend your money on holistic solutions that work with you, such as Broadly web design.

Why you should consider Broadly web design

Broadly web design fills the gap between web design and marketing. Instead of being just another website builder blind to the marketing aspect of your website, Broadly web design considers a more holistic approach to staking your claim on your online presence.

We’ve designed our services to involve close collaboration with your small business.

We specialize in web design and reputation management, so we know the importance of branding and communicating your values. Broadly web design is a long-term solution that will work with you to build and maintain a site guaranteed to improve ROI.

You take care of your improving your services while we take care of your online presence. 

Broadly web design benefits

This section will examine the specific ways that Broadly can benefit your business.

1. Expert technical assistance 

One of the most pressing web design and maintenance problems is the lack of technical support, which could be disastrous for you. We designed our business by closely valuing our clients and providing them the help they need whenever they need it.

2. Worry-free site management

With Broadly web design service, you won’t have to worry about the day-to-day management of your website. We guarantee a painless and seamless experience in the following website management aspects.

3. Professional designer

Besides website maintenance and marketing campaigns, we can also guarantee top-notch web designers who can deliver your website’s exact vision.

We also guarantee that the designs will be refined and remade to our client’s satisfaction. Our services will try to accommodate as many design edits and customizations as possible.

4. Increased functionality

We guarantee that your website will equip you with the information that you need to secure quality ROI.

Our services extend to making integrations, analytics, advanced web apps, custom widgets, and more to ensure cutting-edge functionality that will launch your business to the next level.

5. Communication guarantee

When you work with Broadly, we guarantee that you will always talk to someone about questions, concerns, and issues. We prioritize our customers’ experience, so our support teams and representatives are always ready to listen to you.

Our Success Manager will also ensure that you’re getting your money’s worth with our services. The role of the Success Manager is to frequently touch base and listen to your feedback about the performance of our services to ensure success.

6. Improved performance

We won’t just make a website and then leave. Broadly web design guarantees site performance, so we’ve rolled in SEO, mobile, and site optimization together in our service packages.

Wrap-up

Neither DIY nor third-party web design is the best solution for your missing online presence.

While you might save money if you do it yourself, you would likely lose out on the time and effort since you need massive investments to know how to make websites from the ground up. On the other hand, hiring third-party developers can quickly become expensive.