We Introduce You to Web as a Service
Nowadays, a digital presence can be considered more important than a physical one. Just because the online world isn’t “real”, doesn’t mean the first impressions and opinions the customers hold of your website and brand aren’t. You need a website, and you’re evaluating different options to get one.
You’ve most likely seen the flashy adverts for free website builders, and you’re wondering would they do the work. Or perhaps you should hire web development agency or a freelancer to build a website for you, because you don’t have time to do it yourself.
You have a lot of questions on your mind right now, but we will add one more for you to get a full picture before you evaluate the options: Let’s say you built a website, but how are you going to tackle everything else that goes into building a digital presence?
Let’s dive in.
How a Website Helps Your Business Grow
A good website is a marketing tool in itself. The aim of a website is to attract visitors, and convert them into happy customers. That’s why an investment into a good web design is a good idea.
Let’s start from the beginning, and take a look at how a website can help your business.
Your website acts similarly to a shop window in reality. Would you want your customers to peer into your showroom to see a highly professional and inviting shopping experience? Or would you want them to see a basic and unfurnished showroom, and perhaps can’t even find the door to enter in the first place?
You may have the best products or services, but if a customer struggles to navigate the site, or is simply discouraged by the cheap and ugly website design, then you’re less likely to do business regardless.
Web Development Companies vs. Free Web Builders
There’s a reason successful businesses invest money into a professionally designed and developed website that meets specific requirements.
First of all, as we are a web services agency, you would think we would want to steer you away from free website builders. But that’s not really the case.
If you’re a small business, or just getting started in launching your own, then perhaps getting your business onto the map with one of these free website builders may be worth a shot. However, the free option of a website builder will often get you the most basic of sites, and you will end up being charged for stuff you may have thought was an essential part of a website for any business. Without these paid parts, you could end up looking incredibly unprofessional, and end up damaging your reputation.
At the end of the day, you get what you pay for.
And think about it, why would these companies offer free websites? How are they making money if they aren’t charging for the websites they produce?
Furthermore, think about what happens when something goes wrong. With a website builder, there’s no “human” face which you can contact. They may have a support line or chat service, but is less likely that they will solve the problem you might have been caused yourself trying to build a website.
Web Agencies vs Web Development & Web Design Companies
The difference between a web development or web design company (or an individual) and a web services agency comes down to one question: Do you need an order taker who will implement what you ask for and leave, or do you need an entire team who will anticipate your business needs and step out beyond your expectations?
If you removed free web builders from your list by now (which we hope you did), let’s narrow down your list of options even more.
So, you are at the point where you know you need a new partner to handle the direction of your website. You and your business are growing. So, it’s about time that your website and other marketing platforms start to get in line.
If one company hosts the site, another handles AdWords, another does code and design, another for social media marketing and so on, it will become too hard to manage all the different partners and have them work together. Trust us; you don’t want to deal with multiple providers who are not only cumulatively charging you more, but also who’re not able to build your brand image consistently.
Why You Should Hire a Web Agency
The purpose of this article isn’t to knock traditional web design and web development companies; after all, we used to be one.
We evolved into a web services agency for a reason – we identified the need for all-round service that gives our clients the opportunity to:
1. Build a unified and consistent online position;
2. Be able to afford web services to grow their business;
3. Be able to simply evaluate results across platforms, provided by one vendor;
4. Be able to get free consultation upon need with a dedicated team expert, regarding any of the online channels.
A Web services agency not only provides depth in the various disciplines, but also provides breadth in terms of experience with different types of clients whether it is professional services, retail, B2B, eCommerce, or lead generation.
Best of all, it is a collaborative team under one roof. They talk to one another and regularly work on projects together. They have a strong level of control over their projects as the bulk of the work, if not all, is being performed by employees that are all in the same office.
A Web services agency is not there to create what you asked for and leave. The chances are that you might not know exactly what you need to do in order to accomplish your business goals. That’s why a web services agency is there to listen carefully to your needs, and figure out best strategies and channels to achieve your goals.
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