Small Business Web Design

Posted on December 7, 2008
Filed Under Web Design |

Small businesses are in need of reputable web design and webmaster services more than ever. There are far too many web design companies and web directories willing to take you for all you’ve got while giving little in return.

One of our most recent clients came to us after having been with a major online phonebook directory for 8 months without any results. They had built him a decent looking 5 page website and put his company listing in their directory. Unfortunately, the website they built can be found nowhere in Google. It couldn’t even be found on the first page by typing in the company name!

If it wasn’t bad enough already, it got worse when I called and spoke with the online directory salesman. I discovered the terms of the agreement my new client had signed weren’t very favorable. First, he couldn’t terminate his contract early for any reason. Second, he didn’t own his domain name! Well, not until the end of the contract and then he has to pay another fee for it. Third, there was no ftp interface for him to manage any aspect of the content on his website and changes made by the company were given 30 days to complete. Give me a break! And last, he was ONLY allowed 5 pages total. The next plan level was a 10 page website for a nice fee.

The moral of this story? If you’re a small business owner, be careful about who you choose to design your website and manage your online presence. You could get locked into a deal that you have to ride out to the end. Fortunately, this customer didn’t wait for the end of his contract with this company, he hired Website Design Columbus to design a new company website for him and promote it to the first page of Google. I’m happy to say we succeeded. After wasting 8 months and the same amount of money he paid us, he now has a website that’s on the first page of Google for the most important phrase in his market.

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