Your first website should probably be cheap...

Your first website should probably be cheap, but it's your second website where you should start to spend some money. 

Over the years I've spoken with hundreds of small business owners just trying to get their start, and nine times out of ten they would be far better off spending their initial startup funds on things other than their website. In most circumstances, you're just as well off using something like Squarespace, or working with a low-end agency that does off the shelf templates. Why is this? 

When you're just starting out, your marketing strategy will be in its infancy. You haven't tried ANYTHING yet, let alone refined what does and doesn't work for you, so why go spending loads of precious startup money on something completely untested? 

For most businesses, all they really need is something that looks clean, is simple, and will allow customers to learn more about your business. The reason that is sufficient to begin with is that a website by itself isn't going to generate you business. YOU are going to need to do that. Most small business owners are far better off spending their time and money on actively promoting their businesses directly to potential customers. Sticking up a website and hoping the customers will start pouring in isn't a strategy that's going to get you very far! 

Once your business is established, and you've worked out what is and isn't working for you, THEN you can start to think about a bigger and better website, but at that stage, you're doing it based on the needs of your matured marketing strategy, not just on a wing and a prayer. A comprehensive web presence, with extensive search engine optimisation and customer-facing functionality that makes their experience more engaging and pleasurable is probably one of the greatest investments a business could ever make, but until you're up and running and know who you're targeting and what to target them with, you may well be wasting your money. 

Assembler is a web design agency based in Perth, Western Australia. This blog is intended to be an informal, behind the scenes look into the web design and development industry. If you like our content, please follow us on LinkedIn or Facebook!