I’ve been hearing more and more about people getting scammed by on-line companies when attempting to set up their own site. In fact, I recently spoke with a client that spent $4,700 plus $39.95 a month for a website and several months later has nothing to show for it. Now don’t get me wrong, there are many legitimate companies out there on the worldwide web, but if they’re talking large returns with little or no sales, marketing and effort – it’s not going to happen.
When it comes to creating or re-designing your website you’d be more productive if you focused on the planning of the site and hired someone else for the programming. Deciding before hand exactly what you want from your site and clearly communicating that with your web partner is the most effective way to build a website.
Too often people decide what they want their site to do for them after they’ve created it. For example a site that’s created to drive sales is much different than one that’s strictly for informational purposes. It’s imperative to determine the direction in advance so that you don’t end up having to re-design and re-program the site afterwards. In addition, what you want from your site will determine the type of tools used.
The bottom line is… If someone contacts you from an on-line company, look them up. A simple Google search can provide you with a lot of information. In addition, although these companies may promise incredible deals, nothing can replace the one-to-one relationship with an established, local company. It’s always nice to be able to speak to someone whose name you know.