Most everyone I talk to doesn’t want to spend much money to expand their web presence. I don’t get it. If you opened a new trade area, you would buy a new delivery truck and hire an employee, right? If you opened a new location, you would spend thousands of dollars to get it up and going. Maybe even hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the market, right?
How is expanding your web presence any different?
It isn’t. Your web presence is expanding your trade area globally. And expanding a web presence properly is one of most cost-effective ways to grow.
Keeping the Right Mindset about Your Web Presence
Don’t think of your web presence as an operating expense. Think of it as an investment in capturing a new segment of business. Investing in your web presence is not different from buying a second delivery truck or opening a new location.
Done right, the web presence will continue to bring you new revenue and new customers for years, so long as you continue to invest in it.
What Should A Good Web Site Cost to Develop and Maintain?
A well done web site that is built to be search engine friendly will cost at least $3k but can easily run to $6k.
Doing the initial SEO work to make the website easy for visitors to find–building basic backlinks, listing in directories, getting placement in local search, issuing press releases and many other items—will cost between 5k and 10k.
I can give you a free checklist of SEO items that should be part of the initial SEO. (Call or email me, and I will send it to you.)
Keeping the website up means adding new content based on analyzing traffic, issuing press releases, blogging, and building backlinks to your site, etc. Figure $1k per month minimum, though it can be done in house for much less in only a few hours a day.
Do Your Website Wrong
Design your business website without considering SEO and neglect the work to launch it properly and keep it up, and you will get average (or poor) results. You will conclude that the web doesn’t produce revenue for small businesses like yours.
Do your website right, feed it, care for it, and you will find your website is better than your best salesperson and stays on the job 24-7.
If your website isn’t getting results, email me your site’s address and I will be glad to send you a free SEO score and some specific ways to make your site contribute more to your bottom line.
Remember only you can make business great!
Ron Sturgeon, founder of Mr. Mission Possible small business consulting, combines over 35 years of entrepreneurship with an extensive resume in consulting, speaking, and business writing, with 3 books published and 2 more expected in 2012.
A business owner since age 17, Ron sold his chain of salvage yards to Ford Motor Company in 1999, and his innovations in database-driven direct marketing have been profiled in Inc. Magazine. After the repurchase of Greenleaf Auto Recyclers from Ford and sale to Schnitzer Industries, Ron is now owner of the DFW Elite Auto suite of businesses and a successful real estate investor.
As a consultant and peer benchmarking leader, Ron shares his expertise in strategic planning, capitalization, compensation, growing market share, and more in his signature plain-spoken style, providing field-proven, high-profit best practices well ahead of the business news curve.
Ron is a web expert, but he is also an expert in helping all types of small businesses become more successful and more profitable. He has helped owners in industries from restaurants to law firms with a wide variety of business issues, including sales, promotion, production, financial measures, business strategy, and planning for start ups. Whatever your unique challenges, Ron can help you.
To inquire about peer benchmarking, consultations, or keynote speaking, contact Ron by calling 817-834-3625, by emailing rons@MrMissionPossible.com, by mailing 5940 Eden, Haltom City, TX 76117, or online at Mr. Mission Possible.
